Anthony Rhys, ICT Coordinator and Teacher, Trinity Fields School & Gesture SEN Interactive Technologies and Games (ITAG) Conference 2015 Health, Disability and EducationDates: Thursday 22 October 2015 - Friday 23 October 2015 Location: The Council House, NG1 2DT

1. Title page
Gesture Based Technology with hard
to engage pupils.

2. • Anthony Rhys- Trinity Fields School and Resource
Centre, Ystrad Mynach, Caerphilly.
• Teaching in SEN for 12 years, ICT coordinator for 4
years.
• Sector Leading Practice 2012, Naace 3rd
Millennium Award 2014, Naace SEN Impact
Award 2015. Digital Leader. Currently a Pioneer
School on Welsh Governments Digital
Competency Framework group.
• @trinityfieldsit
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Who am I?

3. • Good technology enables our pupils to do
things that they haven’t been able to do
before.
• Gesture based technology is intuitive and
instantaneous. It works for our pupils.
• New technology is coming out all the time- it’s
an exciting time to work in our sector.
• New technology requires an adaptable,
innovative approach from us as educators.
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Why am I here?

4. • A Gesture Based Technology Professional
Learning Community was formed in 2013.
• We have been involved in lots of trial and
error with using different emerging
technologies with pupils.
• We have occasionally backed this up with
quantative evidence.
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Overview

5. • The PLC has included around 20 schools from
Wales, England and Ireland.
• We meet about once a term.
• We run a wiki site to disperse everything that
we find out.
https://gesturesen.wikispaces.com/
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6. • Been using since 2012 in 1-1 sessions.
• Have used Somantics, Visikord, Processing
sketches, Z-Vector and Xbox programs like
Kinect Party.
• Main uses: An Engagement tool. Body/self
awareness work for low functioning pupils
with ASD.
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Kinect

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Floor Projector
• Very useful for pupils with physical disabilities.
• A mobile floor one used.
• Had some great engagement and
communication from hard to engage pupils.

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iPads
• Earlier PLC in 2012.
• Very useful piece of kit, the main technology
used throughout the school.

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Eyegaze Systems
• Have ran a funded support project for 21
eyegaze users in school.
• Great success for most- we now have 6
eyegaze units in school.
• Reaping some immense rewards now with
pupil achievement.

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Eyetracking
• Have ran a funded support project for 10
pupils in school.
• Looking into cognitive abilities and interests of
our most hard to reach pupils.
• Currently in Phase2- completing assessment
evidence with the recordings.

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Virtual Reality
• Used the Oculus Rift DK2 development kit.
• Again mainly for engagement purposes, some
curriculum content and also sensory uses.
• Only school in UK so far using one?

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Virtual Reality
• It is a ‘safe’ way to learn about social skills and
dangers.
• It is a safe way to experience exotic places and
experiences.
• It is the only way that you are going to get
some pupils on rollercoasters and in hot air
balloons
• It’s a fantastic portable sensory room.

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Main Principles
• Go for it- be imaginative.
• Don’t wait for someone else to tell you what
to do with a new technology- you know your
pupils.
• Pupils are the best assessors of new
technology- they give instant and brutally
honest feedback.
• Don’t plan too much- try first then plan.

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• If it isn’t working do something different.
• Be generous with your findings and others will
help you.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help- coders,
companies and academics have all been
helpful.
• Don’t be afraid of technology- what is the
worst that could go wrong?

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Issues
Time to install and technical difficulties.
Adoption by other staff and embedding in the
school.
Costs.
Convincing management that a risk is worth
taking.

21. Thank you
Any questions?