BESt-DaD: A New Distance Learning Platform for Students with Special Educational Needs

Abstract

The transition to distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic uncovered criticalities in the participation of students with special educational needs. The BESt-DaD project responded to these difficulties by developing a user-friendly online platform aimed at accommodating these students’ neurocognitive profiles, ultimately promoting inclusion. Together with the platform, specific adapted activities and personalized digital didactic materials were designed, and a training program was implemented to support teachers in using BESt-DaD’s tools and functionalities. The effectiveness of BESt-DaD platform and the associated teacher training program were evaluated by questionnaires. Results showed that teachers who participated in the project appreciated the platform’s accessibility and its positive effect on learner motivation and classroom interactions. Moreover, the ad hoc training motivated teachers to revise their educational-teaching methods with an inclusive approach. Although developed for distance learning, the BESt-DaD can be integrated into face-to-face teaching to promote the participation and inclusion of students with special educational needs.

Keywords:

• Distance learning
• digital platform
• special educational needs (SEN)
• inclusion
• accessibility

Acknowledgments

The BESt-DaD project has been described on an Italian article submitted to the Italian Journal RicercAzione. We are particularly thankful to Arianna Bentenuto and Cesare Furlanello for their contribution to the drafting of the project, and to Giovanni Licata for the native speaker proofreading.

Disclosure statement

All the authors declare to not have any conflict of interest.

Authors contribution

PV, NM, and AP realized the study conception and design and wrote the project. All the authors collaborated to developing the platform mockup. MC, CM, and AM realized the teacher training, and collaborated with AP in supervising the University students that developed the interface design. Questionnaires preparation and data collection were performed by NM, MC, CM, AM, and LS. Data analyses were performed by NM and LS. Teaching materials were created by NM, HB, FF, MC, CM, AM, LS under the supervision of PV. The first draft of the manuscript was written by NM, HB, FF, CM, MC, LS and AM. All the authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript and read and approved the final manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

The project “BESt-DaD: Piattaforma di didattica a distanza per alunni con bisogni educativi speciali” (BESt-DaD: Distance learning platform for students with special educational needs) was supported by the Caritro Fundation – Bando ricerca per la ripartenza 2020.