Serenella Besio

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Serenella Besio

• SIVA
• Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi
• MILAN - Italy

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THE SIVA CONSULTING TEAM

• 3 psysical therapists
• 1 occupational therapist
• 1 computer technician
• 1 psychologist
• The field of interest is Assistive Technology,
  including educational software

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Our activities...

• Counselling (AT exhibition)
• Information (national database on AT, WWW,
  scientific publications)
• Education (post-graduate courses on AT, monthly
  seminars)
• Research

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EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES FOR DISABILITY

• When, why and how
• the use of software can enforce
• the full school inclusion
• of students with disabilities

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FIRST QUESTION

• Software for which kind of disability?

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CLASSIFICAZIONE SOFTWARE IN BASE ALLA LIMITAZIONE
FUNZIONALE
DISTURBI DELLAPPRENDIMENTO
DISTURBI DELLA PERCEZIONE
LIMITAZIONI FISICHE
DISTURBI DEL LINGUAGGIO
Disturbi specifici apprendimento
Disturbi sensoriali
Difficoltà cognitive
Difficoltà motorie
intellettive
memoria attenzione
Coordinamento spazio-temporale, riconoscimento for
me e colori
Articolazione parola, ricezione linguaggio
espressivo, elaborazione
MBT MLT concentrazione
Vista, udito
Ritardo mentale, diff. logiche
Dislessia, disgrafia, discalculia
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SECOND QUESTION

• Software for which educational project?

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• Computer as a tutor
• Computer as a tool
• Computer as a tutee

• It presents some material, the user answers, the
  software evaluates the answer and decides what
  should be presented after
• Does part of the work on behalf of the user,
  letting him/her the opportunity to concentrate
  only on other aspects of the work
• The user teaches to the computer

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THIRD QUESTION

• Which educational role for the software?

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Piece of Assistive Technology
Tool for educational support
?
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FOURTH QUESTION

• Which software?

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Special software
Any kind of educational software
?
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My choice is the second one

• larger production
• more interesting products, multimedia..
• continuously renewed products
• but we need to know exactly
• the reasons to use THAT piece of software
• the ways to use it
• The teacher or the rehabilitation professional
• The teacher or the rehabilitation professional
  must be very deeply rooted in his/her own work to
  manage this option
• must be very deeply rooted in his/her own work to
  manage this option

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Some educational strategies of the commercial
software

• exercise
• play
• problem solving
• exploration
• open environment

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Special attentionshould be paid to

• quality of feedback
• typology of feedback
• quality of the interface
• possibility to regulate the range of difficulty,
  etc.
• possibility to introduce ones own exercises
• correctedness of exercises

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FIFTH QUESTION

• Which teacher am I?
• Which learning idea do I prefer?

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SOME EXAMPLES

• Learning by exercise
• The student builds his/her learning by
  him/herself
• Learning by reflecting on ones own mistakes
• Learning by trials and errors
• Learning by exactly answering to calibrate
  questions...

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SIXTH QUESTION

• How can all these aspects be connected?

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PEDAGOGICAL AND DIDACTIC ELEMENTS
CLINICAL ASPECTS
ACTIVITY
LEARNING STYLES
SOFTWARE CHARACTERISTICS
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DIAGNOSIS PROGNOSIS REHABILITATION
DIDACTIC PROJECT
PEDAGOGICAL AND DIDACTIC ELEMENTS
CLINICAL ASPECTS
ACTIVITY
LEARNING STYLES
SOFTWARE CHARACTERISTICS
RESEARCH
EDUCATIONAL REHABILITATION PROJECT
SOFTWARE AVAILABILITY
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SEVENTH QUESTION

• Is all that really so easy?

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PROBLEM no. 1

• Is it always clear when a piece of software
  should be considered as an AT or an educational
  support tool?
• Can the same piece of software have different
  functions according to the educational and
  rehabilitation project?

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PROBLEM no. 2

• Some characteristics of the software (i.e., the
  quality of the interface) should be considered as
  fixed attributes, or, on the contrary, should be
  assessed according to the specific use and to the
  specific user?

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EIGHTH QUESTION

• Where should I begin from?

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• Involve all interested people and systems
• Collect all the information each system can offer
• Analyse the actual situation and the future
  perspectives
• Develop an individualised educational project in
  which the role of technology is evident and clear
• Contact the experts of the field and discuss the
  project with them, re-define it if necessary

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NINTH QUESTION

• Who can help me in choosing and deciding?

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• The AT centres and the counselling centres all
  over the country
• The specialised centres in the field
• Other colleagues with greater experience in the
  same field

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TENTH QUESTION

• How can I keep myself up-to-date?

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• Libraries and databases on the Internet
• sd2.itd.ge.cnr.it (Biblioteca del Software
  Didattico)
• www.bdp.it (INDIRE - Portale dellHandicap della
  BDP)
• http//www.accesseric.org/ (Educational Resources
  Information Center)
• http//www2.edc.org/NCIP/ (National Centre to
  Improve Practice in Special Education Through
  Technology, Media and Materials)
• Other sites of interest in the field
• www.siva.it
• www.centriausili.org
• www.disabili.com
• www.closingthegap.com
• Scientific reviews in the field
• TD - Tecnologie Didattiche
• Journal of Special Education Technology
• Important dates
• IDD - Informatica, Didattica, Disabilità
• Handimatica