Expected Results
0uput 1 (o1). RESEARCH STUDY
description
This study is aimed at having objective and scientifically validated data about the effectiveness of the AR tool (Pictogram Room) for a significant sample of individuals with autism.
target groups
The study is targeted at autistic students, aged 0-12, who attend any of the three schools involved in the project.
The study is also targeted at teachers working in these schools, for whom appropriate tools and resources for the evaluation and intervention on those key skills will be developed.
expected impact
For students:
Significant benefits are expected in the development of their body knowledge, pointing and imitation skills. These skills are key factors for communication and social development, which is the central difficulty in autism.
For teachers
They are expected to acquire more optimal teaching strategies (especially those linked to learning imitation), thanks to the use of new technologies and training in teaching practices that involve intensive monitoring of the pupil's progress from an objective point of view.
For the participating schools:
A high impact is expected at school level (on the practices and culture of each school) thanks to the involvement in the project of the whole school community and the intensive work on the implementation of the protocols and analysis of the information.
TRANSFERABILITY POTENTIAL
Pictogram Room will be fully available in the 5 languages of the project (English, French, Bulgarian, Turkish and Spanish) and will be available for free for different platforms.
The research results will be published in an open-access format in a relevant, high-impact autism journal. All the intermediate resources (treatment fidelity procedures, evaluation tools, etc ….) will be available for free in 5 languages of the project.
0uput 2 (o2). MOOC ON AUGMENTED REALITY TECHNOLOGIES APPLIED TO AUTISM
description
It will be a four-week course will be a valuable resource for teachers willing to implement AR solutions in ASD student (with a special focus on body language, joint attention and imitation).
target groups
It will aim at teachers and other educational professionals working with autistic students in a variety of settings, including mainstream classrooms, autism units within mainstream schools and special education schools (either autism-specific or general).
expected impact
A high impact of this MOOC is expected on the teachers’ skills for training imitation of young children with autism, which in turn can have an important impact on children skills at a general level.
TRANSFERABILITY POTENTIAL
A Massive Online Open Course is an appropriate format to reach a high number of teachers across Europe. The availability of the MOOC for free in five different languages will facilitate this aim.
The creators will develop the contents either in Moodle or in OpenEdX to facilitate export/import between platforms when necessary.
Multiplier events
Three international events have been scheduled to disseminate the project results. All will have the same title “Imitation, Autism and Augmented Reality”. It is expected to reach around
300 external participants in total:
Multiplier Event 1 (E1). aVILA (Spain)
It will be an interactive presentation of the 2 intellectual outputs for teachers from schools in the Avila area in Spain, together with invited parents and local authorities.
Multiplier Event 2 (E2) VALLADOLID (Spain)
It will be a monograph on Imitation, Autism and Augmented Reality addressed to university professors, teachers, representatives of educational authorities, members of local and regional governments, representatives of associations of autistic people and people with learning difficulties. In addition, testimonials on the use of the AR tool will be shown, these will be a full demonstration of its functionality will be given and participants will be able to interact with the software.
Multiplier Event 3 (E3) KONYA (Turkey)
It will be a conference where the output (O1 and O2) will be presented to people living in different parts of Europe. Participants will include university professors, teachers, representatives of educational authorities, members of local governments, representatives of associations of autistic people and people with learning difficulties.