Both the necessary software tools and exemplary curriculum modules will be developed. Haptics Technology Inc. The Need Successful instruction of learners who are blind or students with learning disabilities, who favour tactile learning styles is heavily dependent on touch and tactile manipulation of physical objects and models. Dependence on manual manipulation and exploration is most pronounced in topics such as science, math and geography. For reasons of pedagogy, economics, access and efficiency, an exponentially increasing amount of post-secondary, secondary and elementary curriculum is being offered over the Internet, the World Wide Web, or an Intranet. With the transition to electronically delivered curriculum the modalities of touch and tactile manipulation are not presently available.
Human beings begin life as multimodal learners.
A child s natural instinct is to touch, manipulate, see, smell and even taste a new object. As the child matures, socialization favours some learning styles over others, but recent research has shown that many new concepts and skills are better integrated when more than one sense or modality is engaged in the learning process. No teacher would question the value of hands-on learning or practical demonstration. The primary reason the haptic modality is often the preferred mode of exploration is that it is the most active and interactive. Unlike the visual and auditory modality, by its very nature it is bidirectional and interactive.