AAA

1. Knowledge Database
• Slide Presentation for the lecture of: Pedro Encarnação
Catholic University of Portugal, Portugal
• Topic of lecture: Development of an Integrated Manipulation
and Communication Assistive Technology to Support
Academic Activities
• The lecture was given at Beit Issie Shapiro’s 6th International
Conference on Disabilities - Israel
• Year: 2015

2. Development of an Integrated Manipulation and
Communication Assistive
Technology to Support Academic Activities
Pedro Encarnação
pme@ucp.pt
Project
UARPIE
2013-2015

3. This is a team work...
Pedro Encarnação
Gonçalo Piedade
Margarida Ribeiro
Al Cook
Kim Adams
Luís Azevedo
Margarida Nunes
da Ponte
Anabela Caiado
Joana Pereira
Teresa Leite
Clarisse Nunes
Mônica Silva
Alexandra Martins
Ana Londral

4. Motivation
• Play is the most prevalent activity in
childhood and has a central role in child
development, fostering learning of
cognitive, language and social skills
• Through play, children reveal their internal
emotions and cognitive skills
Besio, 2008; Ferland, 2005

5. Motivation
• Motor experience plays a critical role in
development
• Physical and cognitive development are
intrinsically related
• Early experiences shape development
Butler, 1986; Piaget, 1954

6. Motivation
• Play-like activities foster knowledge acquisition
Sandberg and Heden (2011)
• Active participation by doing hands-on activities
and communicating about them has a large
impact on a person's retention of learning
Dale, 1946
• For learning math concepts, in particular,
several authors stressed the importance of
manipulation and of being able to “verbalize to
internalize”, ask for help, or talk aloud so
teachers can ascertain their level of
understanding Bisanz et al., 2005; Ginsburg et al., 1998; Bley&Thornton, 1994

7. Motivation
• In Portugal, as in most countries today,
children with special educational needs
are, to the maximum possible extent,
placed in regular schools
• In regular classrooms, students with
disabilities should be involved in academic
activities along with their typically
developing peers, taking into consideration
their individual needs

8. Motivation
• Physical disabilities and communication
impairments can thus have a strong
impact on children’s learning by
compromising active participation in
learning activities
Eriksson et al., 2007; Schlosser et al., 2000

9. Background
• Work by Kim Adams & Al Cook on access
to Math activities for children with
disabilities by controlling Lego robots via
AAC devices Adams & Cook, 2014

10. Project UARPIE
• Goal: develop an integrated augmentative
manipulation and communication assistive
technology (IAMCAT) to enable children to
manipulate educational items and
communicate about their learning
experience www.uarpie.anditec.pt
Project
UARPIE
2013-2015

11. IAMCAT - physical
The robot is controlled through
cells in The Grid 2 software
communication boards. The
child interacts with the system
through his/her computer
access method
Manipulation is via a Lego
Mindstorms car-like robot
with a gripper and a pen
attached
Project
UARPIE
2013-2015

12. IAMCAT - virtual
A virtual robot with virtual
objects on a computer
screen was also developed.
Rationale:
 Decrease cost
 Facilitate the use by non
technical persons
 Facilitate dissemination
of the assistive technology
Project
UARPIE
2013-2015

13. IAMCAT tests
• Nine children with disabilities integrated in
regular classes used the IAMCAT to
perform pre-school and first grade
language, mathematics, science & social
studies activities
• Before using it in the classroom, children
were trained to control the robot using the
IAMCAT
Project
UARPIE
2013-2015

14. ParticipantsParticipant
Gender
Age(years)
Grade Robot Access method
#1 F 5 Pre-school level 3 Physical Direct (Track-ball)
#2 F 5/6
Pre-school level 3 /
First grade
Virtual Direct (Track-ball)
#3 M 6 First grade Physical Direct (Eye-tracking)
#4 F 6 Pre-school level 3 Virtual Direct (Track-ball)
#5 M 6 First grade Virtual Direct (Track-ball)
#6 M 5 Pre-school level 3 Physical Direct (Track-ball)
#7 M 4 Pre-school level 2 Physical Direct (Track-ball)
#8 M 3 Pre-school level 1 Physical Direct (Eye-tracking)
#9 M 3 Pre-school level 1 Physical Direct (Eye-tracking)
Project
UARPIE
2013-2015
2013/
2014
2014/
2015

15. Training protocol
• Goal of the robot training protocol:
develop the following skills
– driving to any workspace location
– picking and placing objects
– using the pen to trace lines, and
– communicating using the Grid system while
controlling the robot
Encarnação et. al. (2014)
Project
UARPIE
2013-2015

16. Classroom sessions
• Participants used the system in their regular
classes to perform pre-school and first grade
language, mathematics, science & social
studies activities
• A portfolio of IAMCAT-adapted activities was
presented to the teachers for them to better
understand the capabilities of the IAMCAT
• Activities were prepared with the participant’s
teachers
Project
UARPIE
2013-2015

17. Classroom sessions
• Activities were proposed to the entire
class: each participant had the opportunity
to perform the activities using the IAMCAT
and his/her peers did the activities with
pencils on paper or cutting and gluing, as
required by the particular activity
Project
UARPIE
2013-2015

18. Classroom sessions
• All necessary physical materials or the
virtual scenarios were prepared by the
research team (in one case by the
teachers)
• In general, classes were conducted by the
regular teachers
• The special education teacher or one of
the researchers provided technical support
for the robot, and academic and robot
control support to the study participant
Project
UARPIE
2013-2015

19. Classroom sessions
• Three classroom sessions were organized
for each child, one dedicated to each
curricular area
• Classroom sessions were videotaped
• To evaluate teacher’s perceptions,
participants’ teachers were interviewed
and a content analysis of the interviews
was performed using the Atlas.ti® 6.2
software Roberts, 1997
Project
UARPIE
2013-2015

20. Classroom sessions
Physical – driving through neighborhoodVirtual – solar system
Physical – choosing the answer &
communicating
Virtual – placing apples
Project
UARPIE
2013-2015

21. Results – teachers’
perceptions
• The use of the IAMCAT by the participants
– Enabled the participation in the same
activities that the other students were doing,
though requiring more time to complete them
– Increased the communication with their peers
– Contributed to accessing new knowledge and
to demonstrating skills
– Had a significant impact in their social and
academic performance
Project
UARPIE
2013-2015

22. Results – teachers’
perceptions
• The use of the IAMCAT by the participants
– Contributed to their self-assertion within class
– Contributed to a greater appreciation by peers
• The use of the IAMCAT by the
participants’ peers
– Helped them to realize the difficulties children
with disabilities have to face everyday
Project
UARPIE
2013-2015

23. Results – teachers’
perceptions
• Integration of the IAMCAT in classes
– Requires training regular teachers on the use
of assistive technologies
– Requires a difficult balance between the
attention given to child with disabilities, that
needs more time to complete the activity, and
the rest of the group. This was facilitated by
the presence of another teacher or teaching
assistant in class
Project
UARPIE
2013-2015

24. Conclusions
• Teachers considered the IAMCAT a
valuable resource that can be integrated in
regular classes and that is compatible with
the teachers’ curricular planning and
management
• However they pointed out the need for
proper training and for the presence of
another teacher / teaching assistant in
class
Project
UARPIE
2013-2015

25. Acknowledgements
Contacts
Pedro Encarnação
pme@ucp.pt
www.uarpie.anditec.pt

26. References
• Adams, K., & Cook, A. (2014) Access to hands-on mathematics measurement activities using robots controlled via speech
generating devices: Three case studies. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 9(4), pp. 286-298.
• Besio, S. (Ed.) (2008) Analysis of critical factors involved in using interactive robots for education and therapy of children
with disabilities. Italy: Editrice UNI Service.
• Bisanz, J., Sherman, J. L., Rasmussen, C., & Ho, E. (2005) Development of arithmetic skills and knowledge in preschool
children. In J. I. D. Campbell (Ed.), Handbook of Mathematical Cognition (pp. 143-162). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
• Bley, N. S., & Thornton, C. A. (1994) Accommodating special needs. In C. A. Thornton & N. S. Bley (Eds.), Windows of
opportunity: Mathematics for students with special needs (pp. 137-166). Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics.
• Butler, C. (1986) Effects of powered mobility on self- initiated behaviours of very young children with locomotor disability,
Dev Med Child Neurol, 28, pp. 325–332.
• Dale, E. (1946) The cone of experience. In Audio-visual methods in teaching (Vol. 1, pp. 37-51). New York, NY: Dryden
Press.
• Encarnação et. al. (2014) Training on the use of an integrated augmentative manipulation and communication assistive
technology for academic activities, Presented at RAatE 2014, Birmingham, UK.
• Eriksson, L., Welander, J., & Granlund, M. (2007) Participation in everyday school activities for children with and without
disabilities. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 19, pp. 485–502.
• Ferland, F. (2005) The Ludic Model, 2nd ed., P. A. Scott, Trans. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: CAOT publications ACE.
• Ginsburg, H. P., Klein, A., & Starkey, P. (1998) The development of children's mathematical thinking: Connecting research
with practice. In I. E. Siegel & K. A. Renninger (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology, Vol. 4, Child psychology in practice (5th
ed., pp. 401-476). New York: John Wiley and Sons.
• Piaget, J. (1954) The Construction of Reality in the Child. Great Britain: Routledhe.
• Roberts, C. (Ed.). (1997) Text Analysis for the Social Sciences: Methods for Drawing Inferences from Texts and Transcripts.
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Sandberg, A., Heden, R. (2011) Play’s importance in school. Education 3-13: International Journal of Primary, Elementary
and Early Years Education, 39(3), pp. 317-329.
• Schlosser, R. W., McGhie-Richmond, D., Blackstien-Adler, S., Mirenda, P., Antonius, K., & Janzen, P. (2000). Training a
school team to integrate technology meaningfully into the curriculum: Effects on student participation. Journal of Special
Education Technology, 15(1), pp. 31-44.

27. Knowledge Database
To Exit Full Screen and Return to the
Knowledge Database
Press Esc