Excellence Gateway
This case study was produced by JISC RSC (Regional Support Centres) East Midlands on behalf of the Excellence Gateway.
Sector relevance: Specialist colleges/schools
Keywords: Improving teaching and learning, adult learning, physical and learning difficulties, motivating learners, progression
A learning object aimed at Pre-entry Level learners reliant on switches for computer/communication aid access was developed by Portland College. No escAPE is a motivational game that helps develop an understanding of cause and effect whilst encouraging higher-level switching skills such as timing.
Portland College is a national residential college for adults with physical and learning difficulties based in Nottinghamshire.
Switches are a vital tool for some Pre-entry Level learners, as they control items such as key strokes on a computer, communication aids and their transportation.
Previously the College used a single switch performance test as a method of judging the ability of its learners.
Learners could use whichever part of their body that had the best mobility - normally either a hand or the head. The learner would be prompted to hit the switch and then the results recorded.
This method was good for the teacher to be able to get timings, although it was not particularly motivating for the learner.
The College wanted a new method that had a low cognitive load but a big impact. They wanted something that was fun for the learner but was also capable of measuring progression.
Portland College received a small pot of funding from the JISC service TechDis under their Kickstart scheme.
This paid for one member of staff to attend a four-day course in Macromedia Flash software training and the associated travel expenses.
The final two days of the training were delivered on a one-to-one basis with the intention of producing a piece of software.
In order to achieve this, Matt Harrison, Research and Technology Manager at Portland, had prior to the training sent through a storyboard of his vision for the game and lots of background information on assistive technologies, such as links to videos on the YouTube website.
A new game was created entitled No escAPE. The object of the game is that the learner plays the part of the alien spacecraft and attempts to capture red gorillas as they move across the screen by clicking on them when they pass through the tractor beam of the alien spacecraft.
Image 1: The game No escAPE is a way of testing switching skills of learners in specialist colleges
If the learner is successful a loud sound is activated in acknowledgement. This really encourages learners.
Once a learner captures two gorillas in a row, the speed of the gorilla increases a level. It needs to be twice in a row as once could be a lucky click of the switch. The learner then progresses up the levels.
If a learner misses the gorilla twice the speed reduces a level. This means that the student will eventually plateau on to a certain level.
This level is noted and can be re-assessed on a regular basis to see whether the student is making any progression.
The style of this game also teaches the learner skills in how to judge the correct time to hit their switch, rather than a straightforward response to a prompt, as was the case in the previous test.
This quantifiable level that is recorded can be used to set the level on other items that the learner uses, such as communication aids. This means a proper scale can be put in place and any guess-work is taken out of the equation.
Whilst there have been significant improvements already at Portland College in the motivation of learners and the measurement of progression, there is also a desire to extend the abilities of the software and increase its impact.
For example, the College hopes to be able to tailor the No escAPE game for individual learners by changing the backgrounds and colours. This will aid accessibility and allow personalisation.
The College also hopes to create a suite of these games that will allow the learners to have variety and to ensure that the game being used is appropriate to the age level of each learner.
The impact of achieving integration into the College's virtual learning environment (VLE) would be huge. The game or games could then be used as a calibration tool in order to automatically set the correct level of other programmes that the learner uses.
The College is interested in developing this idea in collaboration with other learning providers or developers in the future.
Watch a six-minute video, featuring Matthew Harrison (Research and Technology Development Manager) about testing the switching skills of learners at Portland College.
Press the play button twice to watch the video.
Alternatively, download the video.
TIP: Have you rated how useful this case study is? Use the star-rating facility, which features in the grey bar that runs across the top of every page of this site. (To rate a case study, or any page in the Excellence Gateway, you need to log in to the site first.)
Disclaimer: The Regional Support Centres (RSC) and the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) support the development of educational e-learning. We may refer to specific products, processes or services. Such references are examples and are not endorsements or recommendations and should not be used for product endorsement purposes.
You can find this page and download any referenced resources from the Excellence Gateway at http://excellence.org.uk/167843.
