Personalized technology-enhanced training for people with cognitive impairment

Abstract

Today, ICT technology offers mobile, customized user-friendly environments to support learning and stimulate an individual’s potential. However, technology-enhanced learning tools are usually designed without accessibility in mind, undermining the inclusion of people with special needs. To reduce this gap, we have created a Web platform for delivering accessible games to individuals who may benefit from cognitive training, such as people with down syndrome (DS). The platform offers a personalized environment for learning and training that applies the principles of behavioral analysis. We used participatory design, involving special-needs teachers and psychologists in both design and development phases, to better understand user requirements and create attractive and effective games. A group of 11 children and young adolescents with DS were recruited from ONLUS AIPD (Italian Association of People with Down Syndrome) to test the platform’s usability, observe participants’ responses, and evaluate the limits and strong points of this educational approach. The findings of this study highlight the importance of motivation and flexibility in personalizing content, difficulty levels, and pace for people with DS. Based on this experience, a few basic guidelines have been proposed to refine protocols for accessibility tests with people with DS to maximize engagement, increase usability and collect more feedback to help researchers in designing usable tools/games. Crucial aspects of computerized cognitive training are personalization, system adaptability and monitoring. Strengthening these features could improve user motivation, ensuring continuity of the intervention, making tele-rehabilitation tools usable and beneficial not only for people with DS but also for a broader audience.