Virtual reality and its role in removing the barriers that turn cognitive impairments into intellectual disability

Early expectations of the contribution that virtual reality (VR) could make to education far exceeded actual applications. This was largely due to the initial immaturity of the technology and a lack of evidence base on which to base design and utilisation. While the early developments in computer based learning largely concentrated on mainstream education, leaving those with special needs behind, the potential of VR as an educational tool was exploited for those with intellectual disabilities right from the start. This paper describes the empirical evidence that has contributed to the development of educational virtual reality for those with intellectual disabilities: studies on transfer of learning from the virtual to the real world; how teachers might support those using VR; the design of virtual environments and what input/control devices best facilitate use of desktop VR. Future developments and ethical issues are also considered

Queen Elizabeth's Foundation Brain Injury Centre Inspection of FEFC-funded provision in non-sector establishments for students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities (Report from the Inspectorate; 2000-01)

Independent Establishment 04/00 Inspection of FEFC-Funded Provision in non-sector establishments for students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation Brain Injury Centre, Surrey Inspected September 200

The tutoring role of mentors working with adults and elderly people with learning disabilities using virtual environments

This article outlines the potential of virtual training environments in the rehabilitation of adults and elderly people with learning disabilities. Before such virtual training environments are developed, tutoring roles for mentors working with adults and elderly people must be investigated. This is because this group of people has far less expectation of and experience with computers than younger people with learning disabilities, for whom virtual training environments have already proved effective. Effective tutoring strategies employed, together with appropriate and well-designed virtual training environments, will be the outcomes of two methods suggested in this article

Applying A Methodology For Educating Students With Special Needs: A Case Study

The introduction of innovative educational technologies opens up new ways of interacting with students. We propose to exploit this potential to help in the education of children with special needs. We analyze the state of the art of tools supporting the teaching process, focusing on the omissions of existing research. We propose a new framework to help throughout the whole teaching process and describe its application to Proyecto Aprender (Learn Project), an educational resource targeting children with learning difficulties. Finally, we outline some conclusions and current/future research lines

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThis dissertation examines the efficacy of peer tutor training in adapted physical education (APE). A peer tutor evaluation form was created to assess the skills of untrained peer tutors (n = 12). Once skills were assessed, a peer tutor training protocol was created. The protocol was implemented in a peer tutor training program. After peer tutors were trained, they participated in an APE peer tutor program for students with severe disabilities in elementary school (K-6). This study measured the effects of trained and untrained peer tutors on motor performance, number of steps. Peer tutor attitudes were also evaluated. The study employed a single-subject multiple baseline design with 24 participants (12 students with severe disabilities, 12 students from general population) in a public elementary school. The acquisition of motor skills was determined using the TGMD-2; exchange of verbal information was assessed using the peer tutor evaluation form, steps were counted for the entire class time using pedometers. Results of this study showed trained peer tutors had a positive effect on tutee motor skill acquisition as represented by statistically significant t-test results, and step counts as represented by level change in multiple baseline data. Peer tutor performance was also effected by training as illustrated by substantial level change and minimal overlap in multiple baseline data. Change in peer tutor attitude was also statistically significant as represented by a Wilcoxson signed rank test

CRIANÇAS COM NECESSIDADES ESPECIAIS: O APOIO DOS PAIS NA NOVA PEDAGOGIA DE ENSINO NORMAL E NA MODALIDADE DE APRENDIZAGEM ALTERNATIVA

oai:ojs2.www.telosjournals.com.br:article/12The study aims to know the profile of the respondents in terms of age, gender, educational attainment, and monthly family average income of parents and to identify how the support is extended by the parents on their special need children toward their studies along the area of becoming a strong advocate, getting acquainted with school regulation, learning to access additional services, developing relationship with children module tutors, and future of special need children. The descriptive quantitative research design is employed in the study. The subjects of the study are the parents of the special needs children who are enrolled in the different Higher Education Institutions (HEI) both in private and government entities in the GCC country. Twenty (20) parents are topped in the utilization of the study. A non-probability sampling technique is utilized in the study which is purposive sampling because it is appropriate in the development of the study. The results show that there is no significant relationship between the profile of the respondents and how support is extended by the parents of the special need children toward their studiesO estudo visa conhecer o perfil dos entrevistados em termos de idade, sexo, nível de escolaridade e renda média mensal familiar dos pais e identificar como o apoio é estendido pelos pais sobre suas crianças com necessidades especiais para seus estudos ao longo da área de se tornar um forte defensor, conhecendo a regulamentação escolar, aprendendo a ter acesso a serviços adicionais, desenvolvendo o relacionamento com os tutores do módulo infantil, e o futuro das crianças com necessidades especiais. O desenho descritivo da pesquisa quantitativa é empregado no estudo. Os temas do estudo são os pais das crianças com necessidades especiais que estão matriculadas nas diferentes Instituições de Ensino Superior (IES), tanto em entidades privadas como governamentais no país do CCG. Vinte (20) pais são os principais responsáveis pela utilização do estudo. Uma técnica de amostragem não-probabilística é utilizada no estudo, que é uma amostragem proposital porque é apropriada no desenvolvimento do estudo. Os resultados mostram que não há relação significativa entre o perfil dos respondentes e como os pais dos filhos com necessidades especiais dão apoio aos seus estudos

Video games and Intellectual Disabilities: a literature review.

Los videojuegos son omnipresentes en la sociedad y esta tecnología ha trascendido su lado lúdico inicial para convertirse también en una herramienta educativa y de entrenamiento cognitivo. En este sentido, diferentes estudios han demostrado que los jugadores expertos obtener ventajas en diversos procesos cognitivos respecto a no-jugadores y jugar con juegos de video puede resultar en especial los beneficios que en algunos casos podría generalizarse a otras tareas. En consecuencia, los juegos de video podría ser utilizado como una herramienta de formación para mejorar las capacidades cognitivas en poblaciones atípicas, como las relativas a las personas con discapacidad intelectual (DI). Sin embargo, la literatura sobre los videojuegos en personas con ID es escasa. En este trabajo se ejecutó una revisión narrativa de los estudios sobre el uso de los videojuegos en relación a las personas con ID.Video games are ubiquitous in the society and this technology has transcended its initial playful side to become also an educational and cognitive training tool. In this sense, different studies have shown that expert game players gain advantages in various cognitive processes respect to non-players and that playing with video games can result in particular profits that in some cases could be generalized to other tasks. Accordingly, video games could be used as a training tool in order to improve cognitive abilities in atypical populations, such as relating to individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID). However, literature concerning video games in people with ID is sparse. In this paper we executed a narrative review of the studies about the use of video games in relation to people with ID.• Fundación Valhondo Calaff (Cáceres), para Marta Rodríguez Jiménez • Università di Padova. Beca CPDA 127939, para Silvia LanfranchipeerReviewe

Helping a visually impaired student to improve her social interaction skills at Andrés Bello University, Viña del Mar, Chile : an action research

Tesis (Pedagogía en Inglés)During the last decade, inclusion that is “Something which cannot be done to people, it is something in which people are actively involved” (Norwich, 1999), has been used by different educational institutions to define or highlight their programs and as a matter of promoting a very comprehensive education. That is why an action research was conducted, whose aim is to study and improve the social interaction between a visually impaired student and her professors and peers within the English Pedagogy Program from a university in the city of Viña del Mar. In this thesis project, several people who are part of the daily life of the subject of the study contributed to this thesis project by providing relevant information. These people were professors, previous and current classmates and family members who decided to participate in a voluntarily and active form. In order to collect the information from a qualitative nature, focus groups, semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and observations were used as instruments. Moreover, more support and guidance were delivered by professionals from the educational and medical fields, i.e a psychology and a psychopedagogue. These experts provided techniques in order to reach the objective of this research. In terms of results, these were unexpected because they changed the researchers’ perspectives and helped them to understand a reality that was present but, was not taken into account. After analyzing the results obtained from the strategies applied in the action plan, the researchers came into the conclusion that the subject improved her social interaction skills thanks to the different techniques that we applied with her. However, it was found out that the context played a key role in the interaction between the classmates and the subject because the dysfunctional characteristics of the peers made the student to react different to them as she interacted with the researchers.Durante la última década, inclusión que se refiere a “Una acción la cual no puede ser realizada por personas, es algo en que las personas están activamente envueltas” (Norwich, 1999) (Traducido por Ivette Aguirre, Camila Fernández, Bárbara Melo y Bastián Mendoza), ha sido utilizado por diferentes instituciones educacionales para definir o destacar sus programas como una manera de promover una educación completa. Por esta razón se llevó a cabo una investigación acción la cual pretende investigar y mejorar la interacción social entre un estudiante con dificultades visuales y sus profesores y compañeros en un programa de pregrado de una universidad en la región de Viña del Mar. Varias personas los cuales forman parte activa en el quehacer diario del sujeto de estudio contribuyeron con información relevante para esta investigación. Estos fueron profesores, compañeros, ex compañeros y familiares, quienes aceptaron participar de forma voluntaria y activa. Para recolectar la información de naturaleza cualitativa, se utilizó focos grupales, entrevistas semi-estructuradas, cuestionarios y observaciones como instrumentos. Además, más apoyo y guía fue entregada por parte de profesionales en el área de la educación y la salud como una psicóloga y psicopedagoga. Estas personas aportaron técnicas para el desarrollo del objetivo de nuestra investigación. En tema de resultados, fueron sorprendentes porque cambiaron mucho la perspectiva de los investigadores y ayudaron a entender una realidad que estaba presente pero no se había tomado en cuenta. Después de analizar los resultados obtenidos por las estrategias aplicadas en el plan de acción, los investigadores llegaron a la conclusión de que el sujeto mejoró en sus habilidades de interacción social gracias a las diferentes técnicas que se trabajaron con ella. Aunque, se encontró que el contexto juega un rol principal en la interacción entre los compañeros y la estudiante debido a que las características disfuncionales de los compañeros hicieron que la estudiante reaccionara diferente con ellos as que como interactuó con los investigadores

Effects of a Peer-Tutoring System Utilizing Students With Emotional Behavioral Disorders as Tutors and Students With Intellectual Disabilities as Tutees

High school students with intellectual disabilities often find appropriate ways and times to socialize with their peers. In self-contained settings, students are often limited to interacting with only those within the classroom. In addition, students with emotional behavioral disorders often have deficits in social domains and in self-esteem. Improving socializations of students with disabilities has always been a concern of both parents and teachers. Peer-mediated learning has been a proven effective way to instruct students with disabilities. Placing a student with an emotional behavioral disorder in the position of a peer tutor allows them to feel more secure in their own skills. A multiple baseline across subject design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a peer-tutoring program in which students with emotional behavioral disorders tutored students with moderate intellectual disabilities with the aim of increasing social initiations in students with moderate intellectual disabilities