Developing VR educational tools to support class accommodation and peer-level based learning for students with dyslexia

<< Background >>VR-Schooldom project was initiated to address critical need for inclusive educational tools in classrooms with dyslexic students. Project's foundation rested on creating a collaborative, transnational platform for digital tool development, aiding teachers in integrating dyslexic students seamlessly with peers. In Latvia, Recognized 8,144 (8.8%) SEN children in 2014-2015. 2020 laws emphasized inclusive education in mainstream settings. Germany witnessed a substantial increase from 14% to 38% in SEN students attending mainstream schools (2005-2015). Italy identified 2.9% students with SLD, over 254k, promoting inclusive norms in education. Bulgaria integrated 32,000 disabled students in schools; 2016 reforms focused on educational support centers. Greece found a 5.52% dyslexia rate among adolescents, aligning with global trends.Project was a response to amplified challenges in online learning for students with SLD, especially during recent shift in educational paradigms. It aimed to equip educators with innovative tools for more engaging, inclusive classes, enabling dyslexic students to participate without feeling disadvantaged. Initiative was a stride towards creating an educational environment.<< Objectives >>VR-Schooldom envisaged journey focused on three specific scope based objectives:O1 Technical Scope > involve special education teachers and mainstream teachers in a training programme aimed at providing them with the required knowledge and skill to develop specific educational Virtual Reality contents (hereinafter VR) applied to school subjects that are particularly difficult for students with dyslexia.O2 Educational Scope > involved students with dyslexia and their classmates in piloting at the local level in which the VR contents was provided as support to the daily school programme.O3 Emotional Scope > involved classes in online-based soft skills activities to support the interaction of students with dyslexia and their peers (local phase).<< Implementation >>VR-Schoold project implemented the following activities in order to reach its specific objectives: O1 involved special education teachers and mainstream teachers in a training programme aimed at providing them with the required knowledge and skill to develop specific educational Virtual Reality contents (hereinafter VR) applied to school subjects that are particularly difficult for students with dyslexia. Related Activities/Actions:Activity 1 > Production of a Research Report produced at Consortium level, containing training needs of special education teachers and mainstream teachers in digital/technological literacy, learning needs of students with dyslexia, as well as mapping existing offer in the frame of VR tools applied to education.Activity 2 > Development of “Digital Learning and Virtual Reality for Teachers” e-learning course (R1) aimed at providing special education teachers and mainstream teachers with the proper competencies to improve their digital skills and develop VR tools to be used during lessons that are tailored to the needs of students with dyslexia.Action 1 > Involvement of special education teachers and mainstream teachers in the piloting of the e-learning course with related assessment and evaluation. O2 involved students with dyslexia in piloting at the local level in which the VR contents was provided as support to the daily school programme.Related Activities/Actions:Action 1 > Involvement of special education teachers and mainstream teachers in the development of VR tools to be used during lessons that are tailored to the needs of students with dyslexia with related quality evaluation. Activity 1 > Development of the “VR- Schooldom” APP (R2) containing the VR tools developed.Action 2 > Involvement of two classes of students per country, one testing the APP while the other not with related monitoring process implemented to track the differences at educational and emotional levels of both classes. O3 involve classes in online-based soft skills activities to support the interaction of students with dyslexia and their classmates (local phase).Activity 1 > Development of the “You&Me=Us” E- Toolkit (R3) containing a set of online-based soft skills activities to be implemented during online lessons to support the interaction of students with dyslexia and their classmates. Action 1 > Involvement of two classes of students per country, one testing the E-Toolkit while the other not with a related monitoring process implemented to track the differences at educational and emotional levels of both classes.<< Results >>The project partners meticulously prepared and carried out a number of activities to accomplish the VR-Schooldom project. They can be combined into the following categories:- Implementation of 3 tangible Results (R1,R2,R3)- Activities related to Project Management- Final Conferences- Piloting Events- Online and Offline Dissemination Activities- Translational Project MeetingsTo be precise, tangible:R1- Research Report produced at Consortium level was developed, containing training needs of special education teachers in digital & technology literacy, learning needs of students with dyslexia, as well as mapping existing offer in the frame of VR tools applied to education. Available in 6 languages, available at: http://vrschooldom.eu/io1-research-report.html- “Digital Learning and Virtual Reality for Teachers” e-learning course (R1) was developed, aimed at providing special education teachers and mainstream teachers with the proper competencies to improve their digital and technological skills and develop VR tools to be used during lessons that are tailored to the needs of students with dyslexia and usable for all students. The e- learning course was tested at the national level in all the Countries involved in the Consortium. Moodle E-learning Course with 5 modules and quizzes, in 6 languages, available at: http://vrschooldom.eu/elearning/R2- Virtual Reality Game “VR-Schooldom” APP, was developed containing the VR tools developed by the teachers after being trained during the R1 pilot. Available both for Oculus Quest and Android Phones (free) in 6 languages (meaning 12 games, 6 for Oculus and 6 for Android Phones. Due to different programming languages, they were coded separately)Links to all documentation and game files as well as links to Google and Oculus stores can be found here:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14JJ_n-zT17_K0M6kZwVg3LmeDIDZo3BT?usp=drive_linkR3- “You&Me=Us” E-Toolkit in 6 languages was developed containing a set of online-based soft skills activities to be implemented during lessons to support the interaction of students with dyslexia and their classmates. Available at: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14zx81jSwiu44bvSrMA9IeGTgUmdD2uM-?usp=drive_linkProject’s duration produced intangible results:- Introduction of VR tools in the school system both in distance learning and physical lessons.- Promotion and raising awareness regarding the importance of supporting the learning process of students with dyslexia while including them in mainstream classes.- Consolidation of cooperation framework allowing partner organizations to be active on the topic exchanging information and proposing follow-up initiatives, also with the involvement of interested stakeholders.Besides Results 1,2,3:- Final Conferences took place in 5 countries, 30 attendees in each. Photos available at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YBYTyXt0qq8VE0hTeDMBv2xOcE0wief1UFFj04jqQu8/edit?usp=sharing- Online Dissemination Activities: links are available in attachment to this Report.- Offline Dissemination Activities: Photos available at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Bu5yyzTL9HSeUrfdJ684I937CczLeUTIzEIB_FvHnKs/edit?usp=sharing- Web Platform was developed to host project's results and updates, available at: http://vrschooldom.eu/- Translational Project Meetings took place in Latvia, Italy and Greece. Information about them is available at:* Kick-off Latvia: http://vrschooldom.eu/kick-off-meeting.html* Mid-Term Italy: http://vrschooldom.eu/mid-term-meeting.html* Final Greece: http://vrschooldom.eu/final-meeting.html