Development of content creation software for the classroom teachers of the hearing impaired: Alisyazar

The 8th article of the second part of the National Education Basic Law emphasizes that special measures should be taken for children in need of special education and that equal opportunities should be provided (Milli Eğitim Temel Kanunu, 1973). According to the statistics of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT) 2013, there are 834,000 hearing impaired individuals in Turkey. 42.000 of them constitute children and individuals with hearing impairment between 0 and 14 years of age (TURKSTAT, 2013). When the literature on the solution of the problems experienced by the hearing impaired students is examined, it has been seen that the hearing impaired students have mentioned the positive effects of the technological solutions for the difficulties in reading and meaning. It is emphasized that the use of visual aids in the teaching of hearing impaired students is a very important contribution. In this context, it can be said that the environments to be developed have a visually based content, which is one of the key roles in teaching hearing impairments. Classroom teachers of the hearing impaired students conduct education and training activities through individualized education and training plans (IEP; IIP) prepared for each student. It is also emphasized in the literature that education materials to be provided should be individualized for each student, but teachers of hearing impaired students do not have enough teaching materials within the scope of these plans. In this study, it is aimed to develop content creation software for the classroom teachers working in the field of hearing impaired. The study was carried out for three periods, covering spring 2016 and fall and spring 2017. In this context, the study is carried out with 5 different teachers in total; 3 teachers in the academic year of 2015-2016 and 4 teachers in the academic year of 2016-2017. The development of the software process carried out within the scope of design-based research. The qualitative case studies conducted to determining the opinions of the teachers about the software developed. In the study, structured interview form, semi-structured and unstructured interview, focus group interview, observation and document reviews were utilized. The obtained data were analysed by content analysis method. The findings of the study were presented in two different research questions. In the studies conducted for the determination of the components to be included in software; It has been determined that components such as interactive media and games, various printed materials, content development tools and auxiliary tools should be found in the developed system through observation, interviews and documents. The focus group interview was conducted on the second research question to determine the opinions of the teachers of the hearing impaired about software. In this context, teachers have expressed their opinion that the materials on the system are sufficient in number and variety, that the materials, tools and environments developed will save time and alleviate the workload.