Music lessons from a tablet computer: the effect of incorporating a touchscreen device in teaching music staff notation to students with dyslexia

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a software application for guided practice on a tablet computer used as a multisensory instructional tool in the process of teaching music staff notation to students who have dyslexia. Between 15 to 20% of people in the United States may have dyslexia or related learning differences in the form of difficulties with reading and language processing. Having dyslexia does not preclude engagement in playing music; however, evidence shows students with dyslexia often have trouble learning how to read music notation (Ganschow, Lloyd-Jones & Miles, 1994; Miles & Westcombe, 2004; Stewart, 2008). Technology, specifically the tablet computer, has potential to address individual needs of students in the domain of music; a variety of applications have been created for teaching and practicing the recognition of musical notation. The theoretical framework underlying the study was based on two theories related to the learning process of students with dyslexia: the phonological deficit and the dyslexia automatization deficit theories. A quasi-experimental design was employed using intact classes of third, fourth, and fifth grade students (N=72) who attended an academy for students with dyslexia. The students were taught a series of lessons on reading music staff notation for seven weeks. The same teacher taught all classes. The treatment classes were given time for the guided-practice of music staff notation on the tablet; the control classes used the tablets for the same amount of time with other music applications, but were not given access to the specific treatment program. Data used to tabulate results of the study were collected with the use of pre and posttests of music staff notation recognition. The overall conclusion was that the use of the tablet for guided-practice in conjunction with instruction was significantly more effective at increasing the ability of students to recognize musical staff notation than using instruction alone

A case study of an intervention program for students with dyslexia in a primary school in the UAE

The study aims to investigate the impact of an iPad programme on the performance of students with dyslexia on reading, writing and spelling skills in two classes of a public primary school in Al -Ain, UAE. The study follows a mixed method approach (questionnaire; face-to-face interviews; pre-posttests). Twenty (20) 3rd graders male students with dyslexia, attending English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes were the participants of the study. Students’ performance on spelling, reading and writing skills were tested after instructed through an iPad intervention programme with multisensory applications. The experimental group’s performance (10 students with dyslexia) was compared to the control group’s (10 students with dyslexia) instructed through traditional, non-computer-based, methods. A pre-assessment test was conducted for evaluating the reading, spelling and writing skills of both groups of students prior to the intervention. After eight (8) weeks, both groups were involved in post-tests for evaluating their performance on reading, spelling and writing skills. The study found that the students’ with dyslexia skills were improved after the iPad intervention programme as opposed to the students instructed through mainstream methods. Interviews with the parents and the teachers corroborated the results of the post-tests but also validated the usefulness and effectiveness of the intervention programme for the students’ academic improvement

Effects of Dysgraphia on Teachers\u27 Perceptions of A Student\u27s Capabilities, Intelligence, and School Performance

The focus of this study will explore how the dysgraphic disability of one child affects teachers\u27 perceptions of that child\u27s capabilities, intelligence, and performance of daily tasks associated with school and schoolwork. The child will use the Tablet PC\u27s handwriting recognition technology to determine if the assistive technology tool improves the child\u27s school performance and his ability to produce legible notes and papers. Worksheets were downloaded into the Tablet PC prior to use in school so that the child could complete all classroom work on the Tablet PC. [This student benefited from being able to tum hand written notes into text. This students\u27 handwriting improved as a result of computer-aided practice. The use of the Tablet PC by a child with dysgraphia enables the child to be independent of the need of teacher-produced notes or a scribe.] Bracket material needs to be supported by data yet to be collected

Effects of assistive technology for students with reading and writing disabilities

Background: Assistive technology has been used to mitigate reading disabilities for almost three decades, and tablets with text-to-speech and speech-to-text apps have been introduced in recent years to scaffold reading and writing. Few scientifically rigorous studies, however, have investigated the benefits of this technology. Purpose: The aim was to explore the effects of assistive technology for students with severe reading disabilities. Method: This study included 149 participants. The intervention group received 24 sessions of assistive technology training, and the control group received treatment as usual. Results: Both the intervention and control groups improved as much in 1 year as the normed population did. However, gains did not differ between the groups directly after the intervention or at 1 year of follow-up. Conclusions: The use of assistive technology seems to have transfer effects on reading ability and to be supportive, especially for students with the most severe difficulties. In addition, it increases motivation for overall schoolwork. Our experience also highlights the obstacles involved in measuring the ability to assimilate and communicate text.Implications for rehabilitations Assistive technology (AT) can be useful for children with reading disabilities to assimilating text as well as boosting their reading. Children with reading disability using AT increased reading performance as much as a norm group, i.e. the students enhanced their reading ability despite no training in traditional reading remediation. Children’s and adolescents’ motivation for schoolwork can be boosted when using AT as a complement for those with reading and writing disabilities

Development of a videogame to improve the reading and writing abilities of children with dyslexia in a playful way

Treball final de Grau en Disseny i Desenvolupament de Videojocs. Codi: VJ1241. Curs acadèmic: 2017/2018This document contains the technical proposal of the Final Project for the Bachelor's Degree in Video Game Design and Development. The work consists in the development of a didactic video game to improve the reading and writing skills of children with dyslexia. The game is presented as an alternative to tedious traditional exercises, providing players with a fun game experience while practicing in improving their skills. This will be achieved by means of the adaptation of habitual therapeutic exercises to different mini-games that will be adjusted to the progress of the player. The videogame will be an application for mobile devices, developed in Unity3D

Mobile Interactive Courseware for Dyslexic Children

The importance of education shown through words of Barack Obama, President of United States of America, when he said, 'In an economy where knowledge is the most valuable commodity a person and a country have to offer, the best jobs will go to the best educated - whether they live in the United States or India or China'. The word shows very important and obvious message of the need of education in someone‟s life. The „Mobile Interactive Courseware for Dyslexia Children‟ project is a proposed project for Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS undergraduate final year project. Also known as „YoungLexic‟, it offers a learning experience for dyslexic children by taking standard learning method that are recommended by Government for dyslexia children to mobile phone. YoungLexic also hoped to benefit the child directly, on the other hand to help parents so that they involve more to their dyslexic child learning process. Using Android OS as the platform of the courseware, the module of „World of Knowledge‟ had been chose from a survey done to a group of parents with dyslexic children and topic of “Let‟s Go to the Farm” hope to make learning more meaningful and purposeful. The relevancy of the project is accepted with the evidence of a survey done to a group of Android developers and a group of parents with dyslexic children that shows that the courseware is attractive, interactive and suitable to be use by dyslexic children. This document elaborates on the scope and purpose of this project as well as the theory and methodology used in developing it

Assistive Technology: A Study of the Benefits of iPad Applications in the Classroom

Based on research in the educational divisions of language arts and technology, the purpose of this project was to examine the effects of technology, namely iPad applications, on the instruction of language arts with an emphasis in spelling. In a 3\u27d classroom of 22 students, 8 students were an experimental group receiving additional iPad app instruction on top of the traditional methods of teaching used in the classroom. The remaining 14 students served as a control group only receiving traditional teaching methods. Pre-tests and post-tests in an A-B-A design form compared the scores of the students before and after the quarter of learning. The study did not show a statistical significant advantage to the additional use of the iPad app

In search for a viable pedagogical agent in assistive applications for dyslexic children

TO attend to dyslexia, many studies have been conducted, and in the frontline is the design of assistive applications for dyslexic children. However, studies have not been focused on the nature and appearance of these pedagogical agents used in assistive applications, especially considering children’s preferences and their users’ experiences.Hence, this study employs Systematic Literature Review (SLR) methodology to collate and analyse the research-based and publicly-available assistive applications designed for dyslexic children.The findings present two categories of virtual assistants used in the analysed assistive applications, which are girl-like and animal-like objects.This girl-like object is used by 83.3% of the analysed works. We then proceed with and on-site experiment to collect the dyslexic children’s preferences.The result showed that boy-like objects are much more preferable, depending on their gender, which contradicts with previous works that present girl-like objects as avatar most of the time

Una aplicación móvil para estudiantes con dificultades de aprendizaje: diseño y validación

En los últimos años, el uso de tecnologías y dispositivos portátiles se ha generalizado en muchos campos y también en la educación. Hay además muchas investigaciones que demuestran la enorme difusión del uso y la popularidad de los dispositivos móviles entre los jóvenes. La tecnología móvil ofrece la capacidad de apoyar el aprendizaje y también ofrece tanto a los estudiantes como a los profesores oportunidades de aprendizaje personalizadas. Los principales factores para la adopción e implementación del M-Learning en las escuelas son la disposición y disposición de los maestros. Hay muchos estudios que demuestran las actitudes y percepciones positivas de los profesores de secundaria sobre el uso de dispositivos móviles en la escuela. Es más, un gran número de encuestas indican que el uso de tecnologías móviles, afecta positivamente la educación de los niños con necesidades educativas especiales como el autismo, dislexia, etc. Esta tesis doctoral tiene como objetivo el diseño y la evaluación de una aplicación educativa para Android que se espera ayude a los estudiantes de escuela secundaria griega con dificultades de aprendizaje a adquirir habilidades adicionales en matemáticas. En primer lugar, se han analizado las actitudes y percepciones de los profesores griegos de educación especial sobre el uso de las TIC en clase para asegurarse, por una parte, de que el conocimiento de los profesores en este campo es adecuado, teniendo en cuenta el hecho de que el conocimiento de las TIC no es una habilidad previa para convertirse en profesor. Esta etapa se realiza a través de cuestionarios estructurados y el análisis de los datos de las respuestas se ha realizado con el software IBM SPSS Statistics. En segundo lugar, en el marco de la elaboración de la tesis se ha creado una nueva aplicación tecnológica Android, destinada a ayudar a los estudiantes con dificultades de aprendizaje en el campo de las matemáticas. La herramienta de desarrollo de aplicaciones que se ha utilizado es Android Studio, el IDE oficial (Entorno de Desarrollo Integrado) para la plataforma Android. El lenguaje de programación que se ha utilizado es Java. Antes de su implementación la aplicación fue evaluada por 7 docentes especializados tanto en el área de informática como en matemáticas a través de un cuestionario estructurado. Se implementó su uso durante dos meses en escuelas de secundaria educación . Después de su implementación se evaluaron los resultados a través de entrevistas a profesores de educación especial y cuestionarios dirigidos a estudiantes con dificultades de aprendizaje con el fin de estimar, por un lado, las opiniones e impresiones de los estudiantes y profesores y, por otro lado, las habilidades potenciales que los estudiantes podían haber adquirido. El análisis estadístico de los cuestionarios de evaluación docente reveló que los profesores de matemáticas e informática tienen una actitud positiva hacia la aplicación “Love2LearnMaths”. El mismo punto de vista positivo hacia la aplicación se puede observar en las respuestas de los profesores entrevistados, que son los docentes de matemáticas para estudiantes con NEE. Los estudiantes de los departamentos de integración, por otro lado, parecen estar positivamente entusiasmados con el uso de la aplicación “Love2LearnMaths” como lo revela el análisis de los cuestionarios de los estudiantes para la evaluación de la aplicación.In recent years the use of portable technologies and devices has become widespread in many fields, such as in the economy, tourism, entertainment, but also in education. There are many surveys that prove the huge spread of use and popularity of mobile devices (mobile phones, tablets and laptops) among young people. On the other hand, mobile phones are mostly preferred compared to other mobile devices by secondary school students. Mobile technology offers the ability to support learning and also offers to both students and teachers personalized learning opportunities. The main factors for the adoption and implementation of M-Learning in schools are the willingness and readiness of teachers. There are many studies that prove the positive attitudes and perceptions of secondary school teachers on the use of mobile devices in school. However, specifically for Greece much fewer studies have been carried out. What is more, a great number of surveys indicate that the use of mobile technologies, affects positively the education of children with special educational needs such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia etc. Therefore, this PhD dissertation aims at the design and evaluation of an educational Android application that is expected to help Greek gymnasium’s students with learning difficulties to acquire extra skills in mathematics. Firstly, the attitudes and perceptions of Greek special education teachers about the use of ICTs in class have been analyzed to make sure on the one hand that teachers’ knowledge on this field is adequate, considering the fact that ICTs’ knowledge is not a prerequisite skill for becoming teacher. Additionally, teachers’ attitudes towards the use of ICTs in class have been clarified. This stage is carried out via structured questionnaires and the data analysis of the answers has been made with IBM SPSS Statistics software. Secondly, in the framework of the thesis’ elaboration, a new technological Android application has been created, aiming at assisting students with learning difficulties in the field of mathematics. The application development tool that has been used is Android Studio, the official IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for the Android platform. The programming language that has been used is Java, while XML’s knowledge was required in order to customize the formatting and the appearance of the application. The application was to be implemented in integration departments of two secondary Greek schools within a period of six months (finally the period was reduced to two due to covid-19 restrictions). Before its implementation the application was evaluated by 7 teachers specialized in both the area of informatics and mathematics via a structured questionnaire. After its implementation the results were evaluated via interviews with special education teachers and questionnaires addressed to students with learning difficulties in order to estimate on the one hand the opinions and impressions of the students and teachers because of its use and, on the other hand the potential skills that the students may have acquired. The statistical analysis of teachers' evaluation questionnaires revealed that mathematicians and informatics’ teachers have a positive attitude towards the application “Love2LearnMaths”. Similar attitudes towards mobile devices and apps in general had been announced by the Special Education teachers of the first phase of our research. The same positive point of view towards the application “Love2LearnMaths” can be observed in the answers of the interviewees, who are the special education mathematicians. Students of integration departments on the other hand, appear positively enthusiastic about the use of the application “Love2LearnMaths” as revealed by the analysis of Students’ questionnaires for the evaluation of the app.

Technology-based reading intervention programs for elementary grades: An analytical review

In modern societies, the role of reading is becoming increasingly crucial. Hence, any impairment to the reading ability can seriously limit a person's aspirations. The enormous importance of reading as an essential skill in modern life has encouraged many researchers to try and find more effective intervention approaches. Technology has been used extensively to assist and enhance literacy learning. This analytical review aims at presenting a comprehensive overview of the existing research on technology-based or technology-assisted reading interventions for elementary grades, between 2000 and 2017, along with analyzing various aspects of these studies. After extensive research, 42 articles have met the inclusion criteria, which have evaluated a total of 32 reading programs. The studies are classified into six categories of phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, and multi-component. Each reading category begins with a brief introduction. Then, the content and instructional mechanisms of each program in the category is explained, alongside the outcome of its interventions. It is found that vocabulary interventions, as well as using mobile, tablet and other non-computer technologies are massively overlooked. Furthermore, a very limited number of programs focused on fluency, none of them addressed all its components. In addition, despite the required long-term practice for fostering fluency, the reviewed studies have an average intervention time shorter than other intervention categories. This paper provides researchers and solution developers with an extensive and informative review of the current state of the art in reading interventions. Additionally, it identifies the current knowledge gaps and defines future research directions to develop effective reading programs