Utah schools use technology called EagleEyes, which detects eye movement, to help enable students with special needs to use computers for educational purposes.

The equipment and program, donated by the Salt Lake City-based Opportunity Foundation of America, allows students to communicate and learn on their own level. Locally, the program is being used at Oakridge School in Springville.

"With the kids I've seen use it, it really helps tap into their potential," said Tricia Lund, a BYU student studying special education who works with kids at Oakridge. "It's another tool to help children reach their potential, so that we can have expectations, instead of settling with what we thing they're able to do."

EagleEyes works by attaching sensors to the student's face that pick up their eye movement and direct the cursor on the screen accordingly.

The programs that the students are able to use include a painting program where they can create their own pictures, a game blasting aliens to teach cause and effect and a program called Starfall, which explores the alphabet, words and phonics.

"This is a great way for these kids to communicate," Lund said.

During training to learn to use the program, Lund said she was told about a student who painted a picture using the program. This was one of the first times he had been able to create anything independently. When the student's mom saw the picture, she started crying.

Lund had a similar experience with one of the students at Oakridge, where she helps the students use the program.

"It was really cool when she was painting to see her face light up," Lund said. "I've never seen her get so excited about something she had created."

Professor James Gips at Boston College developed the EagleEyes program in 1994. In 2002, he got in contact with Debbie Inkley, the founder and executive director for the Opportunity Foundation of America, and the two discussed distributing the program to special needs schools.

"So many of these people are locked inside their bodies," Inkley said. "EagleEyes helps them get past that."

EagleEyes is used mainly to teach cause and effect, although the technology does allow for curriculum that expands to fit the student's potential. One student so far has used the technology to earn a high school diploma.

"It's not a magic answer or magic wand," Inkley said. "It doesn't make the disability go away. It is a great tool for communication, though."

Inkley, along with other Salt Lake City executives, formed the Opportunity Foundation of America in 2000 to help people with severe disabilities move forward with their lives, Inkley said. The organization is primarily concerned with the development and distribution of the EagleEyes program.

Each system costs about $1,200 to produce.

The funding for the program comes largely from donations, Inkley said. The producer of the systems, San Mina-SCI of West Valley, donates their labor and only charges for the parts used to build the systems.

EagleEyes is being used at 22 special education facilities nationwide, including four locations in Utah.



Copyright Brigham Young University 19 Mar 2008