Abstract:

Background:
This presentation describes a recent advance of the C-Print classroom captioning system so that it works with a Tablet PC. C-Print is a classroom captioning service that is increasingly being used to support students who are deaf/hard of hearing (D/HH) who are placed in general education classrooms. C-Print provides approximately 700 hours of service each week to D/HH students in general education classes at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and is the most widely used captioning system at the postsecondary level in the United States. The support service is also used in many secondary school classrooms.
C-Print technology uses standard laptop and Tablet PC computers. A trained service provider uses the word-abbreviation feature in C-Print Pro™ to closely capture lecture information. Specialized software, C-Print Pro, allows transformation of phonetics-based abbreviations into full words on the computer screen and produces a real-time display. The system produces a real-time display that the student can read on a laptop computer. The electronic file can also be saved and used for review after class.

Methods:
Use of tablet PCs may significantly improve support services for D/HH students, especially when a class includes both spoken and graphical information, such as most mathematics and science classes. Two options for using C-Print with a Tablet PC have been developed: (a) a notetaking option and (b) a captioning option. With the notetaking option, students view notes in real-time on a Tablet PC as they are being recorded by a notetaker. In the second option, in which tablet technology is used with captioning support, a service provider uses a Tablet PC to provide graphical information side-by-side with the text on the student’s computer display. Four mixed-method field studies, two with secondary students and two with postsecondary students, have been conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of providing C-Print support to D/HH students in general education classrooms.

Results and conclusion:
The presentation will include evidence from four studies that have determined that the C-Print Tablet version is feasible to implement in classrooms and that it benefits D/HH students’ communication access and learning.