In this project, four partners from three European countries intend to develop a new type of visual teaching material in the subject of mathematics for deaf students between 10-12 years. The unique thing for deaf students is that they need to get their education in their native language, the sign language, which is a visual language. Sign languages are different all over the world just like spoken languages. That is why the project includes Turkish Sign Language, Norwegian Sign Language and Swedish Sign Language. This project will produce a teaching material, in the sign languages of three different countries, in the subject of geometry where we use AR (Augmented Reality). AR is a technology that will enhance the comprehensibility of our deaf students, but which will equally work on other secondary target groups. The end product of this project will be able to be used in AR glasses and / or tablets or mobile phones. We will place both sign language content in the form of video as well as geometric graphics in an educational layer on these units. Together we will produce the script with our mathematics teachers and special pedagogues from the three countries. After translations into each different sign language it will be recorded with a deaf actor from each country in the greenscreen studio the Swedish partner possess. The sign language videos will then be merged together with geometry graphics into AR by our Turkish partner. The combined effort of all partners and the final result of the educational material of geometry in AR, will amaze the end users which opinions will be researched and evaluated by Örebro University. In the long term, this AR material, will probably set the standard become a whole new media of distribution of educational material for the deaf pupils.
We wanted to do a visual educational material that has illustrations and graphics that makes it easier for the deaf pupil to understand, and also add AR (Augmented Reality) as a new tool for teaching. The deaf pupils are expected to learn better and faster with visual educational material. The product we made in this project will contribute to a good and useful education, which will make it possible to take them on to higher education and eventually secure a job and an independent life without social welfare. Traditional school books are written in the spoken language of each country. Sign language is a different language and is the first language of the deaf pupils. Sign language is different all around the world as spoken languages. In this project we are providing them with educational material in their first language. As an example: To provide a book in written Swedish to a deaf Swedish pupil is like forcing a hearing Swedish pupil to work in their second language, English. The deaf students need a lot more visual education than others. We have developed new ways of working with this new media format - in script-making, acting, recording, editing and programming, all the way to the delivery of a final product, the mobile app in Android and iOS, that is very usable in education of deaf pupils in elementary school.
We want our deaf pupils to have the same opportunity as the hearing, to achieve educational material, in their first language sign language, and be able to understand the topic of geometry and also in the long run have success in school, to finally be able to get a job and be a tax paying citizen as anybody else. The needs are great and the production of educational material for deaf pupils in sign language is very limited. There is a huge deficit and lack of educational material for the teachers who teach the deaf pupils. This is a pedagogic problem all who have deaf pupils face. In this project we wanted to use the new technique as a new visual dimension of understanding for the pupils, so they can be able to reach the goal of the curriculums of the partner countries. The need for this has also been addressed by the teachers themselves, in the special schools for the deaf in all three countries participating in this project.