Meet Team Colt

1. Meet Team Colt Erin Tibbetts Ryan Schnepper

2. Team Colt Client Sarah can only hear out of one ear. Speakers are available in the classroom. She is possibly dyslexic. Easily frustrated by homework, especially with spelling words. Statement of need: Sarah needs to learn her spelling words independently.

3. Requirements and Constraints Safe product Finished in given time Less than $150 Looks appealing Uncomplicated She needs to be able to hear it easily. Efficient power source Transportable Durability Usable for easy and complex spelling words. Product should be fun and stress free for our client.

4. Market Existing technology than could be used: word processors, reading systems, phonetic spelling, and speech recognition. All of the above technologies have been modified to help people with dyslexia. Our client also stated that the speakers available at school were very expensive.

5. Puzzle Piece Spelling My idea for puzzle piece spelling would be a fun way to help our client learn her spelling words. Her mother could record the spelling words at the beginning of the week. Then her daughter would first have to arrange the puzzle pieces in alphabetic order and then the recording would start. The first word would play and she would have to spell the word by pushing the corresponding letters on the board. Once she had gotten it right, the next word would play and she would have to spell that to continue.The board would be colorful and have lights when buttons were pushed. This would hopefully make her a little more independent and the colors and lights would reduce stress.

6. Pros and Cons A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Pro: Design will make homework fun and Sarah will be less stressed. Pro: Encourages Sarah to learn her spelling words. Pro: Sarah can depend less on her mother to learn the spelling words. Con: Since there is only two of us making this project would be very time consuming. Con: Lots of buttons means a lot of inputs.

7. Keyboard Spelling Existing keyboard that is modified with buttons that represent spelling words. Spelling words will be recorded ahead of time. Upon hearing the words in the recording, our client would then type or spell out the word onto the keyboard. Leds on the keyboard to show if was right or wrong. Each word corresponds with a key on the keyboard so when the key is pressed, the board will know what order the keys should be pressed.

8. Pros and Cons Con: Very plain. Con: Client’s mother needs to be involved. Con: Connecting the recorder and the keyboard to react with button pushing will be hard. Pro: Less time building. Pro: Our client will be able to learn be hearing and typing. Pro: Simplistic design for easy use,

9. Final Project Idea Our final decision was that we could combine the two ideas. In order to save time, we will utilize an existing keyboard. Then we will use a chip with 36 inputs to modify the keyboard. Spelling words will be added from the computer. The words will play back and she will need to press the corresponding buttons on the keyboard. This is the type of keyboard that we would like to use. Since it only has letters there are less inputs and the arrow could be used to advance to the next word.

10. Alternate Project Idea • Software already exists that’s does the same thing as our project. • Ex. “ispellwell” and “spellquizzer” • Xylophone project • How it works • Its purpose and who its for