Don't judge comics by their cover: fostering reading and writing through the clt framework

The new methodologies that are gradually becoming a trend in education. Leaving aside traditional dimensions, the unit aims to adopt a learner centred teacher with the purpose of adapting to the needs the actual context demands. As some problems in terms of reading and writing have been identified, the unit is meant to foster the student’s motivation by using comics within a CLT approach. In this line, students will grow communicatively effective. Keywords: Diversity, Communicative Language Teaching, motivation, comics, written skills

Determination of Secondary Students’ Preferences Regarding Design Features Used in Digital Textbooks

The aim of this study was to determine secondary school students’ choice of design features for digital textbooks. As a part of the research—which was conducted using a mixed technique—a literature review was carried out to source points to consider in the designing of digital textbooks and experts’ opinions were obtained. Based on the results, an 88-question survey was then developed to elicit the preferences of secondary school students with regard to design features for digital textbooks. Also, in this study, three digital textbooks with different design features—but with the same content—were developed to be used by the students. The students were then informed about digital textbook technology by researchers and the digital textbooks were made available to them. Finally, the survey was administered in four separate sessions, and the results were revealed by analysis of the data collected. The findings showed that students wanted digital books with a front, back and bookplate. They took the view that elements for transitions between pages were necessary along with the table of contents, index, glossary and search tools. Students also expressed a desire for images in digital textbooks, especially three-dimensional lifelike drawings, videos and animations

The Efficacy of Digital Comic Strip Conversations to Teach Empathetic Responding to Children with Autism

Recent research supports the idea that children with ASD express less empathetic responding than typically developed children. However, limited studies have focused on the utilization of evidence-based practices to teach these skills. In this study, a multiple baseline design across three participants diagnosed with autism was implemented to assess the efficacy of digital comic strip conversations, which include answering comprehension questions and engaging in role-play, to teach verbal and non-verbal empathetic responding. Digital comic strips conversations were developed specifically for the study to depict three emotional domains: happiness or excitement, sadness or pain, and fear in a variety of social contexts. Both verbal and non-verbal empathetic responding were assessed concurrently within the same sessions. Moreover, two different five level rating scales were utilized to code the behavioral response. Upon the introduction of treatments, an increase of empathetic responding was recorded across all three participants, maintaining highest score according to rating scale for the majority of the data points throughout the intervention phase. However, the generalization phase of both verbal and non-verbal response conveyed inconsistent results across participants. Further research is needed to assess complementary treatment modalities as well as evaluating factors underlying generalization difficulties of skills for individuals with autism that are acquired in clinical practice