Specific Learning Differences and Technology Enhanced Learning

Higher education institutions are experiencing a radical uptake of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL).

However, there is a lack of robust research exploring how the changing landscape of HE teaching and learning impacts students. 

This is especially the case for how the increasing use of digital technology affects students who have specific learning differences (SpLDs) such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and/or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Aims and objectives

The project's overall objective is to enhance and promote the development of digital inclusivity. Working in partnership with other higher education institutions, we aim to: 

  • investigate what TEL practices students and their lecturers currently use, and their opinions of them
  • understand how TEL practices impact students’ learning and lecturers’ teaching, both positively and negatively
  • provide recommendations to improve the provision of TEL for all students in Higher Education Institutions.

News and publications

Publication in Qualitative Methods in Psychology Bulletin 

Our team is pleased to announce that one of our new articles was accepted for publication in Qualitative Methods in Psychology Bulletin in Spring 2022.

The paper describes the impact of Technology Enhanced Learning on students with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs).

The data, which were collected in 2018, involve the voices of nine undergraduate students at UEA who participated in the preliminary stage of our study. More specifically, the article explores what TEL practices undergraduate SpLD students used in 2018 and their opinions of them. It also analyses how TEL practices impact SpLD students, both positively and negatively.
 

Publications

The following academic publications resulted from the ‘SpLDs and TEL’ project:

  • Coxon, A., Arico, F., & Schildt, J. (2020). Accessibility and inclusivity in online teaching. In S. McKenzie, F. G., & K. R. D. (Eds.), Tertiary Online Teaching and Learning: TOTAL Perspectives and Resources for Digital Education (1 ed., pp. 169-175). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8928-7_15
  • Coxon, A., Arico, F., & Schildt, J. (2020). The impact of Technology Enhanced Learning on students with Specific Learning Difficulties, The Economics Network. https://doi.org/10.53593/n3322a.
     

Conference presentations

28-29 October 2019: The International Higher Education Conference (Amsterdam)

  • Assessing the impact of technology enhanced learning on students with specific learning difficulties.

September 2019: European Conference on Educational Research (Hamburg)

  • Exploring the impact of Technology Enhanced Learning practices in Higher Education on students with specific learning difficulties.

December 2018: Society for Research into Higher Education: Annual Research Conference (Celtic Manor Resort, Newport)

  • The impact of Technology Enhanced Learning on students with Specific Learning Difficulties.

September 2018: BPS East of England Conference (University of East Anglia, UK)

  • Assessing the inclusivity of Technology Enhanced Learning methods for students affected by Specific Learning Difficulties.


 

Research team and partners