ClassInFocus: enabling improved visual attention strategies for deaf and hard of hearing students

Deaf and hard of hearing students must juggle their visual attention in current classroom settings. Managing many visual sources of information (instructor, interpreter or captions, slides or whiteboard, classmates, and personal notes) can be a challenge. ClassInFocus automatically notifies students of classroom changes, such as slide changes or new speakers, helping them employ more beneficial observing strategies. A user study of notification techniques shows that students who liked the notifications were more likely to visually utilize them to improve performance. Categories and Subject Descriptors H.5.1 [Information Interfaces and Presentation]: Multimedia Information Systems; K.4.2 [Social Issues]: Assistive technologies for persons with disabilities; L.3.6 [Methodology, Tools, Technology]: Technology Enhanced Learning General Terms Human Factors, Design, Experimentation Keywords Classroom Technology, Multimedia Conferencing Technology, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Users

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: ASSETS
• Authors: Anna Carpenter Cavender, Jeffrey P. Bigham, Richard E. Ladner
• Keywords: ASSETS 2009, Classroom, Current Classroom Settings, Emerging Technology, Keywords Classroom Technology