The quality of evidence in tablet‐assisted interventions for students with disabilities

Abstract

AbstractThe purpose of this review is to weigh the evidence of the effectiveness of tablet‐assisted instructions (TAIs) at improving academic outcomes of students with disabilities. An extensive search process with inclusion and exclusion criteria yielded a total of 17 studies to be included in the present study: three group design studies and 14 single‐subject design studies. The quality indicators proposed by Gersten et al. () and Horner et al. () were applied to evaluate the methodological rigour of TAI studies and their feasibility to be considered evidence‐based. Results revealed that (a) most group design studies provided little information about the intervention agent and equivalence of groups across conditions, (b) the social validity of using tablets for students with disabilities was strongly established across all single‐subject design studies and (c) procedural fidelity in assessment and intervention implementation was inadequately addressed in group design studies. Although this review suggests that TAI used in single‐subject design studies can be a potentially evidence‐based practice for students with disabilities, there still remains to be established whether the group design studies can be considered evidence‐based, because of the lack of methodological rigour in group design studies. Finally, implications for future directions and practical ideas are discussed.