Case Study
Working and accessible design for a mathematics teacher

This is a state government.

During a stint as a volunteer firefighter, the man fell from a high ladder, resulting in paraplegia. He is dependent on the constant use of a wheelchair. His reach and mobility are limited due to disability.

The man studied secondary school teaching, which he completed with the 1st state examination. After the 1st state examination he changed to the two-year Referendariat at a study seminar of the Sek. II and a grammar school. After the traineeship, the man obtained employment with the state government and the grammar school respectively as a teacher.

The mathematics teacher or former trainee teacher uses a combination of laptop and tablet for lesson preparation and follow-up. This combination enables him to present the learning content to the students via a beamer and a screen instead of the blackboard which he cannot use. In doing so, he not only uses the possibility of presenting prepared content, but also the tablet's feature of being able to project his handwriting or that of the students onto the screen with the beamer using a stylus via the touchscreen and with the help of text recognition. The "blackboard images" created in this way can also be saved, called up again if necessary and can be made available to sick pupils at a later date. The use of technology also provides for the possibility of showing animated 3D diagrams, for example of bodies of revolution.

The mathematics teacher mainly teaches in rooms in which a beamer is permanently installed and which can be reached barrier-free via the lift. At the beginning of the lesson, the technology must first be set up, i.e. the tablet must be connected to the beamer via the connection on the teacher's desk, the board lowered and the screen lowered. The lowering of the board and the lowering of the screen is done by the students. During the lesson, the tablet remains on the teacher's desk. Pupils come to the front of the teacher's desk to write on the tablet - as they normally do with other teaching staff at the blackboard. For classrooms that do not have a projector (e.g. for substitute lessons in other classes), he uses a small lightweight projector that he transports to the appropriate room with his wheelchair.

The trainee teacher uses a car with automatic transmission, which has been converted to manual operation (accelerator and brake). Driving the car is subject to appropriate conditions imposed by the driving licence office and the TÜV. At the school, he has access to a designated disabled parking space near the entrance to the central teachers' room, which he can reach via a ramp. He can reach his allocated classrooms and the toilet suitable for disabled people (with washbasin, toilet, support handles for transferring, emergency call system, etc.) using the existing passenger lift.

The medical rehabilitation, wheelchair and car, and adaptations were funded by the Community Accident Insurance Association, due to the accident while serving as a volunteer firefighter. The small beamer and tablet were bought by the then trainee teacher himself, as he needed them quickly and at that time there was no experience of using tablets with software recognition of handwriting as a medium for teaching.