Speaking-Pen as a Learning Tool for Blind Students
Abstract: This paper presents basic information on creating original teaching materials using the software, Sound Linker, and its use in three schools for special needs for blind students, where they learn the physical environments crucial for living in a society. School activities for blind students are presented with self-made original teaching materials. Post-it-like sticker icons, overlaid with the dot codes originally developed by Gridmark Inc., are pasted beside the braille on the documents. Each sticker icon can link up to four voices/sounds; touching dot-code icons with a speaking-pen enables audio files to be replayed. Software to create a content, Post-it-like sticker icons, and a speaking-pen are distributed for free to schoolteachers. All the teachers can now create their own self-made original contents and provide the disabled students with reasonable accommodations.