Abstract:

The use of modern technology, particularly in the field of natural sciences, acquires special interest when addressed to students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The nature of the disorder is characterized by deficient social skills and repetitive, stereotypical behaviors that create limitations in the demanding social and cooperative environment of the school. However, the intense interest shown by students with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the fields of natural sciences can be a motivation for their active involvement and participation in collaborative activities, provided that appropriately designed educational activities are implemented to develop learning motivation in line with inclusive orientation techniques.

With this in mind, the research team that prepared this work designed, developed, and built a digital interactive video software focusing on concepts of optics in elementary school. It is appropriately designed educational material that incorporates animations, simplified language, and interactive elements, allowing students to explore concepts at their own pace through collaborative techniques. The aim was, on the one hand, to test the effectiveness of this specific educational tool in understanding basic optics concepts and, on the other hand, to investigate optimal models of collaboration between the students in the sample.

The research sample consists of 20 fifth and sixth-grade students, of which 10 have certified autism spectrum disorder (7 boys, three girls) and 10 students (6 boys, four girls) of typical development. The students in the sample utilized the digital interactive software as a primary research tool and collaborated with it in pairs. Specifically, the ten students with ASD interacted with the digital application by creating cooperative pairs, similar in terms of their verbal and cognitive abilities, among themselves, but also with the typically developing students. The use of digital software enabled the digital recording of responses, progress, and scores for each pair. Meanwhile, the research team recorded progress on two fronts: by observing reactions and comments, and by evaluating the levels of cooperation for each pair, providing clarifications as necessary. The exploratory phase was completed with personal interviews conducted by the research team with each student to gather their opinions on this specific digital interactive educational tool, specifically, interactive videos.

The results of the research highlighted the positive contribution of this specific digital interactive tool to a more substantial understanding of elementary school optics concepts, while at the same time, the high levels of collaborative interaction recorded in combination with its inclusive orientation contributed to the cultivation of the deficient social characteristics of students with this disorder.

Keywords:

Inclusive education, autism spectrum disorder, interactive videos, optics concepts.