Vyatka State University has opened the Resource Training and Methodological Center for the Education of People with Disabilities and Persons with Disabilities.
The guests could hear a welcoming speech producing by a reading machine Sara and a specialized device for reading "talking books". This equipment is used for persons with visual impairment.
Nadezhda Lapteva, head of the Center, presented hardware and software for workstations for students with visual and hearing impaired.
A workplace for students with visual impairment is represented by hardware that allows printing graphic images and reading printed materials. All the guests were shown software for screen access and magnifications, which combines both the screen magnification function and speech accompaniment. A great interest was caused by equipment for printing tactile graphics and a tablet for relief drawing.
The workplace for students with hearing impairment is presented by an automated workstation that allows the teacher's voice to be transmitted directly to the student's hearing aid (cochlear implant), eliminating the influence of extraneous noise and providing co-education for students with hearing impairment. The presentation of the Center activity demonstrated the work of a communicative system «Dialogue», which transfers speech into text, audio classes, radio classes and induction systems that allow students to hear the teacher's speech. Students of the boarding school for disabled highly appreciated this communicative system "Dialogue" consisting of two tablets. This system let them communicate on-line with students of Vyatka State University.
Vyacheslav Utyomov, head of Resource Management Department of the Educational Center, demonstrated interactive maps prepared in GIS format.
In order to provide scientific and methodological support to the activities of the Regional Training and Methodological Center for the Education of People with Disabilities VyatSU scientists developed a GIS map for the popular professions and employment of graduates with disabilities. The map encompasses seven key territories assigned to VyatSU: the Republic of Bashkortostan, Mari El, Tatarstan, the Udmurt and Chuvash Republics, Orenburg and Kirov Regions.
The map was made using GIS technology (geographic information system). It allows pointing out objects, and then analyzing them by a certain number of parameters, visualizing them and, based on these data, predicting events and phenomena.
Maps are available in both on-line and off-line modes (using the database archive and QGIS client program).
Anyone can use any of the modes and get information about the most popular professions for university graduates, not only in regions, but even in certain municipal districts and settlements. There is a possibility of color indication for areas with the largest and the least number of vacancies offered and indication by certain professions, which greatly simplifies navigation on the map and makes it more informative. The proposed salary is indicated for each locality on demanded professions. There is also a possibility of tracking location and professions that university graduates with disabilities were employed in 2017.
Thanks to GIS technology the Center employees now have an opportunity to overlay not only the maps of popular professions in separate layers, but also employment maps for graduates. It reveals the possibilities for forecasting and subsequent adjustment of necessary educational methods for university students and their teachers.
Vitaliy Lisovsky, dean of the Faculty of Technology, Engineering and Design, together with the employees of the Virtual Reality Laboratory of Vyatka State University presented the developed project of virtual reality and augmented reality application in the educational process for the disabled on examples of classes in disciplines "Life Safety" and "Descriptive Geometry" for persons with violation of the musculoskeletal system. Those interested could monitor hazardous and harmful production factors using virtual reality technology in real time. The technology of augmented reality made it possible to see three-dimensional models of engineering details.
For reference:
The goal of Resource Training and Methodological Center is to improve the quality and accessibility of higher education for people with disabilities.
The main tasks of the RTMC:
- Supporting the university activities for disabled people training;
- Sharing best practices for working with disabled students;
- Increasing the number of persons with disabilities oriented towards higher education, includingthose who entered universities;
- Increasing the number of students with disabilities who have successfully completed their studies in higher education programs;
- Increasing the number of employed graduates with disabilities.
