{"678357":{"#nid":"678357","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Excel Students Design Customized Technologies Through HCI-centered Course","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are designing technologies tailored to them while teaching faculty and researchers about their needs in the process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERachel Lowy\u003C\/strong\u003E, a Ph.D. student in the School of Interactive Computing, piloted a new human-computer interaction design course for IDD students in Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/excel.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EExcel\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E program. Excel is an Inclusive Postsecondary Education (IPSE) program that offers a four-year track for IDD students to earn two separate certificates.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELowy said the course differs from typical technology courses taught to IDD students. It provides autonomy and encourages students to contribute input on how the course is designed and which technology projects they want to create. They reflect critically on the role of technology in the world and use that reflection to design technology for themselves.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe course is also unique because it involves a mix of professional educators and technology researchers working together. Lowy taught the class alongside her advisor, Assistant Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/people\/jennifer-kim\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJennifer Kim\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, her lab colleague, Kaely Hall, master\u2019s students in the Georgia Tech MS-HCI program, computer science undergraduates, and Excel educators.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe have a few models of students designing next to designers in classrooms, but they tend to be only taught by professionals in K-12 education, not necessarily HCI researchers in higher education. They rarely include students with IDD,\u201d she said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn higher education, HCI projects may not go further than the classroom space. This course was special because we can teach these students with IDD high-level concepts about HCI and adopt their ideas into ongoing projects. We can keep working on them after the class has finished.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELowy said she designed the course based on previous work on accessible co-design and consulted with Assistant Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/tiles.cc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJessica Roberts\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, an educational technology researcher in the School of IC, to develop course materials. She refined the course with her co-teachers as she taught it, responding to observations and reflections from students.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf the students had not been allowed to provide their input, Lowy and her team would never have learned how IDD students prefer to use different technologies. Lowy said they took that feedback to implement strength-based activities.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSo much technology design for people with disabilities focuses on what they cannot do,\u201d she said. \u201cOur lab likes to focus on what they can do and their strengths.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring one class, the researchers brought a robot dog into the classroom to determine whether it could supply emotional support to the students. The feedback they received showed the students were more interested in how the robot dog could be a companion in day-to-day activities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe came in with an idea of how the participants might want to use the technology,\u201d Lowy said. \u201cThe students had a much broader view of what they might like to use this technology for. They reflected on their lives, and that\u2019s exactly what we want good design to do.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELowy said she hopes the course serves as a blueprint for inclusive advanced technology courses at the university level.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMost of their technology courses focus on workplace education like how to use Microsoft Suite, Google Calendar, or Outlook,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re working on more of a foundational level about how those technologies are designed and whether they work for them.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShe also said the course could be a step toward more inclusiveness in university classroom environments with traditional students and students with IDD learning together.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSomething that IPSE students have told me is that it\u2019s hard to keep up with lectures, and they sometimes struggle to keep up in class,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019d be great if they take a class specifically targeted to them at their own pace with a hands-on element to it, and they got to learn through experiential activities. Then they take the knowledge they\u2019ve gleaned into an inclusive class where they work with their peers.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShe also suggested other models universities might offer, like an Intro to HCI course for IDD students that allows them to work on projects with students enrolled in the traditional Intro to HCI course.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAny university with an IPSE program and an HCI program on campus can do this,\u201d she said.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERachel Lowy\u003C\/strong\u003E, a Ph.D. student in the School of Interactive Computing, piloted a new human-computer interaction design course for IDD students in Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/excel.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EExcel\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E program. Lowy said the course differs from typical technology courses taught to IDD students. It provides autonomy and encourages students to contribute input on how the course is designed and which technology projects they want to create.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are designing technologies tailored to them while teaching faculty and researchers about their needs in the process."}],"uid":"36530","created_gmt":"2024-11-12 16:41:45","changed_gmt":"2024-11-12 18:06:52","author":"Nathan Deen","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2024-11-12T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2024-11-12T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"675597":{"id":"675597","type":"image","title":"DSC_0360.JPG","body":null,"created":"1731434770","gmt_created":"2024-11-12 18:06:10","changed":"1731434770","gmt_changed":"2024-11-12 18:06:10","alt":"A robot dog stands in the middle of a classroom surrounded by people","file":{"fid":"259237","name":"DSC_0360.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/11\/12\/DSC_0360.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/11\/12\/DSC_0360.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":151704,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/11\/12\/DSC_0360.JPG?itok=XNMDegdJ"}}},"media_ids":["675597"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"50876","name":"School of Interactive Computing"}],"categories":[{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"42911","name":"Education"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"9153","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"174112","name":"excel program"},{"id":"411","name":"CEISMC"},{"id":"189625","name":"accessible education"},{"id":"10028","name":"Disabilities Research"},{"id":"242","name":"disabilities"},{"id":"185827","name":"learning disabilities"},{"id":"40051","name":"learning disability solutions"},{"id":"185875","name":"disability advocate"},{"id":"14646","name":"human-computer interaction"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENathan Deen\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECommunications Officer\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Interactive Computing\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["ndeen6@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}