On the Design of Learning Games and Puzzles for Children with Intellectual Disability

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to present the edutainment learning games that we are developing for Qatari children with moderate intellectual disability. These games will help them to learn effectively in funny and enjoyable ways. We use multimedia technology merged with intelligent algorithms to guide the children in play. As the number of children with intellectual disability is increasing, an early intervention to teach them properly using information technology is very important. Few research projects on disability are being conducted in the Arab world however, and these projects are still not enough to respond to the real needs of the disabled and achieve satisfactory outcomes. Developing edutainment games for children with intellectual disability is a very challenging task. First, it requires content developed by specialized instructors. Second, the interface design of the games must be presented clearly and be easy to interact with. Third, the games must run slowly, in order to give the children some time to think and interact. Fourth, regardless of the results, the game must allow a minimum level of general satisfaction, to avoid depressing the children. Fifth, the game must make maximum use of multimedia elements to draw the attention of the children. We show some multimedia applications for children with different disabilities, which were developed in Qatar University (enhancing mathematics skills with symbolic gift reward in case of guessing the answer). This feature motivated the children to play the game several times in the day. The applications also used some videos to illustrate the game before they play it. The purpose of the second multimedia application is to test the children's memory. The application uses different multimedia elements to present different games, which requires deep concentration in order to guess the answer. These games helped the children develop a strong sense of self-confidence. Learning puzzles that we have developed were based on intelligent algorithms to avoid cycling and which allow the children to reach a solution. Two different approaches were used: Simulated Annealing and Tabu Search.