Abstract:

Parallel to the effort by the Ministry of Education Malaysia in providing support for Special Education Program in Malaysian Schools and promoting ICT skills among Special Educational Need (SEN) learners in Malaysia (MDEC, 2009), this study explored the parents’ and children’s attitude towards a mobile application for speech delay children which is known as MASSDEC. The mobile application was developed based on ADDIE model and topics covered in the application are tailored for early year’s education. Learning through play was applied in the application to support the children learning basic knowledge about numbers, fruits, colors, transport and animals. In addition, elements of entertainment are also included in the application to increase the children's engagement. The research design of this study is qualitative and based on case study methodology. The findings showed that the respondents are positive towards this application. As there is a gap in the development of mobile application for speech delay children in Malaysia, therefore, it is envisaged that this study will be regarded as a groundbreaking effort in the development of learning tool tailored for speech delay children in Malaysian context.

Keywords:

Mobile application, speech delay, attitude, assistive technology, Malaysia.