engleski

Innovative ICT Services and Applications for Education of Persons with Complex Communication Needs

The project „ICT Competence Network for Innovative Services for Persons with Complex Communication Needs (ICT-AAC)“ was aimed at the high value-added sector of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) with the focus on developing the know-how on ICT-based alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) services and applications targeted at education of persons with complex communication needs (CCN). Persons with CCN are individuals who are unable to use speech as their primary method of communication. While reasons for CCN differ widely, such as due to physical and/or intellectual impairment, Down Syndrome, or Autistic Spectrum Disease, AAC methods based on the use of graphic and textual symbols (rather than written words alone) to represent certain objects, actions, or concepts, have been proven as highly beneficial (and in certain cases critical) for improving speech, literacy, learning, employment, and quality of life for persons with CCN. In the context of the ICT-AAC project, ICT-based AAC services refer to services utilizing specific know-how on symbol- based human-to-human and human-to-machine communication in a computer and networking environment. Examples of ICT-based AAC services include means for communication (constructing sentences/phrases, sending e-mails, surfing the web, participating in social networks), learning and entertainment. During the ICT-AAC project 12 educational services and applications for smart mobile devices (tablets) based on operating systems iOS and Android was designed and developed, including 4 that can be used through the World Wide Web on any personal computer with Internet connectivity. Developed applications can be downloaded for free from online application stores, making them available to all children who have access to the Internet. ICT-AAC applications were downloaded more than 20, 000 times and have on average 60 new downloads every day (which means that every day 2 new classes of young children are beginning to use ICT-AAC applications). The ICT-AAC project team was awarded the “Ivan Filipovic Award”, the highest national award for notable achievements in the education activity, for designing and developing a set of innovative educational high-tech services and applications. The award explanation states that their scientific and professional work contributed significantly to the development and modernization of educational processes in the field of pre-school and early school education in Croatia, especially in the domain of people with CCN.

Information and Communication Technology; Innovation; Complex Communication Needs; Educational services and applications; ICT-AAC

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