The project functioned as a pilot study.

WHAT WE DO -> PROJECTS -> The project functioned as a pilot study.

We created an application so that students with limited vision may better follow the lesson in the classroom.

In this way, we gave them the ability to participate better in the lesson.

The ICStudy (I Can Study) application processes the image on the interactive board with top (and open) video editing technology in real-time. Then, the student gets the information on the board on their computer screen in an understandable way (high contrast, object definition enhancement, etc.). As a result, the student can see what’s written or drawn on the interactive board at any time.

For following the lesson, the following are required:

a) the class must have an interactive board,

b) the teacher’s computer must be connected to the local network,

c) the student must have a computer connected to the local network on their desk, and

d) the ICStudy application must be installed on the student’s computer.

The project functioned as a pilot study.

To support students with limited vision.

Nowadays, a student with severe vision problems finds participating in education, as well as the educational material, very difficult:

  • They can’t see the board in the classroom. As a result, they are unable to follow the lesson.
  • They find it hard/are unable to read their books.

These things have obvious consequences in their integration, access to knowledge, right to learning, and education. We want to change that.

The goal of the ICStudy project was for the students to be able to:

a) see what the teacher/professor writes on the interactive board, and

b) read books in a digital form (PDF).

In this way, students gain access to knowledge, become integrated, and participate meaningfully in school life, away from exclusions.

The project functioned as a pilot study in the first years of our activity.

We were asked to create a solution that would allow a junior high student with severe vision problems to follow lessons in the classroom, making her equal with her classmates. The student had passed the exams to enter an experimental junior high, but was unable to follow the lessons! (To protect the student’s anonymity, we won’t give more information).

We also found that, in Greece, there are very few secondary schools that are addressed to people with limited vision (a few junior highs and no high school).

We said that we’d do it… and we did:

  • We developed the solution.
  • We offered the project’s hardware and software to the school, having first done 2 tests, one in a non-educational environment and one in a school room, with positive results.
  • We shared our knowledge and experience so far:

    We presented it to a secondary education professor convention about assistive technologies

    There was a second presentation of the project at a Greek University due to the increased interest created by its first presentation.

  • We completed the application’s second version as well with funding from EL/LAK’s “Electronic Services for the Development and Dissemination of Open Software” project and we made sure to install it in the CERB School for the Blind.
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