Proofreading using an assistive software homophone tool: compensatory and remedial effects on the literacy skills of students with reading difficulties

A scoping review on the use of speech-to-text technology for adolescents with learning difficulties in secondary education

PURPOSE

To identify and describe the aims, methodological approaches, and major findings of studies on the use of STT among secondary pupils (age 12-18) with learning difficulties published from January 2000 to April 2022.

MATERIALS AND METHOD

This scoping review includes empirical studies published in peer-reviewed journals and grey literature between January 2000 and April 2022. Searches were conducted in April 2022 in three databases: ERIC, PsycINFO and Scopus. In addition, related reviews were manually screened for relevant papers.

RESULTS

Eight peer-revied studies and five publications of grey literature were found to meet the inclusion criteria; two studies employed experimental designs, four employed quasi-experimental designs and seven employed explorative designs. Six studies described STT as an assistive technology (a compensatory aid for poor writing performance); two assessed STT as an instructional technology to determine whether it improves overall writing and related skills (e.g., reading). Results suggest that STT may increase pupils' abilities to produce texts with fewer errors, provide help with spelling and improve reading comprehension and word recognition. To date, there is a paucity of high-quality research on the use of STT among adolescents with LD.

CONCLUSION

The scoping review shows that very little research has been conducted on the use of STT for adolescents with learning difficulties in secondary education. Findings from the studies identified five areas of interest: writing related skills, text assessment, writing processes, accuracy of the technology, and participants' experiences. Findings indicate that writing performance among students with learning difficulties improves when using STT. Parents, teachers, and pupils report positive experiences with the technology, particularly for students with severe reading and writing difficulties.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONThere is a great need for more robust research on the use of speech-to-text technology (STT) in educational settings, especially on its effect on writing skillsStudies describe STT as either an assistive (a compensatory aid for poor writing performance) or instructional technology (aiming to improve learning in general). It is important that practitioners are aware of the different aims and possible consequences of introducing STT to learners with writing difficulties.STT provides both opportunities and challenges for writers with learning difficulties in secondary education. Findings indicate that writing performance among students with learning difficulties improves when using STT, yet inaccuracy of the technology was presented as one of the main challenges.Parents, teachers, and pupils report positive experiences with the technology, particularly for students with severe reading and writing difficulties.

Underpinning implications of instructional strategies on assistive technology for learning disability: a meta-synthesis review

PURPOSE

This article reviews the instructional strategies used by assistive technologies and maps their problem manifestation and effectiveness for children with learning disabilities. The objective of this article is to investigate the most common types of assistive tools used in learning to study their attributes, limited to the needs of learners with the condition of dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia.

REVIEW METHODS

It studies currently available low, mid and high-level assistive learning technologies available to deal with problems faced by these learners. Assistive tools studied in this article range from simple hardware tools to multi-sensory software. A simple analytical framework by interlinking, Problem Manifestation, Underpinned Implication, Instructional Strategy and Cognitive Strength Developed (PISC) is formulated to examine the tools.

RESULTS

Five assistive tools types (non-electronic products, low-tech products, mid-tech products, high-tech products apps and learning software) for each learning disability are identified, analysed and associated learning implication is studied under PISC framework. This helps to map the problems and learning style of learning disabled and analyses the underpinned implication along with the corresponding development of skills (cognitive, affective or psychomotor) by these assistive technologies.

CONCLUSION

Performance of identified assistive tool types using PISC framework is analysed. Findings are reported and discussed.Implications for RehabilitationAvailable assistive tools are not learning disability specific. So, in order to differentiate the learning path of a Learning Disabled learner from that of a Non-Learning Disabled learner, study is conducted under four attributes of PISC framework: Problem Manifestation, Underpinned Implication, Instructional Strategy and Cognitive Strength.Available assistive tools in the field of remedial education are found to be problem centric and only able in dealing with single academic learning need of a learner with specific learning difficulty.The mapping of the available assistive technologies under PISC framework provides a detailed structure for the selection of most suited assistive tool as per learning requirement of a learner with learning disability.This study also conclude the non- availability of the High-tech assistive tools and Educational Software specifically designed for learners with learning disability.

Disability-aware adaptive and personalised learning for students with multiple disabilities

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to address how virtual learning environments (VLEs) can be designed to include the needs of learners with multiple disabilities. Specifically, it employs AI to show how specific learning materials from a huge repository of learning materials can be recommended to learners with various disabilities. This is made possible through employing semantic web technology to model the learner and their needs.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews personalised learning for students with disabilities, revealing the shortcomings of existing e-learning environments with respect to students with multiple disabilities. It then proceeds to show how the needs of a student with multiple disabilities can be analysed and then simple logical operators and knowledge-based rules used to personalise learning materials in order to meet the needs of such students.

Findings

It has been acknowledged in literature that designing for cases of multiple disabilities is difficult. This paper shows that existing learning environments do not consider the needs of students with multiple disabilities. As they are not flexibly designed and hence not adaptable, they cannot meet the needs of such students. Nevertheless, it is possible to anticipate that students with multiple disabilities would use learning environments, and then design learning environments to meet their needs.

Practical implications

This paper, by presenting various combination rules to present specific learning materials to students with multiple disabilities, lays the foundation for the design and development of learning environments that are inclusive of all learners, regardless of their abilities or disabilities. This could potentially stimulate designers of such systems to produce such inclusive environments. Hopefully, future learning environments will be adaptive enough to meet the needs of learners with multiple disabilities.

Social implications

This paper, by proposing a solution towards developing inclusive learning environments, is a step towards inclusion of students with multiple disabilities in VLEs. When these students are able to access these environments with little or no barrier, they will be included in the learning community and also make valuable contributions.

Originality/value

So far, no study has proposed a solution to the difficulties faced by students with multiple disabilities in existing learning environments. This study is the first to raise this issue and propose a solution to designing for multiple disabilities. This will hopefully encourage other researchers to delve into researching the educational needs of students with multiple disabilities.