1. Assistive Technologies for Breakthrough Teaching and Learning: Finding Room for Games Alise Brann, Research Analyst American Institutes for Research [email_address]
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15. “ Before I had my video phone, I was always bored…. Now I can video phone my friends everyday ….”
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Editor's Notes
Though the title of this presentation is centered around bringing games into educational and assistive technology, the inverse is also relevant, in that we need to focus on bringing accessibility into gaming… and a major issue that I hope gets a lot of attention this week… critical need for all the actors to work together – assistive technology developers, developers of mainstream technology, educators, disability communities, gamers, user groups, parents, service providers, etc. to ensure that the technology and the games of the future don’t leave anyone out.
Interested in helping to push companies/developers to scale Move innovative technologies for people with disabilities into the marketplace
NCTI has studied innovators in education, assistive technology and entrepreneurship for the last 9 years. We’ve engaged with innovators across disciplines through interviews, collaborations, case stories, innovator profiles, and our annual Technology Innovators Conference. The basis for our conceptualization of “breakthrough teaching and learning” emerged out of the presentations and networking at our 2009 conference. We asked a variety of speakers and participants to contribute chapters detailing how emerging practices in innovative educational and assistive technology contribute to truly powerful and innovative teaching and learning. Ordering information on our website Will be able to purchase individual chapters for use in course packets
Need to think about how the technologies and games of the future can contribute to breakthrough teaching and learning
Grew up playing video games – been a gamer for over 25 years. breakthroughs and innovations in gaming My first computer, and first gaming systems looked like this…
My first computer games were text-based, and the first video games I played looked like this…
Today I’m playing games that look like this…
On devices that look like this… The way we game, the way we interact socially and the way we learn have all been shaped by these leaps in technology…
What will teaching and learning look like for these gamers? How will their lives, their social interactions, their education, and their relationships be shaped by gaming? Each new advance in technology runs the risk of excluding people with disabilities from learning, shared cultural heritage History of closed captioning Without captions huge portion of the population left out of cultural and educational opportunities Widespread captioning opened up new avenues for learning and engagement Now shifting backwards as much of the content on the web inaccessible Digital exclusion isn’t just an issue for leisure activities, watching viral videos on YouTube or playing games with friends, it creates a whole class of people excluded from rich cultural and educational experiences
Though advances present a number of challenges when thinking about users with disabilities, they present a number of incredible opportunities as well. But in order to take advantage of those opportunities we need: innovation, research, accessible design, user involvement, and flexible solutions.
Big audience – gamers with disabilities represent eager market PopCap Games survey 20% casual gamers identify as having disability 46% physical 94% identified casual gaming as having physical, emotional, and educational benefits for them 60% of gamers with disabilities play 5 or more hours per week According to a report coauthored by the Able Gamers Foundation and 7-128 Software , the game industry is losing out on up to $3 billion in revenue by failing to cater to older or disabled gamers. The report alleges that the gaming population is getting older, noting that the ESA pegged the average gamer's age at 35 in 2008, up from 33 in 2007 and 30 in 1995.
Focus on results, research, serving needs In our work we’ve found that innovators: Ask the right questions See around corners Aren’t afraid to be wrong Imagine new markets and opportunities
NAVI (Navigational Aids for the Visually Impaired) Blurring of lines – AT innovations showing up in mainstream technologies (touch screen, TTS, voice controls) Mainstream technology serving disabled community in new ways, often driven by user innovations
Example of innovative use of technology; videophones used for deaf, but hadn’t be considered for young people who are deaf/blind. Opens new opportunities for communication for young people. can see the entire case story and other examples on our website.
Lessons learned in game accessibility are often not well-documented, and there is a research to practice gap in that often what we do know is not implemented. There is still a great deal that we don’t know Need research that provides information on which features are most effective for which populations and under which conditions. AAC devices are a perfect example – new research is showing that visual-graphic systems may be more effective for some users with autism, while speech-generating devices may be better for other users. We often don’t know whether some features work better than others for children vs adults, or for different needs or disability categories. New technologies and options for customization open up the field and highlight need for targeted research not on specific tools, but on specific features of tools that benefit different populations.
To aid in this process, we’ve teamed up with ATIA to create an online research primer where vendors and developers can: Explore research designs including usability, market, case study, single subject, quasi-experimental, and experimental. Understand key concepts such as validity and reliability, ethics and the IRB process. Find resources such as networks for researchers, working with librarians, and sources of funding.
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