ChildSIDE mobile app for independent communication and mobility of children with PIMD/SMID: ICETM 2020, London, UK
Children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) or severe motor and intellectual disabilities (SMID) only communicate through movements, vocalizations, body postures, muscle tensions, or facial expressions on a pre-or proto symbolic level. Yet, to the best of our knowledge, hardly any system has been developed to collect their expressive behaviors and integrate them with location and environment data. Based on Scripts Theory and using location and environmental sensing technologies, we developed ChildSIDE. This mobile app collects caregivers’ interpretation of children with PIMD/SMID’s expressive behaviors with associated location and environment data. This study describes its design, development, and evaluation of its accuracy in terms of collecting behavior (versus paper-based collection) and transmitting location (iBeacon and GPS) and environment data (ALPS Sensors and OpenWeatherMap API) to the database. We had the chance to present and introduce our study at the 2020 3rd International Conference on Education Technology Management (ICETM) was held in London, United Kingdom, from 17th to 19th of December 2020.
The conference focuses on educational technology, defined as the research and ethical practice of promoting learning and enhancing performance through developing, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources. It is a method for developing instruction or training to improve efficiency that is systematic and iterative. It includes learning theory, computer-based teaching, online learning, and m-learning when mobile apps are used.
