Computing in Basic Education: Enhancing the learning of Geography for Students with Visual Disabilities

Abstract

Brazilian society does not guarantee people with disabilities the educational resources that allow for inclusive and egalitarian education for all. We prove the effectiveness and efficiency in the use of computational resources added to the designer's concepts for the development of an innovative and inclusive product. The research was carried out at the Benjamin Constant Institute. The methodology used was evolutionary computing prototyping and the interview technique for the validation of the Map. In the evaluation, we used the interview technique, questionnaires, in addition to non-participant systematic observation. Three geography teachers and ten visually impaired students who studied the proposed content participated. Teachers approved the technology in its characteristics and functionality, respectively, by 90.06% and 97%. Students rated the map features 94.54% and the features a 99.25% approval rating. The research promoted the quality of teaching to students with visual impairments when it allowed them to manage a volume of information about the Southeast Region of Brazil and increased their autonomy in allowing them to repeat any information they had not assimilated, without the need for help.

Keywords

• inclusion
• prototyping
• tactile maps
• teaching
• teaching materials