Design, Implementation and Evaluation of a Learning Object that Supports the Mathematics Learning in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

Information technologies have been widely used for entertainment and learning purposes by children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Nonetheless, learning objects aiming at specific skills development in children with ASD require both a well bounded learning domain and a user-centered design process, considering skill levels of the users and the local geographical context and language.

“Proyect@ Matemáticas” is a multi-touch based app designed for developing pre-calculus and functional mathematical skills in children with ASD, according to the Chilean regulations of learning goals for children with special educational necessities. This paper presents the User-centered design process conducted in order to develop the learning object, which included the evaluation by 15 experts in special educational needs, testing by 10 ASD-diagnosed children with different functional levels, and a multidisciplinary development team that also included a graphic designer diagnosed with ASD of high functionality.

The development process yields to a validated learning object in terms of interactivity, design, engagement, and usability, from the point of view of the experts, and successful usage tests with ASD diagnosed children in terms of performance and achievement of learning outcomes. The application is currently available for download in the Google Play store for free, and currently has more than 15,000 downloads and an average rating of 4.2 out of 5 points.