Paper-based multimedia interaction as learning tool for disabled children

The purpose of our research is to support cognitive, motor, and emotional development of severely disabled children in the school context. We designed and implemented a set of novel learning experiences that are both low-cost and easily customizable, and combine the visual communication paradigm of Augmented Alternative Communication (ACC) with multimedia tangible technology. Using an application framework developed at our lab (called "Talking Paper"), teachers and therapists can easily associate conventional paper based elements (e.g., PCS cards, drawings, pictures) to multimedia resources (videos, sounds, animations), and create playful interactive spaces that are customized to the specific learning needs of each disabled child. Paper based elements work as visual representations for the concepts children must learn, as communication devices, and as physical affordances for interacting with multimedia resources. The paper presents the approach and its application in a real school context, highlighting the benefits for both disabled and non disabled children. The latter were involved as co-designers of multimedia contents and learning activities. Their creative participation favored group-binding and increased tolerance and sense of community in the classroom, so that the overall project became a means for real inclusive education.