Constraint-based Temporal Reasoning and E-Learning Tools for Deaf Users. A Literature Review

Good literacy, i.e. a reasonable ability to read and write, is essential for everyone. It ensures a continuous process of personal maturation and a positive social integration. Deaf children encounter several difficulties in learning to read and write due to their disability. New technologies can be usefully employed to create tools for supporting them in tackling this problem. Mich’s PhD work is devoted to the design and the development of LODE (LOgic-based e-tool for DEaf children). LODE is an e-learning application whose goal is to stimulate Italian deaf children to reason on temporal dimension of narrative texts. This reasoning process enhances children’s ability to comprehend written texts. LODE proposes famous children’s stories and interactive exercises. Its technological core is composed of a constraint-based temporal reasoner. This report aims to present a review of the scientific literature concerning the design, the development and the evaluation of LODE. It starts introducing some background information on automated temporal reasoning with constraint programming. Then, it provides some literature on problems encountered in reading and writing by deaf children. It goes on characterizing deaf users. General speaking, knowing the main characteristics of users is essential to design effective and efficient systems for them. The report ends with a short state of the art of e-learning tools for deaf or hard of hearing people. This review helps identify LODE’s strong points and drawbacks.