Mobile Learning Week February 23-27, 2015 Sign Language Mobile Assistive Technology -- Morocco Mobile Learning Week February 23-27, 2015

Mobile Learning Week February 23-27, 2015 Sign Language Mobile Assistive Technology A. Soudi1 and C. Vinopol2 1 Center for Languages and Communication/Ingénierie Linguistique, Technologie et Handicap, ENMSR– Morocco asoudi@gmail.com 2 Institute for Disabilities Research and Training, Inc. United States corinne@idrt.com Mobile Learning Week February 23-27, 2015

Deaf Education in Morocco Education of deaf children in Morocco is very dire: • Approximately 85% do not attend school and there is no education beyond 6th grade. • Most teachers who do work with this population have no training in special education. • Illiteracy within the deaf population (300,000) is rampant. • Educational materials that incorporate Moroccan Sign Language (MSL) are almost non-existent and only handmade.

US-Moroccan Collaboration Over the past several years, we have been collaborating with the Institute for Disabilities Research and Training, Inc (IDRT), a woman-owned small business in Maryland: PEER Science Project cycle 3: “Tools and resources to improve deaf educational access to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics” PEER Science Project Cycle 1: “Assistive Technologies for improving Literacy among the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing” _______________________

US-Moroccan Collaboration Moroccan Sign Language Instructional Materials Literacy Literacy Innovations Round 2 Competition All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development

Our Goal To develop high quality, low-cost technology ASSISTIVE solutions that: • Enhance literacy by incorporating sign language supports • Help professionals and parents create and share their own sign language-supported instructional materials • Provide sign language users with instructional materials and tools to improve their life-long learning and communication

Accomplishments To date, the collaboration between the US and Moroccan teams has resulted in: • Standard Written Arabic-to-Moroccan Sign Language (MSL) translator • Dictionary showing MSL graphic and video translations of common vocabulary • Storybooks • Educational Games (crossword puzzles, etc.) • Quizzes

This is the welcome page of our “Translation” application: “Text/Sign Translation”, “Categorization”, “Dictionary”, “Keyboard”, etc.

This is the welcome page of the “Discover” application This is the welcome page of the “Discover” application. Users can choose an item that represents a category (e.g. Health, Animals, Time, Education etc. )

. After choosing a category (in this case “TIME”) the user should watch the video of the sign, and then click the appropriate word on the left. This tool is useful not only for the Deaf but also for their parents and service providers.

This is the welcome page of the “Maths” tool, the user can choose among the four basic arithmetic operations.

The “Text/Sign Translation” section allows the translation from a typed/scanned Arabic Standard Text (AST) to Moroccan Sign Language (MSL). The output in MSL can be in the form of Graphic Signs or videos.

This is the welcome page of the “Story”application; the window shows four stories represented by the four clickable images.

After choosing a story, the user can navigate easily through the story by using the right and left arrow; the user can read and at the same time view the story signed in MSL (video) on the the left at the top. Also he/she can see the MSL translation (in video) of some individual words that are colored and underlined in the text of each scene.

Goal: To secure further funding in order to: • Perpetuate the collaboration between the Moroccan and US R&D teams so as to develop more technology and expand its dissemination. • Modify the technology developed for the benefit of deaf and hard of hearing children and youth in other Arabic-speaking countries (initially) and later to other countries in need of such technology.

Moroccan Team

USA partner team

Contact Information Morocco Team Email: asoudi@gmail.com USA Team corinne@idrt.com