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VLEs, social stories and children with autism: A prototype implementation and evaluation

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Abstract

Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) have been successfully used in educational interventions for children with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) for overcoming their persistent differences related to social communication and imagination. This paper investigates the potential of VLEs presenting Social Stories, as an advantageous pathway for the development of social problem skills in children with ASC. To this end, it presents the design and development of VLSS (Virtual Learning Environment with Social Stories), a prototype three-dimensional VLE for children with ASC. Overall, the evaluation of VLSS by 40 experts (special education teachers) was very positive, indicating that VLSS has the potential to be a beneficial and easy-to-use educational tool for enhancing social problem solving in children with ASC.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank all special education teachers who took part in this study. This study would not have been made possible without their valuable contribution.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Informatics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Ethnikis Antistaseos 16, 551 33, Thessaloniki, Greece

    C. Volioti & T. Tsiatsos

  2. School of Education, University of New England, Armidale, 2351, NSW, Australia

    S. Mavropoulou

  3. Department of Special Education, University of Thessaly, Argonafton & Filellinon, 38 221, Volos, Greece

    C. Karagiannidis

Authors
  1. C. Volioti
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  2. T. Tsiatsos
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  3. S. Mavropoulou
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  4. C. Karagiannidis
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to T. Tsiatsos.

Appendix

Appendix

 

Teachers’ own point of view

Teachers’ point of view for students’ with ASC

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly Agree

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly Agree

 

Usefulness

          

S1.

It helps user be more effective

          

S2.

It helps user be more productive

          

S3.

It is useful

          

S4.

It makes the things user wants to accomplish easier to get done

          

S5.

It saves user’s time when he use it

          

S6.

It meets user’s needs

          
 

Ease of use

          

S7.

It is easy to use

          

S8.

It is simple to use

          

S9.

It is user friendly

          

S10.

It is flexible

          

S11.

Using it is effortless

          

S12.

User can use it without written instructions

          

S13.

User doesn’t notice any inconsistencies as he uses it

          

S14.

User can recover from mistakes quickly and easily

          

S15.

User can use it successfully every time

          
 

Ease of learning

          

S16.

User learned to use it quickly

          

S17.

User easily remembers how to use it

          

S18.

It is easy to learn to use it

          

S19.

User quickly became skilful with it

          
 

Satisfaction

          

S20.

User would recommend it to a friend.

          

S21.

It is fun to use

          

S22.

It is pleasant to use

          

S23.

The realistic representation of students with ASC through an avatar is very important

          

S24.

The presence of avatars motivates the user’s participation in activity

          

S25.

SS provide logical sequence and an escalating degree of difficulty in a helpful format for students with ASC

          

S26.

The interaction is suitable with the motor and cognitive level of students with ASC

          

S27.

The feedback is constructive and appropriate to the students with ASC

          

S28.

The design and the presentation of SS should attract the attention of students with ASC

          

S29.

The design of SS would overload the memory of students with ASC

          

S30.

The presentation of SS is “simple” in the sense that it displays only the required information

          

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Volioti, C., Tsiatsos, T., Mavropoulou, S. et al. VLEs, social stories and children with autism: A prototype implementation and evaluation. Educ Inf Technol 21, 1679–1697 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-015-9409-1

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