skip to main content
10.1145/3064663.3064689acmconferencesArticle/Chapter ViewAbstractPublication PagesdisConference Proceedingsconference-collections
research-article

Enabling Collaboration in Learning Computer Programing Inclusive of Children with Vision Impairments

Published: 10 June 2017 Publication History

Abstract

We investigate how technology can support collaborative learning by children with mixed-visual abilities. Responding to a growing need for tools inclusive of children with vision impairments (VI) for the teaching of computer programing to novice learners, we explore Torino -- a physical programing language for teaching programing constructs and computational thinking to children age 7-11. We draw insights from 12 learning sessions with Torino that involved five pairs of children with vision ranging from blindness to full-sight. Our findings show how sense-making of the technology, collaboration, and learning were enabled through an interplay of system design, programing tasks and social interactions, and how this differed between the pairs. The paper contributes insights on the role of touch, audio and visual representations in designs inclusive of people with VI, and discusses the importance and opportunities provided through the 'social' in negotiations of accessibility, for learning, and for self-perceptions of ability and self-esteem.

References

[1]
Fumihito Aizawa and Tetsuya Watanabe. 2014. A braille writing training device with voice feedback. In Proceedings of the 16th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers & accessibility (ASSETS '14). ACM, 243--244.
[2]
Douglas Astler, Harrison Chau, Kailin Hsu, Alvin Hua, Andrew Kannan, Lydia Lei, et al. 2011. Increased accessibility to nonverbal communication through facial and expression recognition technologies for blind/visually impaired subjects. In The proceedings of the 13th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers and accessibility (ASSETS '11). ACM, 259--260.
[3]
Matthew T. Atkinson, Sabahattin Gucukoglu, Colin H. C. Machin, and Adrian E. Lawrence. 2006. Making the mainstream accessible: redefining the game. In Proceedings of the 2006 ACM SIGGRAPH symposium on Videogames (Sandbox '06). ACM, 21--28.
[4]
Steve Benford, et al. 2000. Designing storytelling technologies to encouraging collaboration between young children. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '00). ACM, 556--563.
[5]
Jeffrey P. Bigham, Maxwell B. Aller, Jeremy T. Brudvik, Jessica O. Leung, Lindsay A. Yazzolino, and Richard E. Ladner. 2008. Inspiring blind high school students to pursue computer science with instant messaging chatbots. In Proceedings of the 39th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education (SIGCSE '08). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 449--453.
[6]
Stacy M. Branham and Shaun K. Kane. 2015. Collaborative Accessibility: How Blind and Sighted Companions Co-Create Accessible Home Spaces. In Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '15). ACM, 2373--2382.
[7]
Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke. 2006. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3(2), 77--101.
[8]
Linda Bussell. 2003. Touch tiles: Elementary geometry software with a haptic and auditory interface for visually impaired children. In Proceedings of the EuroHaptics Conference, 512--515.
[9]
Maria Claudia Buzzi, Marina Buzzi, Barbara Leporini, and Caterina Senette. 2015. Playing with geometry: a Multimodal Android App for Blind Children. In Proceedings of the 11th Biannual Conference on Italian SIGCHI Chapter (CHItaly 2015). ACM, 134137.
[10]
Herbert H. Clark, and Susan E. Brennan. 1991. Grounding in communication. Perspectives on socially shared cognition 13, 127--149.
[11]
Dept. of Education. 2013. Computing programmes of study: key stages 1 and 2. National curriculum in England. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/239033/PRIMARY_national_curriculum_-_Computing.pdf
[12]
Pierre Dillenbourg. 1999. What do you mean by collaborative learning? In P. Dillenbourg (ed) Collaborative-learning: Cognitive and Computational Approaches. Oxford: Elsevier, 1--19.
[13]
Paul Dourish and Victoria Bellotti. 1992. Awareness and coordination in shared workspaces. In Proceedings of the 1992 ACM conference on Computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW '92). ACM, 107--114.
[14]
Konstantinos Drossos, Nikolaos Zormpas, George Giannakopoulos, and Andreas Floros. 2015. Accessible games for blind children, empowered by binaural sound. In Proceedings of the 8th ACM International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments (PETRA '15). ACM, Article 5, 8 pages.
[15]
Caitlin Duncan, Tim Bell, and Steve Tanimoto. 2014. Should your 8-year-old learn coding?. In Proceedings of the 9th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education (WiPSCE '14). ACM, 60--69.
[16]
Jerry Alan Fails, Mona Leigh Guha, and Allison Druin. 2012. Methods and techniques for involving children in the design of new technology for children. Human-- Computer Interaction 6, no. 2 (2012), 85--166. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.696.1789&rep=rep1&type=pdf
[17]
Kay Alicyn Ferrell. 2011. Reach out and teach: Helping your child who is visually impaired learn and grow. American Foundation for the Blind, 1--131.
[18]
Hugo Fernandes, José Faria, Hugo Paredes, and João Barroso. 2011. An integrated system for blind day-today life autonomy. In The proceedings of the 13th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers and accessibility (ASSETS '11). ACM, 225--226.
[19]
Johnny Friberg and Dan Gärdenfors. 2004. Audio games: new perspectives on game audio. In Proceedings of the 2004 ACM SIGCHI International Conference on Advances in computer entertainment technology (ACE '04). ACM, 148--154.
[20]
Jeffrey Froyd. 2014. Positive interdependence, individual accountability, promotive interaction: Three pillars of cooperative learning. The Foundation Coalition, Accessed Jun 17 (2014). http://www.foundationcoalition.org/publications/brochures/acl_piiapi.pdf
[21]
Susan R. Fussell, Robert E. Kraut, and Jane Siegel. 2000. Coordination of communication: effects of shared visual context on collaborative work. In Proceedings of the 2000 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work (CSCW '00). ACM, 21--30.
[22]
Eitan Glinert and Lonce Wyse. 2007. AudiOdyssey: an accessible video game for both sighted and non-sighted gamers. In Proceedings of the 2007 conference on Future Play (Future Play '07). ACM, 251--252.
[23]
Tiago Guerreiro, Paulo Lagoá, Hugo Nicolau, Daniel Gonçalves, and Joaquim A. Jorge. 2008. From tapping to touching: Making touch screens accessible to blind users. IEEE MultiMedia 15(4), 48--50.
[24]
Christian Heath and Paul Luff. 1992. Collaboration and control: Crisis management and multimedia technology in London Underground Line Control Rooms. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) 1, 6994
[25]
James Hollan, Edwin Hutchins, and David Kirsh. 2000. Distributed cognition: toward a new foundation for human-computer interaction research. ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact. 7, 2,174--196.
[26]
Michael S. Horn and Robert J. K. Jacob. 2007. Designing tangible programming languages for classroom use. In Proceedings of the 1st international conference on Tangible and embedded interaction (TEI '07). ACM, 159--162.
[27]
Michael S. Horn, R. Jordan Crouser, and Marina U. Bers. 2012. Tangible interaction and learning: the case for a hybrid approach. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing 16(4), 379--389.
[28]
Eva Hornecker. 2011. The role of physicality in tangible and embodied interactions. interactions 18, 2, 19--23.
[29]
Eva Hornecker and Jacob Buur. 2006. Getting a grip on tangible interaction: a framework on physical space and social interaction. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '06). ACM, 437--446.
[30]
Eva Hornecker, Paul Marshall, and Yvonne Rogers. 2007. From entry to access: how shareability comes about. In Proceedings of the 2007 conference on Designing pleasurable products and interfaces (DPPI '07). ACM, 328--342.
[31]
Maya Israel, Quentin M. Wherfel, Jamie Pearson, Saadeddine Shehab, and Tanya Tapia. 2015. Empowering K-12 Students With Disabilities to Learn Computational Thinking and Computer Programming. TEACHING Exceptional Children 48(1), 45- 52.
[32]
Chandrika Jayant, Christine Acuario, William Johnson, Janet Hollier, and Richard Ladner. 2010. V-braille: haptic braille perception using a touch-screen and vibration on mobile phones. In Proceedings of the 12th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers and accessibility (ASSETS '10). ACM, 295--296.
[33]
Sanna Järvelä, Paul A. Kirschner, Ernesto Panadero, Jonna Malmberg, Chris Phielix, Jos Jaspers, Marika Koivuniemi, and Hanna Järvenoja. 2015. Enhancing socially shared regulation in collaborative learning groups: designing for CSCL regulation tools. Educational Technology Research and Development 63(1), 125--142.
[34]
Shaun K. Kane and Jeffrey P. Bigham. 2014. Tracking @stemxcomet: teaching programming to blind students via 3D printing, crisis management, and twitter. In Proceedings of the 45th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education (SIGCSE '14). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 247--252.
[35]
Jeeeun Kim, Abigale Stangl, and Tom Yeh. 2014. Using LEGO to model 3D tactile picture books by sighted children for blind children. In Proceedings of the 2nd ACM symposium on Spatial user interaction (SUI '14). ACM, 146--146.
[36]
Joy Kim and Jonathan Ricaurte. 2011. TapBeats: accessible and mobile casual gaming. In The proceedings of the 13th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers and accessibility (ASSETS '11). ACM, 285--286.
[37]
Marjan Laal, and Seyed Mohammad Ghodsi. 2012. Benefits of collaborative learning. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 31, 486--490.
[38]
David Langdon, George McKittrick, David Beede, Beethika Khan, and Mark Doms. 2011. STEM: Good Jobs Now and for the Future. ESA Issue Brief #03--11. US Dept. of Commerce, 1--10. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED522129.pdf
[39]
Mats Liljedahl, Nigel Papworth, and Stefan Lindberg. 2007. Beowulf: an audio mostly game. In Proceedings of the international conference on Advances in computer entertainment technology (ACE '07). ACM, 200--203.
[40]
Siân E. Lindley. 2006. The effect of the affordances offered by shared interfaces on the social behaviour of collocated groups. PhD Thesis, University of York, 2231. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.440
[41]
Stephanie Ludi, Lindsey Ellis, and Scott Jordan. 2014. An accessible robotics programming environment for visually impaired users. In Proceedings of the 16th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers & accessibility (ASSETS '14). ACM, 237238.
[42]
Rachel J. McCrindle, and David Symons. 2000. Audio space invaders. Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Disability, Virtual Reality and Associated Technologies, 59--65.
[43]
Orni Meerbaum-Salant, Michal Armoni, and Mordechai Ben-Ari. 2013. Learning computer science concepts with Scratch. Computer Science Education 23(3), 239--264.
[44]
Lauren R. Milne, Cynthia L. Bennett, and Richard E. Ladner. 2013. VBGhost: a braille-based educational smartphone game for children. In Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '13). ACM, Article 75, 2 pages.
[45]
Lauren R. Milne, Cynthia L. Bennett, Richard E. Ladner, et al. 2014. BraillePlay: educational smartphone games for blind children. In Proceedings of the 16th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers & accessibility (ASSETS '14). ACM, 137--144.
[46]
Cecily Morrison, Nicolas Villar, Anja Thieme, Zahra Ashkorab, EloiseTaysom, Oscar Salandin, Daniel Cletheroe, Greg Saul, Alan F. Blackwell, Darren Edge, Martin Grayson and Haiyan Zhang. Torino: A tangible programming language inclusive of children with visual disabilities. Manuscript in review.
[47]
Saija Patomäki, Roope Raisamo, Jouni Salo, Virpi Pasto, and Arto Hippula. 2004. Experiences on haptic interfaces for visually impaired young children. In Proceedings of the 6th international conference on Multimodal interfaces (ICMI '04). ACM, 281--288.
[48]
Simon Peyton-Jones, Bill Mitchell, and Simon Humphreys. Computing at school in the UK: from guerrilla to gorilla. Communications of the ACM, 2013, 1--13.
[49]
Beryl Plimmer, Andrew Crossan, Stephen A. Brewster, and Rachel Blagojevic. 2008. Multimodal collaborative handwriting training for visually-impaired people. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '08). ACM, 393402.
[50]
Primo Toys. 2016. Cubetto -- Hand on coding for ages 3 and up. Last retrieved March 14th, 2016 from https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/primotoys/cubett o-hands-on-coding-for-girls-and-boys-aged-3
[51]
Jeremy Roschelle and Stephanie D. Teasley. 1995. The construction of shared knowledge in collaborative problem solving. Computer supported collaborative learning, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 69--97.
[52]
Patrick Roth, Lori Stefano Petrucci, André Assimacopoulos, and Thierry Pun. 2000. From dots to shapes: an auditory haptic game platform for teaching geometry to blind pupils, 603--610. http://archiveouverte.unige.ch/unige:47915
[53]
Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB). Education and learning. Last retrieved 8th March 2016 from http://www.rnib.org.uk/information-Everydayliving/education-and-learning
[54]
Jaime Sánchez, and Fernando Aguayo. 2005. Blind learners programming through audio. In CHI '05 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '05). ACM, 1769--1772.
[55]
Jaime Sánchez, Mauricio Saenz, and Jose Miguel Garrido. 2010. Usability of a Multimodal Video Game to Improve Navigation Skills for Blind Children. ACM Trans. Access. Comput. 3, 2, Article 7, 29 pages.
[56]
Anthony Savidis and Constantine Stephanidis. 1995. Developing dual user interfaces for integrating blind and sighted users: the HOMER UIMS. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '95), Irvin R. Katz, Robert Mack, Linn Marks, Mary Beth Rosson, and Jakob Nielsen (Eds.). ACM, 106--113.
[57]
Lei Shi, Idan Zelzer, Catherine Feng, and Shiri Azenkot. 2016. Tickers and Talker: An Accessible Labeling Toolkit for 3D Printed Models. In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '16). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 4896--4907.
[58]
Kristen Shinohara and Jacob O. Wobbrock. 2016. SelfConscious or Self-Confident? A Diary Study Conceptualizing the Social Accessibility of Assistive Technology. ACM Trans. Access. Comput. 8, 2, Article 5 (January 2016), 31 pages.
[59]
Robert M. Siegfried. 2006. Visual programming and the blind: the challenge and the opportunity. In Proceedings of the 37th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education (SIGCSE '06). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 275--278.
[60]
Calle Sjöström. 2001. Using haptics in computer interfaces for blind people. In CHI '01 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '01). ACM, 245--246.
[61]
Ann C. Smith, Joan M. Francioni, and Sam D. Matzek. 2000. A Java programming tool for students with visual disabilities. In Proceedings of the fourth international ACM conference on Assistive technologies (Assets '00). ACM, 142--148.
[62]
Donggil Song, Arafeh Karimi, and Paul Kim. 2011. Toward designing mobile games for visually challenged children. In 2011 International Conference on e-Education, Entertainment and e-Management (ICEEE), IEEE, 2011, 234--238.
[63]
Gerry Stahl, Timothy Koschmann, and Dan Suthers. 2006. Computer-supported collaborative learning: An historical perspective. Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences, 409--426. http://gerrystahl.net/cscl/CSCL_English.htm
[64]
Abigale Stangl, Jeeeun Kim, and Tom Yeh. 2014. Technology to support emergent literacy skills in young children with visual impairments. In CHI '14 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '14). ACM, 1249--1254.
[65]
Andreas M. Stefik, Christopher Hundhausen, and Derrick Smith. 2011. On the design of an educational infrastructure for the blind and visually impaired in computer science. In Proceedings of the 42nd ACM technical symposium on Computer science education (SIGCSE '11). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 571--576.
[66]
Luis Valente, Clarisse Sieckenius de Souza, and Bruno Feijó. 2008. An exploratory study on non-visual mobile phone interfaces for games. In Proceedings of the VIII Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems (IHC '08). Sociedade Brasileira de Computação, 31--39.
[67]
Matt Wilkerson, Amanda Koenig, and James Daniel. 2010. Does a sonar system make a blind maze navigation computer game more "fun"?. In Proceedings of the 12th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers and accessibility (ASSETS '10). ACM, 309--310.
[68]
Michele A. Williams, Erin Buehler, Amy Hurst, and Shaun K. Kane. 2015. What not to wearable: using participatory workshops to explore wearable device form factors for blind users. In Proceedings of the 12th Web for All Conference (W4A '15). ACM, Article 31, 4 pages.
[69]
Fredrik Winberg and John Bowers. 2004. Assembling the senses: towards the design of cooperative interfaces for visually impaired users. In Proceedings of the 2004 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work (CSCW '04). ACM, 332--341.
[70]
Rayoung Yang, Sangmi Park, Sonali R. Mishra, et al. 2011. Supporting spatial awareness and independent wayfinding for pedestrians with visual impairments. In The proceedings of the 13th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers and accessibility (ASSETS '11). ACM.
[71]
Bei Yuan and Eelke Folmer. 2008. Blind hero: enabling guitar hero for the visually impaired. In Proceedings of the 10th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers and accessibility (Assets '08). ACM, 169--176.
[72]
Nicola Yuill and Yvonne Rogers. 2012. Mechanisms for collaboration: A design and evaluation framework for multi-user interfaces. ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact. 19, 1, Article 1 (May 2012), 25 pages.

Cited By

View all
  • (2024)Efeito da promoção do pensamento computacional nas habilidades do século XXI: uma revisão sistemática da literaturaRevista Brasileira de Informática na Educação10.5753/rbie.2024.321332(295-335)Online publication date: 27-Jun-2024
  • (2024)Double Feedback-based Coding Education Program for Visually Impaired StudentsThe Journal of Korean Institute of Information Technology10.14801/jkiit.2024.22.4.13922:4(139-149)Online publication date: 30-Apr-2024
  • (2024)Revisiting visual accessibility with non-textual content: challenges and solutions for human-computer interactionProceedings of the XXIII Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3702038.3702105(1-18)Online publication date: 7-Oct-2024
  • Show More Cited By

Index Terms

  1. Enabling Collaboration in Learning Computer Programing Inclusive of Children with Vision Impairments

    Recommendations

    Comments

    Information & Contributors

    Information

    Published In

    cover image ACM Conferences
    DIS '17: Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems
    June 2017
    1444 pages
    ISBN:9781450349222
    DOI:10.1145/3064663
    Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

    Sponsors

    Publisher

    Association for Computing Machinery

    New York, NY, United States

    Publication History

    Published: 10 June 2017

    Permissions

    Request permissions for this article.

    Check for updates

    Author Tags

    1. accessibility
    2. collaboration
    3. design for children
    4. education
    5. tactility
    6. tangibility
    7. visual disability
    8. visual impairment

    Qualifiers

    • Research-article

    Conference

    DIS '17
    Sponsor:
    DIS '17: Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2017
    June 10 - 14, 2017
    Edinburgh, United Kingdom

    Acceptance Rates

    DIS '17 Paper Acceptance Rate 107 of 487 submissions, 22%;
    Overall Acceptance Rate 1,158 of 4,684 submissions, 25%

    Upcoming Conference

    DIS '25
    Designing Interactive Systems Conference
    July 5 - 9, 2025
    Funchal , Portugal

    Contributors

    Other Metrics

    Bibliometrics & Citations

    Bibliometrics

    Article Metrics

    • Downloads (Last 12 months)75
    • Downloads (Last 6 weeks)7
    Reflects downloads up to 13 Feb 2025

    Other Metrics

    Citations

    Cited By

    View all
    • (2024)Efeito da promoção do pensamento computacional nas habilidades do século XXI: uma revisão sistemática da literaturaRevista Brasileira de Informática na Educação10.5753/rbie.2024.321332(295-335)Online publication date: 27-Jun-2024
    • (2024)Double Feedback-based Coding Education Program for Visually Impaired StudentsThe Journal of Korean Institute of Information Technology10.14801/jkiit.2024.22.4.13922:4(139-149)Online publication date: 30-Apr-2024
    • (2024)Revisiting visual accessibility with non-textual content: challenges and solutions for human-computer interactionProceedings of the XXIII Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3702038.3702105(1-18)Online publication date: 7-Oct-2024
    • (2024)Cuddling Up With a Print-Braille Book: How Intimacy and Access Shape Parents' Reading Practices with ChildrenProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642763(1-15)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
    • (2024)A Systematic Review of Ability-diverse Collaboration through Ability-based Lens in HCIProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3641930(1-21)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
    • (2024)Formative Evaluation of an Interactive Personalised Learning Technology to Inform Equitable Access and Inclusive Education for Children with Special Educational Needs and DisabilitiesTechnology, Knowledge and Learning10.1007/s10758-024-09739-0Online publication date: 3-May-2024
    • (2023)Using the Sonic Pi Application for Educational Purposes – A Literature ReviewEducatia 2110.24193/ed21.2023.26.12(108-119)Online publication date: 21-Dec-2023
    • (2023)Mixed Abilities and Varied Experiences: A Group Autoethnography of a Virtual Summer InternshipCommunications of the ACM10.1145/360462266:8(105-113)Online publication date: 25-Jul-2023
    • (2023)A Large-Scale Mixed-Methods Analysis of Blind and Low-vision Research in ACM and IEEEProceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility10.1145/3597638.3608412(1-20)Online publication date: 22-Oct-2023
    • (2023)Tangible Progress: Tools, Techniques, and Impacts of Teaching Web Development to Screen Reader UsersACM Transactions on Accessible Computing10.1145/358531516:1(1-33)Online publication date: 28-Mar-2023
    • Show More Cited By

    View Options

    Login options

    View options

    PDF

    View or Download as a PDF file.

    PDF

    eReader

    View online with eReader.

    eReader

    Figures

    Tables

    Media

    Share

    Share

    Share this Publication link

    Share on social media