Date of Award

5-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Education (Special Education)

Department

Special Education

First Advisor

Efthymia Efthymiou

Second Advisor

Abdulaziz Al Saratawi

Third Advisor

Hala Elhoweris

Abstract

The study aims to investigate the impact of an iPad programme on the performance of students with dyslexia on reading, writing and spelling skills in two classes of a public primary school in Al -Ain, UAE. The study follows a mixed method approach (questionnaire; face-to-face interviews; pre-posttests). Twenty (20) 3rd graders male students with dyslexia, attending English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes were the participants of the study. Students’ performance on spelling, reading and writing skills were tested after instructed through an iPad intervention programme with multisensory applications. The experimental group’s performance (10 students with dyslexia) was compared to the control group’s (10 students with dyslexia) instructed through traditional, non-computer-based, methods. A pre-assessment test was conducted for evaluating the reading, spelling and writing skills of both groups of students prior to the intervention. After eight (8) weeks, both groups were involved in post-tests for evaluating their performance on reading, spelling and writing skills. The study found that the students’ with dyslexia skills were improved after the iPad intervention programme as opposed to the students instructed through mainstream methods. Interviews with the parents and the teachers corroborated the results of the post-tests but also validated the usefulness and effectiveness of the intervention programme for the students’ academic improvement.

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