Vidya Vrikshah has been developing an innovative, perhaps ambitious,  model of an integrated classroom with a universal reach. It is integrated and universal in the sense  that it can be used for the whole range of learners, men, women and children, whatever thier age, literacy level, language and levels of ability or disability. Many components of the model are already in place, and can be seen by visitors to our Centre, but work on the model is a continuing process. Our approach rests on well established principles of Human Factors and Universal Design

    Projects Akshara , Vidya  Talking Book, Braille Book and Project Yantra, which can be seen in full working details elswhere in this Site, show how this is accomplished through IT based solutions. The Software components require a considerable range of  hardware
and also infrastructural supports, and our arrangements in respect of these are described here.

    A teacher pupil ratio of around 1:5 is generally adopted in special schools and around 1:30 is generally adopted in normal schools. Our Model Classroom takes a middle position, by bringing a Computer into the teaching process, and assumes a teacher-computer-pupil proportion of 1:1:10. The Model assumes that the pupil composition could be an  integrated mix of literate-iliterate or able-disabled and could be used for two separate processes : imparting literacy and education and imparting special  training specific to disabilities.

    The Model Classroom is therefore equipped accordingly. To enable a single Computer to be shared by 10 pupils, a Control Box with a 10-position selection switch has been provided.  This Control Box is wired to a Terminal Box located under each of the 10 student chairs. These Terminal Box provide connections for a Keyboard, Mouse and Microphone-Earphone head set for each pupil. The pupils get access to the computer by turns when the teacher switches on their respective terminals through the Contol Box.

    This basic equipment facility is modified or augmented in a number of ways depending on the specific requirements of the training situation or the nature of disability of individual pupils. These include :

(a) A large key Keyboard with a Key Guard  that can be used by pupils without muscular control over the hands but with some control over the fingers. They can rest their hand on the Key Guard and access the Keyboard keys below, through the corresponding openings in the Key Guard.

(b) The On-Screen Keyboard (this comes as an accessibility feature with Windows-ME) that can be operated with a mouse.  Pupils with hand and finger control can use mouse movement and click  to select and type the On-Screen Keyboard character. Pupils with hand control but without finger control need not click, but use the hover option where  mere moving the mouse pointer over a character and pausing over it will type it.

(c) The Foot Mouse : Pupils with no hands or fingers or no hand and finger control can use their feet wit the Foot Mouse in exactly the same way as the desktop mouse.

(d) The Head Mouse : Pupils with no hands or feet or no hand and foot control can use their head movements  with the Head Mouse in exactly the same way as the desktop mouse.Two variants are available with us :
     (i) A Light Operated  Head Pointer using a light beam, harnessed to the head,  and functions like a remotly operated mouse; and
     (ii) A Light Operated Tracker, where a camera attached to the Computer tracks movements of the head through a small reflector fixed to the forehead or the bridge of the spectacles, and translates the movemens to mouse cursor movents and controls. 

(e) The Touch Screen : Here anyone, literate or illiterate, able or disabled can trigger computer operations by touching specific points on screen presentations. Elsewhere on this site we have provided examples of  school lessons and disability training programmes that can be displayed or read out,  by  such touch.

(f) The External Light Actuated Keyboard, very similar in operation, to the On-Screen Keyboard. We have two variants here : on a desktop version, the other a large wall mounted version as a common classroom facility. 

    Two fundamental aspects of our approach merit mention here, which make it unique and apprpriate for use in Indian socio-economic conditions  :

(a)  The IIT Multilingual Editor is used with all the above facilities to keep enable all teaching to be conducted, not just in English, but all the Indian languages.
(b)  Most of the equipment solutions described above come from abroad at prices that we simply cannot afford in India. Vidya Vrikshah is therefore making a concerted effort to promote indigenous design and development of many of these equipment solutions so that they become available and affordable to large numbers within the country. Prototypes are already taking shape with the effort of talented engineers among our volunteers, under our Project Yantra, described elsewhere in this site.