An experimental study on the benefit of assistive technology for students with learning disabilities

Abstract

Today's technology provides excellent opportunities for students, primarily those with learning disabilities, to be engaged in digital learning environments. Learning disabilities are neurologically-based processing deficits in acquiring and learning essential reading, spelling, and writing skills. Besides, few studies were conducted about assistive technology's effectiveness for handwriting and spelling for Arabic children with specific learning disabilities (i.e., Dyslexia and Dysgraphia). This study investigates the impact of using computers and tablets on the performance of text copying and dictation. The study was conducted in a Moroccan public primary school with two experimental groups. From 60 students, 12 students from third grade and 12 others from the second grade identified as students with specific learning disabilities, primarily dyslexics and dysgraphics. The results affirmed that fewer spelling errors are scored in both copying and dictation tests when using computers and tablets. Therefore, the authors recommend that primary schools allow learning disabled students to overcome their difficulties by assisting handwriting tasks with keyboards-based ones, especially in final examinations.