An evaluation of constructivism for learners with ADHD: Development of a constructivist pedagogy for special needs

We examine whether constructivist eLearning tools can be used to help learners cope with special educational needs, such as difficulties with attention and concentration. Preliminary work is reported here, in which we seek to determine the reasons why a constructivist approach is difficult for learners with ADHD. This work is intended to lead to recommendations of how learners with ADHD could benefit from constructivist eLearning systems, e.g. through the managed use of multimedia technology. A preliminary model has been developed that illustrates the areas in which constructivist pedagogies need to address the limitations of ADHD learners. Further work will expand this model and eventually test it in a real environment (e.g. in a school with ADHD learners). The outcome will encourage a reconsideration of existing multimedia theories as they relate to learners with special needs, and provide new directions in order to support learners with ADHD

School improvement through digital technologies:Using managed service/support in schools in Northern Ireland with case studies of success

Schools in Northern Ireland, like those in any country, face educational challenges, whilst they are, at the same time, supported with a range of resource provision. Facing and addressing educational challenges enables schools to improve, in a range of possible and different ways: at an individual pupil level; at a single class level; for pupils across the school; with teachers across the schools; or for parents across the school. Some of the resource provision that is available to schools in Northern Ireland consists of the centrally-provided digital technology managed services and support from C2k and Capita. These services provide fundamental connectivity and networking within and across schools, hardware that can be added to and integrated with a school’s own devices, a communication platform (Office 365, Google, or Fronter), and a wide range of selected software curriculum resources. This latter digital technology provision offers a very wide range of tools that teachers can select to use in specific teaching and learning circumstances. Whilst the affordances offered from selected networking connectivity, hardware, a communication platform and software curriculum resources can be utilised to support specific subject or topic tasks, they can also be selected to explore and address educational challenges and consequently to support school improvement leading to better outcomes for the learner. The process and examples that some schools have taken in this respect – selecting digital resources to address educational challenges to lead to school improvement – are the focus of this document

Understanding intentions in animacy displays derived from human motion

As humans we live in a world where we are constantly interacting with those around us. To achieve this we must be able to successfully anticipate the intentions of others by correctly interpreting their movements. In studying how humans interpret intention from motion, we make use of simplified scenarios known as animacy displays where it has been shown that observers will attribute human-like qualities to the motion of geometric shapes (Heider and Simmel, 1944). This thesis advances the research into the attribution of social intentions by re-addressing the methods for the creation of animacy displays, leading to previously unexplored avenues of research. Where animacy displays are normally made via clever animations or mathematical algorithms, we introduce a method for creating these displays directly from video recordings of human motion, there by producing the first examples of animacy displays that are truly representative of human motion. Initially, explorative steps were taken to establish this technique as successful in creating displays that will be perceived as animate, using video recordings of simple and complex human interactions as a basis. Using a combination of tasks, including free response tasks and 10 point Likert scales, the use of this technique for stimulus production was validated. Furthermore, results showed that the viewpoint from which animacy displays are to be perceived from, comparing a side view and an overhead view, has effects on the ability to judge intentions in the displays, with a clear preference to the elevated viewpoint. Following this, the intentions of Chasing, Fighting, Flirting, Following, Guarding and Playing, thought to be generic to animacy displays, were used to create displays via this new method of stimulus production. Using a six Alternative Forced Choice (AFC) task it was shown that participants are successful at recognising these intentions, however, that the addition of ordinal depth cues, as well as cues to identity and boundaries, has little impact on increasing the ability to perceive intentions in animacy displays. Next, an experiment on the ability to judge intentions in animacy displays of brief durations was performed. Using the same 6 intentions as before, displays were created lasting 1, 5, and 10 seconds. Results of a 6 AFC task showed that observers are accurate at all durations, and furthermore, results indicate that participants are as accurate at recognising the intention in a display after 5 seconds, as after viewing longer durations of approximately 30 seconds. We then perform a comprehensive analysis of the animacy displays used, looking at the motion patterns and the kinematic properties such as speed, acceleration and distance of the agents. This analysis shows clear differences in the displays across viewpoints, and across intentions, that are indicative of the cues that participants may use to differentiate between intentions. We also perform a stepwise regression analysis to find the motion and positional predictors that best explain the variance in the behavioural data of previous experiments in this thesis. It is found that speed and acceleration cues are important for the classification of intentions in animacy displays. Finally, a study is presented that attempts to advance research into the perception of social intentions by people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), using video recordings of human motions and the resultant animacy displays. The intentions of Chasing, Fighting, Flirting, Following, Guarding and Playing, were again used in conjunction with a 6 AFC task. Comparing people with ASDs to an age-matched control population, results indicate that people with ASDs are poorer at judging intentions in animacy displays. In addition, results reveal an unknown deficit, not seen in the control population, in judging intentions from an elevated position in video displays. This work may be considered of interest to various groups of people with a wide range of research interests, including the perception and cognition of human motion, the attribution of social intent and “Theory of Mind”, and the surveillance of people via video techniques

Patient centric intervention for children with high functioning autism spectrum disorder. Can ICT solutions improve the state of the art ?

In my PhD research we developed an integrated technological platform for the acquisition of neurophysiologic signals in a semi-naturalistic setting where children are free to move around, play with different objects and interact with the examiner. The interaction with the examiner rather than with a screen is another very important feature of the present research, and allows recreating a more real situation with social interactions and cues. In this paradigm, we can assume that the signals acquired from the brain and the autonomic system, are much more similar to what is generated while the child interacts in common life situations. This setting, with a relatively simple technical implementation, can be considered as one step towards a more behaviorally driven analysis of neurophysiologic activity. Within the context of a pilot open trial, we showed the feasibility of the technological platform applied to the classical intervention solutions for the autism. We found that (1) the platform was useful during both children-therapist interaction at hospital as well as children-parents interaction at home, (2) tailored intervention was compatible with at home use and non-professional therapist/parents. Going back to the title of my thesis: 'Can ICT solution improve the state-of-the-art ?' the answer could be: 'Yes it can be an useful support for a skilled professional in the field of autis

'Hidden Voices': an exploratory single case study into the multiple worlds of a 15 year old young man with autism

This thesis presents a 31-day case study carried out with a 15 year old young man who has classical autism. The study involved introducing him to a number of new and challenging activities, in a variety of contexts, over 31 days, that were previously assumed to be outside of his range of capability. The case study found that the application of the concepts of choice, control, challenge and risk had an unexpectedly positive impact upon the young man’s performance. This study further attempts to explore the concept of narrative as a ‘pedagogical bridge’ between the ‘worlds’ of autism and neurotypicality, arguing that narrative may provide a ‘way in’ to the world of autism. ‘Narrative’, this study contends, may provide a tapestry across which the world of autism may be connected with the world that surrounds it; by revealing a multiplicity of selves in a multiplicity of contexts. Methods of data collection included field notes, interviews, photographs and film footage. Ultimately, the study found that the use of ‘performance texts’ (DVDs featuring the young man’s achievements) constituted a powerful means of celebrating his accomplishments within the school and its wider community. Research approaches were participatory and ethnographic in the data collection phases, while a more phenomenological approach was adopted in the data analysis phase. The overarching analytical framework was that of ‘narrative analysis’ in telling a story of bravery, courage, hope and optimism

Proceedings of the 4th international conference on disability, virtual reality and associated technologies (ICDVRAT 2002)

The proceedings of the conferenc

Enhancing visuospatial processing skills in children

Growing evidence highlights the importance of visual-spatial processing skills (VSPS) but teaching and training of these skills at early age in schools remain understudied. To this end, we have developed a computerized application called TangSolver that aim to move one step toward assessment and training of VSPS of school age children. First, we compared the effectiveness of an experimental computerized VSPS-enhancing approach, a conventional face-to-face training regime, and a non-training control group in improving performance in a tangram game among typical children. Second, we investigated how training-resistant possible visuospatial processing differences between children with and without ASD are. We studied the effect of computerized vs. face-to-face visuospatial training in a group of normally intelligent children with ASD and typically developing children as control. Findings show that (a) children with and without ASD do not differ much in visuospatial processing (as assessed by a tangram-like task) and the few differences we observed were all eliminated by training; (b) training can improve visuospatial processing (equally) in both children with ASD and normally developing children; and (c) computer-based and face-to-face training was equally effective.NWOUBL - phd migration 201

Teachers’ perceptions of the use and effectiveness of Social Stories™ in the development of social skills for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Saudi Arabia

The aim of this study was to analyse the comments and judgments of special education teachers concerning the use and efficacy of Social Stories™ as a social skills intervention for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in mainstream boys’ schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Specifically, the study focused on the usefulness of Social Stories™ in improving three types of daily social interaction which children with ASD encounter in mainstream schools in Riyadh: greeting people, playing with friends, and talking with friends at snack time. The study was informed by Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978), and was founded on the hypothesis that Social Stories™ can serve as an intervention to improve the social capacity of children with ASD in a supportive school setting The study explored the perceptions of 15 special needs teachers’ using semi-structured interviews and focused on three case studies of children with ASD at two mainstream boys’ schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The interviews provided qualitative information about the use of Social Stories™ for children with ASD. The information gained was categorised into eight themes: the concept; source of Social Stories™; methods of display; use as a social intervention; benefits and drawbacks; barriers to use; cultural and contextual considerations; and factors contributing to best use. The case studies also tracked the children’s social skills over a period of 15-17 weeks and were used to evaluate the efficacy of Social Stories™ as a behavioural skills intervention. Overall, the findings from the interviews and the case studies found that Social Stories™ displayed some effectiveness in improving the social skills of children with ASD, whether the stories were used independently or combined with other methods. The evidence indicated that the teachers were clear about the purpose of Social Stories™ as well as possible benefits, drawbacks and barriers around their use in the classroom. They were aware of specific cultural considerations influencing the implementation and acquisition of the stories. They also recognised various approaches to incorporating Social Stories™ in their classrooms and considered the children’s specific educational needs and interests when using them. The findings of the study contributed to understanding of the use of Social Stories™ in the Middle East in general and in Saudi Arabia in particular. This study suggests a tentative framework for evaluating Social Stories™ to ensure their appropriateness for the culture and environment of Saudi Arabia, and provides a piloted mechanism to evaluate both the written and visual content of a given Social Story™ under that cultural lens. Suggestions based on the study are offered to both the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia and to teachers working with children with ASD (in Saudi Arabia and beyond) for the development of best practices in the use of Social Stories™ as a behavioural intervention. Suggestions for future research are also discussed