Special iApps: Play-based Learning for Children with Severe Intellectual Disabilities

Samiullah Paracha*, Gill Hagan-Green, Lynne Hall, Kate Macfarlane

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book or Report/Conference proceedingConference Proceedingpeer-review

Abstract

This paper reports an ongoing study, linked with qualitative research methods and an inductive perspective, on how we can make learning enjoyable for children with severe intellectual disabilities. The teacher interviews mainly focused on the potential of educational apps such as Specual iApps for playful learning with relatively little consideration on technical considerations. The Template Analysis revealed 9 broad themes including Engagement, Fun, Playfulness, Attraction or Appeal, Assessment, Ease of Use, Personalized Learning, Accessibility/ Interactivity, and Reduced Disruptive Behaviour. Based on the analysis of the results and their implications, the paper provides a series of recommendations and directions that can be used as a reference among the software developers and designers to create educational apps for children with complex needs offering real educational value.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationDSAI 2022 - Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Software Development and Technologies for Enhancing Accessibility and Fighting Info-Exclusion
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
Pages100-106
Number of pages7
ISBN (Electronic)9781450398077
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Aug 2022
Externally publishedYes
Event10th International Conference on Software Development and Technologies for Enhancing Accessibility and Fighting Info-Exclusion, DSAI 2022 - Lisbon, Portugal
Duration: 31 Aug 20222 Sept 2022

Publication series

NameACM International Conference Proceeding Series

Conference

Conference10th International Conference on Software Development and Technologies for Enhancing Accessibility and Fighting Info-Exclusion, DSAI 2022
Country/TerritoryPortugal
CityLisbon
Period31/08/222/09/22

Keywords

  • Educational Apps
  • Fun
  • Intellectually Disabled Children
  • Play-based Learning

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