Abstract:

Current research on dyslexia shows that a number of cognitive skills that are important components of reading and writing are frequently impaired among individuals with dyslexia (European Dyslexia association, 2014). The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the program “Tablexia” on reading and writing skills. “Tablexia” is a free to download modern educational app for tablets which aims at supporting the development of cognitive abilities of children from 5th to 8th grade. In this study a total of 33 students from 4th to 8th grade (36 % female) visiting two different special-needs schools in Germany were assigned to an experimental group and a waiting-control group. In order to assess developmental processes, the reading and writing skills and the cognitive abilities of the students were measured at three time points. Finally, game-related performance was measured. The reading and writing skills were assessed by means of the Salzburger Lese- und Rechtschreibtest (SLRT II; Moll & Landerl, 2010). The writing part of the SLRT II is limited for students till 5th grade. In order to measure the writing skills of students from 6th grade and higher the Westermann Rechtschreibtest 6+ (WRT 6+; Rathenow, Vöge & Laupenmühlen, 1980) was used. For measuring the cognitive abilities the Kognitive Fähigkeitstest (KFT; Heller & Perleth, 2000) was used. The results of the study show a positive effect of “Tablexia” on reading (d = 0.32) and writing skills (d = 0.36). In addition an improvement in game-related performance was found.

Keywords:

Dyslexia, cognitive abilities, tablet app, cognitive training, Tablexia, educational app, dysgraphia.