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Faculty Research Leads to iSocial: a Research-based, Virtual Experience that Helps Children with Autism Learn Social Competency
Janine Stitcher, professor of special education, is expanding iSocial, a curriculum for children with autism that uses a virtual world experience to teach social competency.
MU faculty in the College of Education have developed curricula that uses a virtual world experience, similar to a video game, to help students with autism learn social competency. Faculty hope the project, called iSocial, will change the way kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder are taught.
Dr. Janine Stichter, professor of special education, has been working with students who have behavior disorders and children with autism for more than 20 years. She is responsible for the development of the curricula in iSocial. When she began researching the curricula available for kids with special needs, she found it was very generic and limited. However, she says that iSocial meets specific needs for high-functioning students and the results have been astounding.
“Families were coming back saying, ‘wow what are you doing,’ ” says Stichter. “Teachers were coming to us and saying, ‘can we have whatever you’re doing? We are seeing changes at school.’ That really spawned that desire to keep going.”
Dr. Jim Laffey, professor of information science and learning technologies, engineered the virtual world and platform of iSocial.
iSocial 101: Going Virtual
Each lesson in iSocial is an adventure with a mission to accomplish and things to do. But in addition to being fun, each lesson builds a skill like sharing ideas, taking turns, or recognizing facial expressions.
“Students are not just running around in an online environment. They are engaged by an online guide to lead them through a set of important tasks,” says Laffey. “They have to achieve something of value and that’s the curriculum.”
The virtual world allows the students to experience things a in a different way, build their confidence and progress their skills step by step.
“The technology allows us to really craft the learning activity to the individual needs of the kids,” says Laffey.
“Having the curricula in a virtual learning environment where a kid can get on a computer and be part of a group that spans multiple states or multiple towns in a state is a huge positive for addressing issues with the economy, reduction in money for schools, and increasing access for everyone. That’s a huge goal of ours, ” says Stichter.
Scaffolded Curricula
“It is really important to think about social competence not as this holistic thing to teach as one lump sum, but as basic foundational skills that build on each other,” says Stichter.
iSocial Benefits Students Young and Old.
iSocial is a curricula that uses a virtual world experience, like a video game, to help students with Autism Spectrum Disorder learn social competency.
Special education tends to have less curricula because of the wide spectrum of differences among students and their smaller numbers in the classroom. College students involved in iSocial have benefitted by taking the pedagogy they have learned in the classroom and applying it to develop curricula that can then be delivered to other educators. A huge focus of the curricula has been child outcomes and making sure the desired outcomes are reached through the curricula.
The Next Step for iSocial: Get it to as many kids as possible
The College of Education is also developing a parent education program that will allow parents to help their kids participate in iSocial, and looking at potentially making apps for mobile devices where parents can help their kids while they are on the go.
“It would make a great iPhone app for a mom in a car with her kid to practice. It would be great for teachers to have that as well,” says Stichter.