Numeric key programming: Programmable robot kit for both visually impaired and sighted elementary school students

Abstract

In the informational society, it seems that elementary school students should learn programming and a robot kit such as LEGO is used as one of adequate programming materials. However, almost all programming tools for beginners employ graphical user interface, so visually impaired students cannot use such programming tools. To reduce the problem, we have proposed a new programming material only using a numeric keypad and a mobile toy robot. In this paper, we show the architecture of our programming environment. And we had experimental classes, which were focused on the ease of use it for both visually impaired and sighted students. As a result, visually impaired students were able to obtain the programming skill within 15 min at maximum from their first touch of the robot. On the other hands, sighted students spent only 5 min to use the robot.