Development of a handwritten note-taking system for the support of hard-of-hearing students participating in lectures

Objective: Note-taking can be used during lectures to make reasonable accommodation for hard-of-hearing students. Focusing on handwritten note-taking, we have developed a new system aimed at providing better support in terms of reasonable accommodation. Main Content: In Japanese higher education, there is an increasing awareness of the importance of reasonable accommodation for students with disabilities. Hard-of-hearing students are provided with note-taking support that helps ensure understanding by providing them with note-takers who write down the lecture content. Usually, two note-takers are assigned to sit together with a hard-of-hearing student. This three-person group typically sits in the first row of the classroom, away from the rest of the class. The eyes of the assisted student are often focused on their notes and tend to miss the subtle facial expressions of the teacher as well as any visual aids that may be projected on the classroom screen. These classroom conditions may decrease the sense of involvement or participation in the class for hard-of-hearing students. To address these issues, the author developed a handwritten note-taking system. Results and Conclusion: The results from experimental use of the device in a classroom environment suggests that it can help hard-of-hearing students regain a sense of involvement or participation in their class, because they are able to sit away from their note-takers and find seats of their own and can choose to sit closer to their classmates.