1. Special school for students with impaired hearing Prof. Dr
Special school for students with impaired hearing Prof. Dr. Stoyan Belinov – Plovdiv Pilot Experiment - Scenario 2

2. Structure: Kindergarten; School from 1 to 12 grade;
Boarding house for needy children
Options:
training in class-lesson form;
training on individual and complex programs for obtaining secondary education in specialties:
- culinary;
- operator in sewing production;
- operator in furniture production;
to support the personal development of SEN pupils from mainstream schools.
At the Special school for students with hearing impairment, children with hearing impairment and students with multiple disabilities are trained. They are attended by a pedagogical team of different specialists, most of them by surdopedagogic teachers:
- teachers in general subjects;
- hearing and speech rehabilitators;
- educators;
- a psychologist.

3. Why did we decide to participate in the project?
Our students are wonderful children who can do a lot, but have no hearing, and sometimes this condition is accompanied by other illnesses. They come to us at three or six years aged. There are no sounds and developed speech, no ideas about the world or only mere ones.
State educational standards are often unattainable to them, and textbooks are complex and uninteresting.
Mobile devices are of interest to all children, especially those who do not have access to them.
Considering all this, and especially with the blatant need for more and more visual means, as well as the possibility of them being accompanied by sign language translation, as well as the desire to make textbooks accessible to all, we decided to work on the project.

4. THE WORK PROCESS 1. The preparation:
Teachers analyzed text, charts, pictures, tables, and tasks in the textbook. They chose the topics. They figured out which of the schemas can be animated, where to add movies or photos.
After selecting IT resources, they produced videos with text and sign language translation. Jazz Rassol of RAVE University (UK) assembled the materials in complete resources. Due to the specificity of the various resources, in some of the video materials the text starts first, with sign language translation, and then the movie begins, while in others, text, translation and video appear on the screen simultaneously, while others contain only text and a picture or a movie.
QR codes were made for every resource which we printed and stuck to the necessary places in the textbooks or on separate work sheets.

5. 2. The experiment during the learning process
Right from the beginning, the pedagogical team for support and personal development identified two main groups: 1. Students with impaired hearing and clearly expressed learning needs and interests.
2. Students with impaired hearing and concomitant problems: other diseases, retarded development, social negligence.
Students from the first group coped quickly with the use of the tablet and the QR code. The interest in the selected resources was great and the lessons changed entirely. The children worked with desire, showed creativity, and found their own materials by themselves. They tried to show more knowledge and skills, compared, analyzed. The motivation for academic work increased, which led to an increase in knowledge and success.

6. At school we work individually with children with multiple disabilities. They are present in general education classes - GEC, but feel isolated, especially when they realize their differences.
With great desire, open interest and persistence, this girl learned to work with the tablet. So she participated in the implementation of the assigned tasks on a par with the others.
Students in the second group have low needs due to the many shortcomings in social life and many gaps in the curriculum. They quickly acquired the skills to work with tablets and use them in the lessons. They worked actively and willingly. The interest in the subjects and the school as a whole has increased.
Parents said their children insist on coming to school even when the weather conditions are severe or the family is experiencing serious financial difficulties - in order to be able to work with tablets. Absentee declined compared to the previous year.

7. RESULTS:
The absent pupils in the classes of the subjects involved in the experiments decreased. Achievements have increased.
The goals set at the beginning of the project are fulfilled. It may even be said that in some respects the outcomes have exceeded expectations - for example, the interest in working with mobile devices in children with mental disabilities.
Students can easily open a QR code resource using a mobile device.
Students are generally aware of the unlimited possibilities of using the QR code in terms of expanding and modifying not only a given class unit but also any other text.
Both students and their parents are convinced that mobile technology can serve as a learning tool and not only for fun, as well as not to lose its attractiveness at the same time.

8. In the end of the school year %
Results from the survey among students (sample):
Questions
І term – %
In the end of the school year %
Which is your favorite subject?
Biology and health education
Geography and Economics
Physical education and sport
51.39
45.85
63.89
91.66
100 75
Do you want to watch popular science films?
52.75
70.83
Sometimes I do not listen in class because it is boring:
40.95
What do you say at home?
- what mark you received and for what
- what you learn and how it can be used
- what happened in the break
41.66
6.25
93.75
60.41
To come to school with pleasure, you must:
- do nothing
- it must be really interesting
94.44

9. In the end of the school year - %
Results from the survey among the teachers (sample):
Въпроси
І term - %
In the end of the school year - %
Do your pupils often do things that are not relevant to the learning process?
- often
- sometimes
- never
33.33
58.33
8.33
16.67 25
Are your pupils looking for you in relation to the subject you teach?              - no              - rarely              - often
Do you feel the need to change something in your class?              - yes, but I do not know what              - yes, but I lack resources              - I do not want to change anything
83.33

10. Our conclusions: the subjects in the pilot project became favourite for the students. - The interest to the learning work increased, the knowledge in some areas also has increased mobile technologies complement the textbooks, support the work of the teacher, increase interest in education, motivate students' desire for systematic attendance at school and self-education. - "MRIDGE" contributed to the support of the personal development and training of the students from the Special school for students with impaired hearing "Prof. Dr. Stoyan Belinov "- Plovdiv.

11. Thank you sincerely!