journal article·2021-05-19Open access

Investigating Issues and Needs of Dyslexic Students at University: Proof of Concept of an Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality-Based Supporting Platform and Preliminary Results

Andrea Zingoni, Juri Taborri, Valentina Panetti, Simone Bonechi, Pilar Aparicio-Martínez, Sara Pinzi, Giuseppe Calabrò

Applied Sciences· Volume 11· Issue 10

Abstract

Specific learning disorders affect a significant portion of the population. A total of 80% of its instances are dyslexia, which causes significant difficulties in learning skills related to reading, memorizing and the exposition of concepts. Whereas great efforts have been made to diagnose dyslexia and to mitigate its effects at primary and secondary school, little has been done at the university level. This has resulted in a sensibly high rate of abandonment or even of failures to enroll. The VRAIlexia project was created to face this problem by creating and popularizing an innovative method of teaching that is inclusive for dyslexic students. The core of the project is BESPECIAL, a software platform based on artificial intelligence and virtual reality that is capable of understanding the main issues experienced by dyslexic students and to provide them with ad hoc digital support methodologies in order to ease the difficulties they face in their academic studies. The aim of this paper is to present the conceptual design of BESPECIAL, highlighting the role of each module that composes it and the potential of the whole platform to fulfil the aims of VRAIlexia. Preliminary results obtained from a sample of about 700 dyslexic students are also reported, which clearly show the main issues and needs that dyslexic students experience and these will be used as guidelines for the final implementation of BESPECIAL.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Reading and Literacy Development · Digital Accessibility for Disabilities · Tactile and Sensory Interactions

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Department of Economics, Engineering, Society and Business Organization (DEIM), University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, Italy

Department of Computer Science, University of Pisa, 56100 Pisa, Italy

Department of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Pharmacology, University of Córdoba, 14001 Córdoba, Spain

Department of Chemistry, Physics and Applied Thermodynamic, University of Córdoba, 14001 Córdoba, Spain

Funding

European Union Committee

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