Open AccessUser Experiences of Eye Gaze Classroom Technology for Children With Complex Communication Needs
Author(s) -
Michelle Lui,
Amrita Maharaj,
Roula Shimaly,
Asiya Atcha,
Hamza Ali,
Stacie Carroll,
Rhonda McEwen
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of special education technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.676
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 2381-3121
pISSN - 0162-6434
DOI - 10.1177/01626434211019399
Subject(s) - eye tracking , augmentative and alternative communication , gaze , psychology , session (web analytics) , nonverbal communication , tracking (education) , special education , assistive technology , developmental psychology , computer science , pedagogy , human–computer interaction , psychiatry , world wide web , psychoanalysis , computer vision
This study examines interactions between students with atypical motor and speech abilities, their teachers, and eye tracking devices under varying conditions typical of educational settings (e.g., interactional style, teacher familiarity). Twelve children (aged 4–12 years) participated in teacher-guided sessions with eye tracking software that are designed to develop augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) skills. Assessments of expressive communication skills before and after the testing period demonstrated significant improvements. 164 sessions conducted over a 3-month period were analyzed for positive engagement (e.g., gaze direction, session time) and system effectiveness (e.g., lag time, gaze registration) between integrated and non-integrated systems. Findings showed that integrated systems were associated with significantly longer sessions, more time spent looking at the screen, greater proportion of gaze targets registered by the system, and higher response rate to prompts from teachers. We discuss the implications for the facilitated use of eye tracking devices in special education classrooms.