Case Study 2

Student Two is an enthusiastic user of computers, we have attended his class weekly over 2 months to date and he has been found at his work station in all but one of the 8 sessions attended. Notable he has always been using software from the same series (The Oxford Reading Tree scheme). The multimedia engages his attention fully; it is something that he does well by himself, he finds the interface usable and progresses through the cartoon story. It is however targeted at a much younger user and its tone and themes are childish. It is often the case that students with cognitive disabilities have interests and obsessions that are not 'age appropriate' and this software's children's story fits precisely that profile. The software package is however one of the few multimedia software packages available in the class and has been selected because its reading age is suitable for older users with learning disabilities, and because its multimedia aspects, particularly the audio and the animations, are popular and usable for students on their own. This is a recurring issue around available multimedia content for this user group; simple multimedia interfaces that match the usability requirements of young adults tend to be used for content targeted exclusively at primary level students. The themes and learning objectives of materials with interfaces that suit young adults with cognitive disabilities are thus largely inappropriate for the older user community.

Student Two has a significant cognitive disability and 'challenging behaviour'. His use of the ICT system can provide him with a calming virtual environment that is stable and predictable. This appears to allay some of the anxiety and vexation that is otherwise usually evident in aggressive behaviour. He is in a class led by a teacher who is new to the School with 2 Learning Support Assistants. The computer provides a valuable focus for his energies that keeps him from making trouble with his peers and teachers. The software he is always using engages and calms him and stops him disrupting the class, hurting himself or others, freeing up the staff in class to work with other students. The activity has little or no educational merit however; the student is not learning to read but simply operating the linear sequence of the 'e book's' narrative compulsively and repetitively. The software seems suitably usable but Student Two has exhausted its meanings and messages a long time ago.

Video and observation with Student Two in the classroom raises key issues and concerns:

• Multimedia can provide a popular and engaging activity for people with learning disabilities. Some users can search out content that suits their interests but the material contained in discrete easy to access CDROM-based packages provides particularly accessible and engaging activity for independent use by people with significant learning disabilities. The discrete software package helps provide a focus of attention and a stable and predictable environment to engage the user without distraction
• Where appropriately challenging and varied content is not provided for users with cognitive disabilities, an ICT system can constitute little more than a 'holding-activity' providing a form of baby-sitting, in the process potentially reinforcing obsessive and compulsive behaviour rather than providing genuinely educational experience
• Multimedia material for this user-group is needed that incorporates adult content and mode of address whilst employing 'childish' simplicity of interface and navigation for independent access and use
• The popularity of multimedia with students with learning disabilities can be seen in these two video clips. Clearly this user group can benefit from the potential of multimedia as a tool for learning, leisure and communication alongside the mainstream. These 2 examples however highlight potential obstacles and patterns of use that could have negative impact on the user's quality of life. The technology may serve to isolate the individual in the class, providing a minimal learning experience and simply occupying the learner and keeping them out of trouble, even reinforcing obsessive and compulsive behaviour.

Our participant observation in the classroom means we have some understanding as to how and why this misuse of the system occurs and the development programme aspect of Project Apple is designed to turn this around. Central to this understanding is recognition of the pressures and stresses that teachers and learners are under in a 'Special' Educational Environment.

The Imperfect Classroom

Key obstacles to the successful application of multimedia material in special education observed by the research so far include:

• A shortage of appropriate and accessible learning materials (or indeed of awareness that any suitable materials are available)
• Inadequate or unstable staffing to provide the required level of individual support
• Poorly trained staff
• Equipment failures
• Lack of technical support
• Lack of assistive devices to facilitate use by students with complex needs

Observation of students in class and the patterns of use described above has helped to map potential obstacles to the effective application of ICT with and by people with cognitive disabilities. The process highlights the imperfections of the real classroom and potentially calls into question the blue-sky ideals that the plans for an inclusive e Learning Environment enshrine. The Project brings Developers and Authors together with Evaluating Researchers from various disciplines, foregrounding tensions between promotional accounts of what we believe the product could achieve and the reality of life in under-resourced real-world educational settings.

The same trial sites have provided us with examples of positive models of multimedia use for this group, achieved primarily through:

• provision of rich media learning materials designed specifically to be accessible for users with cognitive impairment
• the presence of well-trained professional staff support
• a broader perception of the 'multimedia Learning Environment' beyond the desktop into the classroom and wider community using cameras, recorders etc.