'Using digital learning technologies to support special needs' by Professor Diana Laurillardd
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The document discusses the use of digital technologies to support special educational needs (SEN) learners, particularly focusing on dyslexia and dyscalculia. It emphasizes the potential of adaptive learning programs to enhance learning experiences, engage teachers in new pedagogies, and involve parents in the educational process. Moreover, it highlights the importance of integrating neuroscience findings into educational treatments and the need for effective interventions to improve learning outcomes for students with these specific challenges.
'Using digital learning technologies to support special needs' by Professor Diana Laurillardd
- 1. Using digital technologies to support special needs Diana Laurillard Centre for Educational Neuroscience UCL, Institute of Education, Birkbeck
- 2. Roles of technology enhanced learning To provide more productive learning experiences for SEN learners To engage teachers in exploring new pedagogies to exploit findings of neuroscience To give parents an active role in assisting their children who have special needs Adaptive programs Shareable, editable pedagogic programs Personalised home‐based learning, online
- 3. Inability to learn reading/ arithmetic Dyslexics have phonological problems Dyscalculics have numerosity problems Improved capabilities? Core deficit? Brain network Pedagogic design Adaptive intervention programsTeachers & Learning Technologists Neuroscientists & Educational psychologists From neuroscience to education…
- 4. Neuroscience and cognitive deficits Dyslexia can be specific deficit in phonology interventions in phonology improvements in performance changes in brain activity McCandliss example??
- 5. Dummy slide • Demo of McCandliss example of technology for dyslexia
- 6. Neuroscience and cognitive deficits Dyslexia and dyscalculia often occur together Dyscalculia can be specific deficit in numerosity – “lack of number sense” interventions on numerosity tasks improvements in performance But little work so far, and few teachers
- 7. What is dyscalculia? Where does 8 go? Normal response
- 8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 “Start again” What is dyscalculia? Where does 8 go? Dyscalculic response (points and counts)
- 9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 What is dyscalculia? Where does 8 go? Dyscalculic response (points and counts)
- 10. Twin study in progress (UCL) Evidence of dyscalculia: Significant difference between numeracy tests and IQ tests for ~7% of sample Dyscalculics are significantly worse on Dot enumeration, but not on IQ or Vocabulary. (Landerl et al, 2004; Butterworth, 2005)
- 11. A core deficit of numerosity processing Appears to be heritable Affects ~3-6% of the population Can be diagnosed, e.g. test dot enumeration The neuroscience of dyscalculia How many are there? Which is more?
- 12. From diagnosis to educational remedy? No clear logical pathway use established pedagogical principles use ideas from best practitioners use technology to capture and test ideas From neuroscience to education
- 13. Pedagogy in use • SEN methods use 1-1 teacher-pupil interactions • Other pupils given individual and paired tasks • Manipulation of special materials (Cuisenaire, dot pattern cards, dice, number lines, beads, counters, etc) • Talk plays a key role – pupil has to describe the task, the goal, the action, and the repair • Games help to align teacher-pupil task goals
- 14. Pedagogic principles Constructionism (Papert & Harel): a task environment that affords learning: makes task goal meaningful to the learner lets them act to achieve that goal feeds back the result in relation to the goal motivates revisions to improve Good SEN teachers set up these kinds of tasks Some success, but limited, and local
- 15. Features of learning technology Clear task goal Intrinsic feedback on actions Enables revision of actions using feedback Adaptive to learner performance Self-paced learning Simple interface Customizable so teachers can design tasks
- 16. Numeracy software often confusing Learning to recognise dot patterns Confusing interface Random generation of level of task How many dots? 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Done 3
- 17. How many dots? Numeracy software often confusing Learning to recognise dot patterns Answer conflicts with learner action Extrinsic feedback, not meaningful No action revision: so does not elicit reflection 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 The answer is 4 DoneNext
- 18. Intervention study in progress SEN groups (3 inYr 3, 4 in Yr 4) Identified by teacher tests Normal groups (8 in Yr 1, 10 in Yr 2) Dot enumeration task: Recognise, not count how many dots Card patterns and random patterns Self-paced and time-limited Feedback shows match to number line Asked to construct repair if wrong
- 19. Demo program Live link to program running on laptop
- 20. Dummy slide – represents program 5 How many are there? 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 Shows result of learner’s input Shows meaning of patterns in relation to number line Program tracks accuracy and speed of response Selects next task within ZPD This is five
- 21. One SEN pupil, Year 4 Time on task – 18 minutes over 5 trials Evaluation (of learner) • Few errors on self-paced trials, because counting • Time limited to 1sec increases errors • Next trials limit time to 3secs, then 2 secs Errors gradually reduce till they can do it in 1 sec As the program adapts the time of display to learner performance they can gradually learn to recognise, rather than count the dots But is this a change at the neural level?
- 23. Technology for SEN interventions Learners Opportunity for unsupervised repeated practice Easier manipulation than physical objects Virtual environments link physical to abstract Teachers Captures pedagogic principles for revision Enables customisation of tasks by teacher Teachers can share effective pedagogic practice
- 24. The End