Page 118 - International Perspectives on Effective Teaching and Learning in Digital Education

Barbora Bazalová, Dana Zámečníková Veronika Včelíková, and Pavla Pitnerová

Boardmaker that offers the advantage of being fully translated into Czech.
The software provides a range of options for the creation of diverse visual
aids, games, tasks and modes of the day, as well as daily routines. The Grid 3
software is more frequently preferred for individualised use, as it allows the
user to communicate using voice output and to control a computer or a smart
home. The software offers users the ability to customise various aspects of its
functionality, including text, colours, display size, and overall control. There
are a variety of input methods, such as a switch, mouse, touch, pointer, or
glance (Petit HW-SW, n.d.). In consideration of the American Speech-Lan-
guage-Hearing Association (n.d.) findings indicating that the AAK systems
currently in use may not be optimal in the future, it can be posited that the
most prevalent software, applications, or programs at present may not retain
their dominance soon.

Examples of Technology Use for Specific Sensory Needs
Special software and hardware make the text accessible. There is the possi-
bility of enlarging details, enlarging and choosing a font, modifying colours
or colour contrast, or tactile or voice output. There are screen readers and
speech synthesisers, as well as braille tactile lines. The voice output enables
auditory feedback, and the tactile line is suitable for displaying the grammat-
ical side of the text.
The development of assistive devices for deaf and hard-of-hearing individ-
uals has brought about both new tools and improvements to existing ones,
whether they are corrective aids, compensatory aids, or educational-didactic
aids. Technological advancements have also facilitated the creation of pro-
grams and applications that simplify communication for people with hear-
ing impairments. Nowadays, it is possible to use video calls on phones for
real-time communication. Over time, technologies like fax machines and
teletypewriters have been replaced by more modern and faster methods of
communication – thanks to computers, smartphones, and the Internet (Pit-
nerová, 13; Pecháčková, 17). The development of digital technologies has
thus enhanced and expanded the possibilities for both intra-cultural and in-
tercultural communication for individuals with hearing impairments.
Students with hearing impairments use hearing aids, such as radio trans-
missions of sound: FM systems or cochlear implants. Other devices serve for
induction listening of sound (induction loops and wired and wireless ampli-
fiers. Signalising devices can also help during school time (alarm clocks, tim-
ers, tools detecting and signalising sound). Software applications cover auto-
matic computer speech recognition (technology that allows a computer to

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