EVALUATION
OF VR VS. CAI AS TEACHING STRATEGIES
AMONG
STUDENTS WITH ASD: A META-ANALYSIS
J.S.
Tannous, O.E. Hetzroni
Students with ASD
demonstrate severe behavioral, communicative,
social, and
cognitive deficits. Such deficits interfere with the process of
learning new skills
and generalizing these skills (Mesibov, Shea, &
Schopler, 2005).
Over the years, many adapted intervention strategies
and treatment
methods were developed in order to increase the
efficacy of the
learning process. Such strategies are meant to increase
the children's
abilities in different domains, taking into account the
specific and unique
learning profile of children who have ASD
(Corsello, 2005).
Assistive technology (AT) has been found to be
effective for
teaching individuals with ASD. Computer assisted
intervention (CAI)
offers opportunities for multi-sensory interactions,
controlled and
structured environments that can assist children with
ASD (Hetzroni &
Tannous, 2004). Virtual reality (VR) is a combination
of technologies,
allowing creation and exploration of virtual
environments, that
may have a realistic appearance, allowing an
authentic
simulation of situations, which maximizes the likelihood of
generalized
learning (Mitchell, Parsons & Leonard, 2007). Use of
training and
practice in controlled environments has been found to be
effective for
children with ASD when later performing in natural
environments
(Hetzroni & Tannous, 2004). Offering such
environments, CAI
and VR interventions have been investigated for
effectiveness as
teaching strategies. The purpose of this study was to
investigate
differences and similarities between VR and CAI as
teaching
instruments for children with ASD. Results of a primary
review will be
presented, as well as a discussion about the nature and
characteristic of
the common and different components of both
strategies.
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