An online learning resource to improve the social and communication skills and literacy levels in children and young adults with special needs.
Children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) have the same kind of interests as other children but many learning aids for them do not reflect this. Their teachers have difficulty in finding age-appropriate ones that engage, motivate and stimulate but remain accessible and can be used across different developmental levels. This can result in the use of materials designed for preschool children for teenagers “We need resources with an age-appropriate interest level that could be differentiated down to the children’s developmental level and that’s really tricky “ - Jane Parry, Deputy Head, Abbots Lea School.
Talkpad is a conceptual web-authoring software tool that enables children and young adults with SEN to create and interact with a secure, on-line community of their friends, peers and teachers and have fun. The site is a flexible space where teachers can create diverse on-line learning communities allowing pupils from different schools to talk to each other, complete assignments, and reflect on their own development.
The software allows children to create and share a personal profile that expresses who they are and what they like with a journal that becomes an archived digital portfolio of their work and interests and a space to review their achievements.
Unlike existing social networking sites, Talkpad has been designed to be accessible to users with a broad range of disabilities reflecting the diversity of children with SEN. The variety of accessibility settings allows them to tailor the site to their preferences. Talkpad remembers these and displays content accordingly.
Talkpad’s basic toolset is:
Uniform worked alongside teachers and pupils at Abbots Lea in Liverpool, a school for pupils with SEN, and a group of disabled users to understand the issues and how children enjoyed learning.
The design team showed strong insight and understanding into the complex issue of how to engage children with special learning needs into the educational process. The judges felt that their idea for Talk Pad is more than just a learning aid that addresses the problem and is instead a powerful network-building tool that addresses the underlying issue of socialising.
