A Study of Using Smart Book to Enhance Communication Ability for Hearing-Impaired Students

Abstract

This research aimed to study the use of smart book to enhance communication ability and satisfaction of hearing-impaired students. The content for the research composed of three aspects; 1) Travelling by BTS, 2) Getting a personal identification (ID), and 3) Accessing health care service. The samples were 10 hearing-impaired high school students derived from purposive sampling. The research instruments were smart book, evaluation form of communication ability and questionnaire of satisfaction. The data was statistically analyzed by mean, standard deviation, and content analysis. The research findings were as follow: 1. The evaluation on communication ability found that the students gained the communication ability at the level of “good”. (X Ì…=2.84, S.D. = .37) Considering on any item, the students was able to communicate with others with most frequency (X Ì…= 3.00, S.D. = 0.00), the less was that the students were able to choose the content for communication (X Ì…= 2.90, S.D. = 0.32), and the students were able to apply in real situation, and applied the use of application to others. (X Ì…= 2.80, S.D. = 0.42) 2. The evaluation on satisfaction of the students to the smart book found that the quality of smart book was at the level of “most”. (X Ì…=4.52, S.D. = .58) Considering on any item, the application for communication ability was valuable for use with the most average (X Ì…= 4.90, S.D. = 0.32), the less was that the application was able to search for keywords conveniently and fast (X Ì…= 4.80, S.D. = 0.42), and the clarification of using sign language for explaining the content respectively. (X Ì…= 4.70, S.D. = 0.48)