Supporting collective learning experiences in special education

Abstract

Down Syndrome (DS) is one of the most common causes of cognitive disability in our society. In DS, cognitive skills are impaired, and learning requires personalized attention and specific special education approaches. In this context, computer mediated learning, and in particular computer games, are promising as potential tools for the personalization of learning and for engaging users in motivating and stimulating learning experiences. In this paper, we present a virtual reality gaming approach to support DS education, with particular emphasis in collective learning in small group settings. The proposed system addresses some of the main limitations in DS such as training of association and composition/decomposition tasks. Here we present the development of the system and results of a pilot study with special education instructors (N=3) and DS participants (N=4). The results show a high degree of acceptance and suggest that our system can be a valuable tool to support both, instructors and DS users, in the learning experience. In addition, our results support the use of integrated computer based interactive board systems with multiple DS users. We find that group settings seem to be more effective at engaging DS participants and encouraging their autonomy and initiative.