Learning games for Dyslexic young adults

The main objective of the DYS2GO project is the provision of a range of mobile highly motivating and stimulating learning games, for a carefully selected range of skills known to be important for young dyslexic adults, relevant also for language learning.

Mobile devices have indeed become immensely powerful (not only from a technical point of view) and popular especially with young adults, and offer huge opportunities for learning “anywhere and anytime” especially for youngsters. There is a lack of interactive exercises, which can help young dyslexic persons to train specific skills. Therefore, the DYS2GO project has developed the training tool that considers and addresses the preferences of young dyslexic adults (the games targeted especially at young adults) from the age of 16 onward.

The project Learning games for Dyslexic young adults is co funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, Key Action 2 – Strategic Partnership for Adult education.

A dyslexic person needs to train his or her perception skills on a regular basis, otherwise all inclusive education measures, for example, in VET, higher education or adult continuing training, may fail. Such training is a prerequisite for phonological and orthographic processing. Inclusive learning requires accessibility of individual learning resources (for example, digital learning tools tailored to general or specific learning needs), to learn in a variety of ways that compensates deficiencies. Interactive exercises can help dyslexic people to train specific skills. Such exercises are available, but the majority of them are focused on children and do not usually address specific problems. Not surprisingly, young dyslexic adults do not like these exercises due to their childish nature, or because they are seen as irrelevant. Therefore, there is a need for training tools that consider and address the preferences of young dyslexic adults from the age of 16 onwards. And, usually, such training has to take place in the afternoon or evening (outside of formal education institutions), and has to be provided by teachers/trainers specialized on dyslexia.

DYS2GO meets this need and addresses both teachers/trainers as well as dyslexic young adults, by developing interactive online games, focused on the following 7 areas:

• Visual discrimination,
• Visual memory,
• Visual sequence,
• Auditory discrimination,
• Auditory memory,
• Auditory sequence,
• Spatial position (e.g. top, bottom, behind, ahead, left, right).

DYS2GO learning games can be used by dyslexic young adults as a self-learning tool or can be used as part of the structured classroom/group activities.

The games are available for mobile devices (Android, Apple IOS) as well as for Windows desktop (also planned Windows tablets). The DYS2GO games are mini-learning games based on perception training approaches for Special Education Needs (SEN). The learning game apps are accompanied by a teacher’s guide on how to use the apps in the classroom. Apps and teacher’s guide are available for free in English, German, Latvian, Czech, Lithuanian, and Bulgarian language.

This practice can be embedded in the programme or in self-learning as game-based training method/ tools.

– young adults aged 16+
– SEN teachers, tutors and trainers working with dyslexic young adults
– teachers at schools (inclusion)

• 10 points for level 1
• 20 points for level 2
• 30 points for level 3

Whenever the user beats his/her own high score for a single game, they get extra points (20 points for level 1, 50 points for level 2, 100 points for level 3). Beating their own high score means either solving a game faster or with less attempts. When they beat their own high score for the current game, they get a special message. For fill-ins, there is no extra high score, neither there is for some games where there is only one try and/or time is irrelevant or can’t really be measured.

The DYS2GO project website – http://www.dys2go.eu/en/outputs

• Providing young adults aged 16+ with an opportunity to develop skills that are very relevant in their efforts to overcome the difficulties caused by dyslexia, and to find a better realization of their potential in all aspects of life.
• Help trainers and teachers who regularly work with dyslexic learners, as well as teachers with less experience with dyslexic students looking for additional resources for their work, with the aim of promoting inclusion at mainstream schools.

The project Learning games for Dyslexic young adults is co funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, Key Action 2 – Strategic Partnership for Adult education.

The previous projects, on which DYS2GO is based, GRUNDTVIG EDYSGATE (2008) and DYS 2.0 (2011) provided learning games for dyslexic youngsters on the Window platform. These learning games won the 2009 Austrian Multimedia Prix /social service category, and the World Summit Award 2009/ category E-Learning/Education.

• Game-based learning
• Inclusive education
• Self-learning
• Visual discrimination
• Visual memory
• Visual sequence
• Auditory discrimination
• Auditory memory
• Auditory sequence
• Spatial position

It is important to focus on relevant skills for learning, and to motivate adults by making learning stimulating.

Not applicable