Roselyn Dixon, Irina Verenikina, Debra Costley & Sally Pryor

Background to the Study Digital technologies – unsurpassed alternative to

traditional forms of Assistive Technology

Appeal to visual modality

Preference for Electronic Screen Media by students with ASD

Portability

Relative low cost and

Customisability

Social acceptance

Cont’d Literature is dominated by multiple baseline studies

using very small numbers of students

Successful results for Video modelling

Academic outcomes

Spell checking

Number recognition

Social skills – Transitions

However very little examining authentic settings such as home and mainstream classrooms

Theoretical Framework Family involvement is essential in the development

and implementation of interventions

Researchers are focussing on home as well as school context

Mobile technologies allow learning interventions to be delivered outside of the classroom – Minimal research

Theoretical Framework is Household Funds of Knowledge ( Moll and Greenberg, 1990)

Purpose of the Study Need for research that authentic environments

Family involvement increases amount of intervention

Allows for generalisation of skills and behaviours

The primary aim was to investigate how digital tablets are used in the home setting to support students with ASD

Extension of a larger project conducted by Aspect Research Unit and University of Wollongong

Research Questions How are digital tablets used in the home setting to

support students with ASD ?

How can families and educators work together to support students with ASD regarding digital tablet use?

Research Design Qualitative Research Design

Semi structured Interviews

Thematic Analysis

Research Site- I Aspect school

Extended to teachers

Participants- parents 2 interviews

5 parent participants from 4 families

Anecdotal evidence also connected between 2 interviews

4 teacher participants involved in iPad trial

Profile of parent participants All families had high degree of expertise and

familiarity with technology

Teachers had wide range of experience but were all volunteers

Findings and Discussion Themes that emerged from the data were:

Use of digital tablets for education

Use of digital tablets for recreation

Innovative ways that families implemented them

Current communication and collaboration between families and school

Theme 1: Using iPads for Education in the Home Setting All families used iPad for educational purposes

Several times each week

Using mainstream educational apps

Enabled learning to be extended beyond the classroom

Extended opportunities for retention of skills and knowledge and generalise across settings

Some parents scheduled times

Used for a range of academics and music

One student learnt to play the piano

Some comments from parents about no need for more traditional ‘ paper and pencil’ methods

Ongoing debate

Increasing evidence that students with ASD prefer and have greater success when skills are presented in a digitalised format or should teachers and researchers be using digital technologies to enhance more traditional teaching experiences ???

Theme 2 : Using digital technologies for recreation in the home setting All families spoke of frequent recreational uses

Playing games Watching videos Browsing YouTube Portable TV Creating inventive videos and movies

Families expressed concern about recreational uses overshadowing educative purpose

However seemed unaware that students were often practicing and improving skills

Theme 3: Using iPads to support behaviour in the home 2 of 4 families valued way iPad assisted with behaviour

E.g. Sam ran and screamed ( Happy Yelling)

Parents were able to use highly motivational aspect of iPad

First dress and then iPad

Another family used School Scheduling app to reduce childs’ anxiety relating to family outings

Theme 4: Using iPads to support communication in the home 2 of 4 families used the iPad as a communication tool

another family was planning to use it in this way in the near future

Used Proloquo2Go

Helped ‘parent to child’ communication during times of stress

A verbal student would use Proloquo2Go during times of stress when she found talking difficult

Collaboration between Home and School Importance of home-school collaboration is well

documented in the literature Some parents and teachers had knowledge of iPad use in

alternate setting and some did now

Range from close collaboration to times when collaboration was absent

Clear need and desire for improvement Only 2 of 4 teachers had knowledge of how families

were using iPads in the home

Teachers thought it would be purely recreational at home

The need for consistency in home-school collaboration

2 examples of successful collaboration

Used camera feature as home/school communication tool

Used scheduling tool Choiceworks to find out what had happened that day in school

Some instances of complete lack of collaboration

Both parents and teachers needed professional learning and specific strategies to maintain communication

Thanks for our attention