IOE academics conduct government reviews on helping learners with Specific Learning Difficulties

The reviews explore how technology and research can help improve educational outcomes for learners with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs).

The full review examines:

• current understanding of the causes and identification of SpLDs
• the support system for learners with SpLDs
• technology-based interventions for SpLDs
• a case study approach focusing on dyscalculia to explore all 3 themes

Technology-based interventions for Specific Learning Difficulties

Professor Rose Luckin (UCL Knowledge Lab), Dr Canan Blake, Dr Carmel Kent, and Dr Alison Clark-Wilson looked at technology-based interventions to help learners and teachers support the education of those with SpLDs.

This review highlights the science that supports the diagnosis of SpLDs is advancing rapidly but is still in its early stages and further evidence is needed.

The researchers emphasise that technology should always be seen as a contribution to the education of learners with SpLDs but must never be the whole story. They stress any technology-based intervention must be informed by evidence.

Tangible devices that allow physical engagement and multisensory interaction have been shown to improve learning for people with SpLDs. When used wisely by skilled educators, mobile technologies can also improve academic achievement, including mathematical skills. There is also evidence that these devices can improve student behaviour and help students participate in self-directed learning, when used well.

The review also notes that artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to benefit to all learners, particularly those with SpLDs. Well-designed AI enables personalised learning that adapts constantly to address the needs of each individual student. AI can also provide ways in which learners can interact with technology that are more suitable for people with SpLDs, such as voice-activated interfaces and robotics.

In addition, the team also highlight that AI has the promise to help educators better evaluate and understand how learners with SpLDs best achieve.

Dyscalculia

Professor Diana Laurillard (UCL Knowledge Lab) and Professor Brian Butterworth (School of Life and Medical Sciences) reviewed research looking at learners with developmental dyscalculia (DD) and mathematics learning difficulties (MLD), and at the technology-based interventions designed to support these learners.

Dyscalculia receives limited recognition within the wider education support system and lacks the same level of funding and research interest as other SpLDs, such as dyslexia. In order to help learners with dyscalculia, Professors Laurillard and Butterworth make several recommendations:

• Official recognition for DD should be re-established. This would help policymakers, parents, and schools act.
• Funding for DD research should be increased to match that for dyslexia, which has a similar prevalence and impact on education and employment.
• Cross-professional collaborative research should be encouraged between teachers, specialists in schools, and parents to establish what types of intervention work for DD.
• All training courses for teachers should embed modules that enable them to recognise and respond appropriately to every learner, as well as provision for specialisms in SpLDs.
• There should be direct funding towards technology-based interventions that focus on the most challenging concepts for the most challenging learners, as these will also be of value to all early learners.
• Specifications around the design of interventions should be provided to ensure reliable and comparable data that is based on learner performance in the classroom.
• Research on technology-based interventions should be used with standardised, trackable, and measurable data on learners’ interaction analytics that enable properly controlled trials of which work best.
• Online courses, webinars, and support sites to provide collaborative professional development on all SpLDs should be developed. Access should be extended to parents, other education professionals and policymakers too.

‘Specific Learning Difficulties: current understanding, support systems, and technology-led interventions’ was published on 12 October 2020.

Links

• Read the report: ‘Specific Learning Difficulties: current understanding, support systems, and technology-led interventions’
• View Professor Rose Luckin’s research profile
• View Professor Diana Laurillard’s research profile
• View Professor Brian Butterworth’s research profile
• UCL Knowledge Lab
• Department of Culture, Communication and Media