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Research

Research

Research

Summary

Although the benefits of note-taking in the classroom are widely recognized, there has not been enough research focused on alleviating the difficulties encountered by legally blind and low vision students in their attempts to take notes during lecture. The problem is particularly acute in fast-paced STEM courses. Students who are legally blind typically write by placing their head close to the writing surface. They may be able to use a monocular to see what is being written on a board in the front of the classroom. But monoculars with high magnification also have narrow fields of view, which forces the student to "hunt" for the target at the front of the classroom each time s/he looks up from the writing surface. The repeated delay in switching between the writing surface and the board can make it hard for the student to keep up. In this project, the PI will develop and evaluate a portable Note-Taker device that does not require any adaptation of the existing classroom infrastructure, and which allows visually impaired students to shift their attention between the writing surface and the class presentation without inefficient context switching. The device will employ a Tablet PC, a zooming video camera, and an electronic pan/tilt mechanism, which can all be easily carried in a backpack and set up in a few seconds on any classroom desk. On the Tablet PC's display surface the student will be able both to see a zoomed video of the lecturer's presentation at the front of the classroom in real time, and to take notes with digital ink. The student will be able to adjust the camera's aim at any time by simply tapping on the point of interest in the video window on the display surface of the Tablet PC. The PI's goal is to go beyond mere "accessibility" and to create a device that allows legally blind students to take notes as efficiently as fully sighted students. Development and evaluation of the Note-Taker prototype will be done with the full involvement of legally blind and low vision students on the campus of Arizona State University, under the auspices of the Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing Center for Assistive and Rehabilitative Systems (CUbiC CAReS). The PI hypothesizes that his Note-Taking device will improve the learning of students who employ it in their secondary or post-secondary classrooms to take notes during lectures, and that it will also help those students to review their own notes at a later time, in conjunction with cross-referenced audio and video recordings.

Difficulties in note-taking are not limited to students with low vision. Students with certain learning disabilities, for example, often also have difficulty taking notes at the pace at which material is presented in the classroom. The PI's Note-Taker will reduce irrelevant stimuli, thereby making it easier for such students to successfully absorb, record, and ultimately understand the material presented in the classroom.

Funding

National Science Foundation Division of Information and Intelligent Systems

Timeline

September 2009 — August 2013