Observation and Improvement of Mobile-Assisted Learning of Students with Visual Impairment: An Action-Research Study

Abstract

This study aims to develop a mobile-application-assisted learning environment for students with total vision loss. The mobile application to convert the texts in the field of view of the smartphone and tablet cameras into voice allowed for the identification of the students’ ability to remember the content, and action plans were prepared to improve the process with the collaboration of various researchers. This was an action-research study. The study participants included four students with total visual impairment. Special education teachers employed in two private education institutions, a researcher, a validity committee, and a mobile software designer who presented all the software development outcomes to the research team were included in the action research team. The data collection instruments included observations, interviews, weekly meeting notes, document reviews, collaboration committee reports, and recall tests. The action research lasted for eight weeks, including two weeks of preliminary stand-alone observation after the employment of digital assistance technologies and determination of the experiences of students with visual impairment. Technical and formal improvements were made based on mobile application data collected at regular intervals. The findings demonstrated that the mobile application contributed to the improvement of reading speed, addition of intimate everyday language and interaction elements to the learning content, and integration of pausing and automatic repetition of significant topics, thus increasing recall performance. It was observed in flipped learning that students who prepared for the learning content before class compensated for their deficiencies in the classroom environment, were exposed to alternative examples, could discuss the learning content with their peers, and achieved the intended learning level, while the inclusion of metacognitive questions in learning texts led to student anxiety and motivational problems. The study findings revealed that using mobile applications alone was not sufficient for complete learning, but were effective as auxiliary learning materials.