READINESS FOR USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR DEAF

EDUCATIOON IN INCLUSIVE LEARNING: THE FCE (SPECIAL), OYO

EXPERIENCE

BY

IDOWU, CECILIA OLANIKE

08038422254

[email protected]

and

OLAKULEHIN MARY DAMILARE

08165293700

[email protected]

2024

1
 Abstract

This paper assesses the readiness of Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo for use of
artificial intelligence in teaching her deaf and hard of hearing learners. Two research
questions were tested, one, availability of educational technology facilities ; two proficiency
of deaf and hard of hearing learners in using the facilities. Descriptive research statistics
was used. A sample of 200 deaf and hard of hearing learners were selected using purposive
random sampling technique. A questionnaire comprising list of educational technology
facilities was distributed among the learners. Mean scores were used for data analysis and
significant mean score value was 2.5. Results show a mean score value of 2.19 for
availability and 1.74 for proficiency, which means that the College is not ready for using
artificial intelligence in teaching deaf and hard of hearing learners. Recommendations were
made based on this finding.

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Introduction

Knowing the history of Deaf education is critical because it helps teachers appreciate

the transition that has taken place since the inception of Deaf Education in the country.

Ajavon (2006) in her study explained that neglect and abandonment is a recurrent word in the

history of persons with special needs. Government, society, and families, never found it hard

to sideline these individuals and this perception persists till date, Deaf education in Nigeria

began in the early 1950s through the efforts of Missionaries and Humanitarian groups

(Abang, 1995). Miss Alison Izzett was the first to take interest in the education fo the deaf.

She established “The Society for the Care of the Deaf” in the 1950s and this society

organized arithmetic, reading, and writing classes for deaf children.

As stated in the National Policy on Education (2008), the problem of educating

children with special needs, especially deaf and hard of hearing learners had become

complicated as the efforts of missionaries and humanitarian groups were inadequate to cater

for the education of this group of learners. To this end, the government built special schools

(largely by adopting the schools already established by Missionaries and Humanitarian

organizations) and also commenced teacher training programmes in Special Needs Education

in order to produce qualified teachers to teach children with special needs. A research

conducted by Mba (1995) in 1980 showed that Nigeria and some other third world countries

had no educational provisions for the deaf when compared with what obtained around the

world. As at then, Jamaica had over 75% of her school-age deaf children in the school system

and had six schools for the deaf. Thailand had seven schools for the deaf while her total

hearing impaired school age population was less than15%. But in Nigeria, less than 10% of

deaf and hard of hearing school age children were in schools.

Presently, there is at least one university per geographical zone offering degree

programmes in special education courses. The Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo

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runs both the Nigerian Certificate in Education and degree certification programmes in

several areas of special needs, the latter being in collaboration in some universities. Efforts

are being made to convert the College to a University of Special Education.

Educational technology for inclusive deaf education

Educational technology can be said to be the use of tools and media to ease the

transmission of knowledge from a teacher to a learner. This also includes the tools

themselves as well as their development and exchange processes (reference). One major

component of technology that is most relevant in education is Information Communication

Technology (ICT) and the Internet. UNESCO (2002) defined ICT as the range of

technologies that are applied in the process of collecting, storing, editing, retrieving and

transfer of information in various forms. The definition implies that in an effective teaching

and learning, relevant information will go a long way in the achievement of stated goals and

objectives. The internet is a worldwide “network or wireless” that allows people to

communicate and interact with one another regardless of physical proximity. The internet has

made it possible for the world to become a global village connecting people from different

geographical locations (Ogundele, 2008).

Technology permeates our society with increasing intensity and reaches into

classrooms. It helps students overcome limitations previously placed on them by a disability.

Computer programs allow keyboarding and navigation of the Internet by eye movements.

Cochlear implants allow deaf students to hear, and new prosthetics (artificial body parts)

provide greater mobility and participation in education and society. Information technology is

a term that encompasses the notion of the application of technology to information handling

which include: generation, organization, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information

(Maduagwu and Ajobiewe, 2006). According to Siddiqui, (2004), technology has brought

new dimensions to teaching and learning processes. The situation has changed from old order

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of textbook consultation by teachers for onward delivery in the classroom. Through

technology, both teachers and students now interact with the internet to update their

knowledge on any issue in different disciplines.

The main thrust of the use of educational technology in this paper focuses on Special

Needs Education, specifically Deaf Education. Special Needs Education is the education that

is specially designed to meet the needs of persons with one form of handicapping condition

or another and the gifted and talented individuals. Special education can also be seen as an

area within the frame work of general education that provides teachers with the training for

special needs children who cannot benefit from regular classroom setting. Deafness is

defined as partial or complete hearing loss (Okuoyibo, 2011).

In inclusive education settings, instructional technologies for people with special

needs are modified or customized to increase their competencies and performance

(Abdoulaye, 2020). Educational technology can assist to make teaching and learning easier

and more effective in deaf education. It assists to bridge the gap between deaf and hearing

learners in an inclusive classroom and it can also be used to ensure full engagement and

inclusion of deaf learners in the classroom.

Modern communication technology has introduced a lot of devices like computers

satellites, film slides, fax, video-disc, cellular, document scanners, projectors, microscopes

etc. which have been noted to facilitate the teaching-learning processes for children with

special needs. Educational technology facilities can also be used for creation of

individualized and collaborative instruction and to manage and generate instructional

research and administrative data.

Uses of ICT in Education

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 ICT is a generic term referring to technologies which are used for collection, storing,

editing and passing an information in various forms (SER, 1997). Effective educational

research cannot take place without passing of relevant information through the teacher to the

learners and vice versa. A personal computer is the best known example of the use of ICT in

Education, but the term multimedia is also being frequently used. Multimedia can be

interpreted as a combination of data carriers, for example video CD-ROM, flash drives,

memory cards, Floppy disc and internet and software in which the possibility for an

interactive approach is offered (Smeets, 2016).

Some of the applications of ICT in education are as follows:

1. ICT as an object. This refers to learning about ICT. Mostly organized in a specific

course.

2. ICT as an Assisting Tool: Examples include writing or marking assignment,

collecting data and documentation, communicating and conducting research.

3. ICT as a Reference to ICT Medium for Teaching and Learning: This is as a tool for

teaching and learning itself, the medium through which teacher can teach and learners

can learn. It appears in many different forms, such as drill and practice exercises in

simulations and educational networks.

4. ICT as a Tool for Organization and Management in Schools.

Artificial Intelligence in Deaf Education

As at date, the newest and trending baby of technology is artificial intelligence,

popularly known as robots. One of the benefits derived from the covid pandemic all over the

world is the wide acceptance of artificial intelligence in everyday human endeavor,

prominent among which is education. According to Simplilearn (2024), “artificial

intelligence is a method of making a computer, a computer controlled robot or a software

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think intelligently like the human mind”. One can therefore infer that artificial learning is an

advanced use of technologies such as computers in education.

When brought into education, artificial intelligence has several components, two of

which are machine learning and deep learning.

1) Machine learning; this refers to the development of models and algorithms which aids

computers in apprehending inputed data in order to predict or decide results or next

actions without any further explicit programming activities (Simplilearn, 2004). Basic

features of machine learning are feature engineering (manual programming),

supervised and unsupervised learning, and broad applicability.

2) Deep learning on the other hand is a sub-division of machine learning which focuses

on the training of artificial neural networks. Simply put, in deep learning, artificial

intelligence mimics human brain and its neural network and is thus capable of making

deductions and inferences from the data already inputed into it. Major features of deep

learning are automatic feature extraction, deep neural networks, high performance

Notable benefits of artificial intelligence in education include logical reasoning,

knowledge representation, planning and navigation, natural language processing, perception,

emergent intelligence. From these benefits, notable benefits to deaf education are in the area

of Natural Language Processing (NLP), speech recognition and remote learning. Some other

examples of artificial intelligence are ChatGPT, Smart Assistants, Google Maps and some

advanced speech-to-text devices.

Artificial intelligence is rooted in computers and technology. To maximize artificial

intelligence in deaf education, the teacher of the deaf must ensure that appropriate

educational technology facilities are properly introduced to the deaf learners, ensure their

exposure its right usage, and also consider the classroom dynamics and other needs of deaf

and hard of hearing learners.

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Statement of the Problem

Deaf education in recent times is taking on new shapes in Nigeria. These changes,

began precisely with the 1994 Salamanca declaration which was adopted in Nigeria. From

then, several schools offering educational services to deaf and hard of hearing learners have

had to adapt their curriculum, school environment and structure to meet the demands of

inclusive education. This has resulted into greater dedication on the part of educational

institutions to recognize the rights of the Deaf to quality education and provide same beyond

mere conceptualizations. However, this has not brought about any noticeable improvement in

the academic performance of deaf and hard of hearing learners in any level of education in

the country. Whereas these awareness and empowerment gained momentum since over a

decade ago, several batches of Deaf learners have been churned out of the system without

noticeable improvement. Research findings continue to show that deaf and hard of hearing

learners perform below expectations and far below their hearing classmates. This implies

that there is a major default in the implementation.

On the other hand, educational technology has been found to be a major factor in

teaching learning activities which has significant influence on the academic performance of

learners across the various levels of education. Technology morphs and its present face is

artificial technology, which has already been embraced in several parts of the world. Due to

the paucity of funding faced by Deaf Education in Nigeria, deaf education seldom catch up in

full with each intervention era before a new concept emerges on the education landscape.

However, in the present era of artificial intelligence, there would certainly be serious

challenges for deaf educators who have not had adequate exposure to appropriate educational

technologies for Deaf Education because artificial intelligence is highly advanced. This paper

therefore sets out to examine the availability and utilization of basic educational technology

8
facilities in Federal College of Education (Special], Oyo as a readiness for introducing

artificial intelligence in Deaf Education in the College.

Purpose of the Study

The aim of the study is to assess the availability and utilization of educational

technology facilities by deaf learners in Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo. The

specific objective of this study is to;

i. Identify available educational technology facilities in Federal College of Education

(Special), Oyo

ii. Assess the extent of utilization of the available facilities by deaf learners of Federal

College of Education (Special), Oyo

Research Questions

The following research questions were raised to pilot the study:

i. Which adaptable educational technology facilities are available for Deaf Education in

Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo?

ii. To what extent can deaf and hard of hearing learners use the available educational

technology facilities as a readiness for artificial intelligence in Deaf education?

Significance of the Study

This study examined the readiness of deaf learners and educational institutions

teaching the deaf for the use of artificial intelligence in education, using the Federal College

of Education (Special), Oyo as a case study The findings of the study will be an eye opener to

the present status of deaf education in Nigeria, viz a viz the use of artificial intelligence in

education. This will in turn help teachers of the deaf and School administrators to realize the

need for keeping up with new developments in education in order to stay abreast of new

innovations and developments across the globe

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 Local and international deaf-focused Non-Governmental organizations such as the

NNAD, United Nations Children’s Funds (UNICEF) and United Nations Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO) will find the results of this study helpful as a

reality-index in their advocacy towards addressing the challenges in Deaf education and

bringing deaf education in Nigeria at par with other nations of the world

Methodology

This study adopted a descriptive research design. This design is considered befiting

for the study because it allows a unbiased collection and description of existing information

about the variables in the study without any form of manipulation by the researchers. The

population of this study consisted of all deaf and hard of hearing learners in Federal College

of Education (Special), Oyo which their total population is estimated at six hundred.

Purposive random sampling technique was used to select 200 deaf and hard of hearing

learners from their population across the various levels and schools in the College. A

questionnaire on availability and accessibility of educational technology facilities for deaf

and hard of hearing learners relating to the objectives and research questions raised for the

study was designed and distributed to the sample to elicit information from them. The

descriptive statistics of mean, percentages and weighted mean were used to analyse the

demographic variables and research questions of the study.

Table 1.1 Summary of Descriptive Statistic of educational technology facilities

available for Deaf Education in Federal College of Education (Special),

Oyo

S Available Not Undecide MEAN DECISION

N available d
1 Computers (laptops, 157(78.5%) 40 (20%) 3 (1.5%) 2.77 Available
desktops, tablets)
2 Smart boards 13 (6.5%) 177(88.5%) 10 (5%) 2.02 Not

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 /interactive whiteboards available
3 Projectors 110 (55%) 62 (31%) 28 (14%) 2.41 Not
available
4 Charging stations 131(65.5%) 42 (21%) 27 (13.5%) 2.52 Available
5 Presentation clickers 38 (19%) 145 (72.5%) 17 (8.5%) 2.11 Not
available
6. Document cameras 13 (6.5%) 179 (89.5%) 8 (4%) 2.03 Not
available
7 Digital pens/smart pens 13 (6.5%) 176 (88%) 11 (5.5%) 2.01 Not
available
8 E-library 164 (82%) 25 (12.5%) 11 (5.5%) 2.77 Available
9 Digital microscopes 26 (13%) 48 (24%) 126 (63%) 1.5 Not
available
10 Online learning 98 (49%) 83 (41.5%) 19 (9.5%) 2.40 Not
platforms/classrooms available
Weighted mean 2.19 Not
significant

From table 1 above, a computed weighted mean value of 2.19 was considered

insignificant and is therefore rejected in response to research question one. Of the ten (10)

educational technology facilities/gadgets listed, only three (3) were available, namely

computers, charging stations and e-library. The analysis of availability of educational

technological gadgets for teaching deaf and hard of hearing learners presented in table one

indicated that the mean values of items 1-10 were greater than or equal to 2.19 and decision

on items 1, 4 and 8 were accepted while others were rejected. This result indicated that

educational technology facilities are not available in Federal College of Education (Special),

Oyo.

This finding is in agreement with that of American Community Survey (2019) which

found that a higher percentage of deaf persons did not have access to the internet or

equipment to access the internet and when compared to hearing persons.

Table 2.0: Summary of Descriptive Statistic showing proficiency of deaf and hard of

hearing learners in using educational technology facilities in Federal College of

Education (Special), Oyo.

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S Very Moderatel Poor Zero MEA DECISION
N well y knowledge N
1 Computers (laptops, 45 42 62 51 2.41 Not
desktops, tablets) (22.5% (21%) (31%) (25.5%) proficient
)
2 Smart boards 2 12 15 171 1.23 Not
/interactive (1%) (6%) (7.5%) (85.5%) proficient
whiteboards
3 Projectors 5 28 48 119 1.46 Not
(2.5%) (14%) (24%) (59.5%) proficient
4 Charging stations 48 44 39 69 2..36 Not
(24%) (22%) (19.5% (34.5%) proficient
)
5 Presentation clickers 14 17 39 130 1.58 Not
(7%) (8.5%) (19.5% (65%) proficient
)
6. Document cameras 22 25 47 106 1.82 Not
(11%) (12.5%) (23.5% (52%) proficient
)
7 Digital pens/smart 16 28 36 120 1.70 Not
pens (8%) (14%) (18%) (60%) proficient
8 E-library 24 32 86 58 2.11 Not
(12%) (16%) (43%) (29%) proficient
9 Digital microscopes 0 (0%) 1 6 193 1.04 Not
(0.5%) (3%) (96.5%) proficient
10 Online learning 32 17 21 130 1.76 Not
platforms/classrooms (16%) (8.5%) (10.5% (65%) proficient
)
Weighted mean 1.74 Insignifican
t

The result from the table above shows that very low mean score was obtained from all

the ten listed items. Only items 1, 4, 6, 8 and 10 had mean values of 2.41, 2.36, 1.86, 2.11 and

1.76 which were all above the weighted mean while all others are below the weighted mean

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value of 1.74. At significance mean value of 2.5, all the values obtained are considered

insignificant and we therefore conclude that deaf and hard of hearing learners are not

proficient in using any educational technology facilities.

Discussion of findings

The finding from research question one shows that basic educational technology

facilities are not available for deaf and hard of hearing learners in Federal College of

Education (Special), Oyo. This means that deaf and hard of hearing learners are way behind

their hearing counterparts and have not been adequately prepared for use of artificial

intelligence in education. Unfortunately, some of the listed facilities are physically available

in the College but are obviously not available for regular use by deaf and hard of hearing

learners. This finding is in agreement with that of American Community Survey (2019) cited

by the Garberoglio (2021) which found that a higher percentage of deaf persons did not have

access to the internet or equipment to access the internet and when compared to hearing

persons. This finding further lends credence to the advocacy position of Deaf-led

organizations and other disability focus groups canvassing for inclusion and provision of

educational facilities for institutions teaching deaf and hard of hearing learners.

In research question two, it was also discovered that deaf and hard of hearing learners

are not proficient in using the few educational technology facilities which were found to be

available in the College. This finding contradicts the finding of Peddie and Kelly-Campbell

(2017) who found out in their research that deaf and hard of hearing persons use the internet

more often than their hearing counterparts. However, while the finding of Peddie and Kelly-

Campbell (2017) can be said to be realistically true, the finding of this research shows that

the constant use of the internet by the deaf does not translate to proficient use in educational

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settings. This implies that the College has not made concrete efforts to teach her deaf and

hard of hearing learners how to maximize their versatility in using the internet in their

educational pursuit.

Conclusion

Based on the results, it was concluded that, deaf and ahrd of hearing learners of

Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo have not been adequately prepared for use of

artificial intelligence for deaf education in inclusive learning settings.

Recommendations

The recommendations below are hereby made, based on the findings of this research:

i. The Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo should as a matter of urgency

revamp her Deaf education system especially in the area of use of educational

technology. Programmes should be established and run to train deaf and hard of

hearing learners of the institution on how to use the available educational technology

facilities in the College.

ii. The government should provide more educational technology facilities to the College

because when the available ones are put to constant use to educate the deaf learners,

wear and tear will reduce their efficiency so the College need new sets to serve as

backup. The government should also provide adaptable educational technology

facilities to suit the needs of deaf learners.

iii. Deaf-led organizations should focus more on the technology needs of Deaf Education

so that they would not be left behind as artificial intelligence is about to take over the

education sphere.

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