|
Learning Helper Overview
|
What Is Learning Helper
|
|
Learning Helper
is a comprehensive computer teaching system for people
with learning difficulties such as autism.
The main features of
Learning Helper include:
-
discrete-trial methodology,
-
text/voice/picture/video based instructions and teaching
materials,
-
a great number of lessons available for various age range
users,
-
fully customisable lesson setup,
-
automatic progress monitoring and reporting,
-
comprehensive reward system,
- lessons can be
online subscribed, and deployed,
- specialized
lessons can be order with desired specifications
There
are seven lesson types in Learning Helper:
- Object Identification
- Object Matching
- Object Grouping
- Spelling/Word Building
- Sentence Composing/Functional Words
- Reading and Comprehension
- Math (Counting, Addition, Subtraction) |
|
|
|
Lesson Types
and Methodology
|
There are seven major lesson
types in Learning Helper, and
Discrete Trial is used in most
lesson types. |
|
Object Identification
and Discrete
Trial
Methodology
| |
Object
Identification
(OI)
in
Learning
Heler
is
the
most
powerful
lesson
type. OI
lesson
can
be
used
for
materialized
objects,
e.g.,
apples,
oranges,
and
abstract
items,
e.g.,
sadness,
happiness,
etc.
Discrete
Trial
methodology
is
applied
in
OI
lessons.
There
are
four
processes
(phases)
in
DT
methodology:
item
presentation,
instruction,
response
(compliance),
and
consequence.
The
example
followed
demonstrates
an OI
lesson
with
DT
illustration.
-
Screen
1:
tried
items
are
presented,
followed
by
the
instruction
of
"Click
Mangos"
-
Screen
2:
the
student
clicks
on
the
picture
of
mangos
in
response
to
the
instruction
-
Screen
3:
Computer
replies
with
"Yes,
you're
right"
as a
re-enforcer
which
is
the
consequence
of
the
response
to
the
"right"
answer
-
Screen
4:
Credit
is
issued
as
token
(s)
that
would
be
used
for
a
grant
reward
-
Screen
5:
When
enough
number
of
token
are
earned,
a
movie
(video
clip)
would
be
played
as a
grant
reward
. |
|
Object Matching
|
Object
Matching
(OM)
lessons
are
created
to
train
the
concept
of
same
and
difference.
Object
matching
lessons
can
be
used
for
materialized
objects
or
abstract
object.
An
OM
lesson
can
be
of
matching
of
exactness,
or
matching
of
similarity.
- An
OM
lesson
to
train
matching
of
exactness
-
An
OM
lesson
to
train
matching
of
similarity
|
|
Object Grouping
|
Object
Grouping
(OG)
lessons
are
created
to
train
grouping
and
classification
skills.
An
OG
lesson
would
consist
of a
list
of
items
to
be
grouped,
and
target
containers
where
items
would
be
grouped
into,
and
a
student
would
be
asked
(commanded)
to
group
items
into
their
respected
container.
-
Screen
1:
An
OG
lesson
to
group
clothes
vs.
foods
-
An
OG
lesson
of
shape
grouping,
round
vs.
square
|
|
Spelling and
Word Building
|
Spelling
lessons
can
be
of
full
word
spelling
training,
or
of
training
specific
letters.
-
The
example
below
is a
full
word
spelling
lesson
with
prompt
-
The
lesson
below
is a
missing
letter
filling
lesson.
|
|
Sentence
Composing and Functional Word
Training
|
In a
sentence
composing
lesson,
a
full
sentence
is
scrambled
and
a
stduent
is
asked
to
recompose
the
sentence
as
showed
in
the
example
below.
-
In a
functional
word
lesson,
a
student
will
be
asked
to
select
the
appropriate
functional
word.
|
|
Reading and Comprehension
|
In a
Reading
and
Comprehension
lesson,
a
computer
will
read
aloud
a
short
story
or a
paragraph
of
text,
and
ask
the
student
comprehensive
questions.
The
sentence
or
phrase
that
is
read
will
be
highlighted
as a
reading
progress.
A
reading
aloud
can
be
repeated
with
"Read
Me
Again"
button.
Some
Reading
lessons
may
have
pictures
associated
with
the
sentence
or
phrase
that
is
read.
Hint
or
prompt
for
questions
can
be
set
for
a
Reading
lesson.
 |
|
Basic Math
(Counting,
Addition,
and
Subtraction)
|
There
are
four
types
of
Math
lessons:
Drag-drop
Counting,
Number
Matching
Counting,
Addition,
and
Subtraction.
-
Below
is a
Drag-drop
Counting
lesson.
In a
Drag-drop
Counting
lesson,
a
student
will
be
asked
to
move
a
number
of
objects
from
one
place
(container)
to
another
place
(another
container).
In
the
example
below,
the
command
is
"Move
two
oranges
to
McDonald".
The
student
is
supposed
to
drag
two
oranges
(one
by
one)
from
the
source
container
to
the
target
container
(McDonald).
Upon
completion
of
drag-drop
count,
the
computer
will
count
back
the
number
by
moving
back
objects
(oranges)
to
the
source
container.
-
Below
is a
Number-Matching
Counting
lesson.
The
question
is
always
"How
Many?".
The
student
is
expected
to
count
the
number
of
squares
in
the
blue
box,
and
provide
the
answer
by
clicking
on
the
correct
number
symbol
or
dragging
the
symbol
to
the
question
mark
box.
A
hint
(like
this
sample)
can
be
setup.
-
Below
is
an
Addition
lesson.
In
an
Addition
lesson,
a
student
is
expected
to
make
the
calculation
of
two
number
addition
and
provide
the
answer
by
clicking
the
answer
or
dragging
it
to
the
question
mark.
A
hint
level
can
be
setup
as
"Counts",
"Counting
For
Me",
or
"Prompting".
-
Below
is a
Subtraction
lesson.
The
setup
and
lesson
working
process
in a
Subtraction
lesson
is
similar
to
that
of a
Addition
lesson.
|
|
|
|
|
Lesson Parameters, Re-enforcers, and Reports
|
Lesson
parameters
| |
The
Customizable
lesson
parameters
include
Degree
of
Difficulty,
Number
of
Retries,
Picture
Indicator,
Text
Indicator,
Input
Method,
and
Prompting
Level.
Their
definitions
are:
Degree
of
Difficulty
-
the
number
of
items
presented
to
be
trialed.
Number
of
Tries
-
the
number
of
times
that
are
allowed
to
re-try
when
trials
fail
Picture
Indicator
-
the
items
presented
will
have
pictures.
Text
Indicator
-
the
items
presented
will
have
words.
Input
Method
-
using
mouse
clicking
or
keyboard
typing
in
Spelling
lessons
Prompting
Level
-
the
level
of
prompting
for
a
lesson
However,
not
every
lesson
type
has
all
parameters,
and
below
are
the
matrix
of
lesson
parameters
available
in
various
lesson
types.
| |
Degree of Difficulty |
Number of Tries |
Picture Indicator |
Text Indicator |
Input Method |
Prompting Level |
| Object Identification |
Partially Available, Values 1-4 |
1-4 |
On/Off |
On/Off |
N/A |
None/Prompt/Error Correction/Demo/Demo With Distraction/Demo and Trial |
| Object Matching |
No |
1-4 |
On/Off |
On/Off |
N/A |
None/Prompt/Error Correction |
| Object Grouping |
N/A |
|
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
No |
| Vocabulary Building/Spelling |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Mouse/Keyboard with letter pool/Key with letter pool and case sensitive/Dictation with typo prevention/Dictation without typo prevention |
None/Hint/Prompt |
| Sentence Composing/ Functional Words |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
None/Hint/Prompt |
| Reading Comprehension |
N/A |
1-4 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
None/Hint/Prompt /Hint and Prompt |
| Drag-drop Counting |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
| Number Matching Counting |
N/A |
1-4 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
None/Counts/Hint/Prompt |
| Addition |
N/A |
1-4 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
None/Counts/Hint/Prompt |
| Subtraction |
N/A |
1-4 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
None/Counts/Hint/Prompt |
|
|
Re-enforcers
|
There
are
two
kinds
of
re-enforcers
in
Learning
Helper:
immediate
verbal
re-enforcers,
and
grand
visual
re-enforcers
(Rewards).
Immediate
verbal
re-enforcers
Immediate
verbal
re-enforcers
are
verbal
responses
as
the
consequence
to a
student's
selection
in a
trial.
There
are
two
kinds
of
verbal
responses,
Response
To
Right
(RTR),
and
Response
To
Wrong
(RTW),
and
as
the
names
indicate,
the
former
is
the
response
to
the
student's
correct
selection
(answer),
and
the
latter
is
the
response
to
the
incorrect
selection.
A
Response
To
Right
verbal
phrase
can
be
"Yes,
Good
Job",
"You
Did
It",
"I'm
proud
of
you",
while
A
verbal
phrase
for
Response
To
Wrong
can
be,
"No,
Try
Again",
"Try
Again",
"Try
Again,
You
Can
Do
It".
Grand
Visual
Re-enforcers
(Rewards)
Learning
Helper
uses
a
token
system
to
track
student's
lesson
playing
credits
in
terms
of
number
correct
answers.
A
grand
visual
re-enforcer,
a
favorite
video
clip
of a
student,
as
reward
will
play
for
the
student
after
he
earns
the
required
numbers
of
token
for
the
reward.
|
|
Progress
Reports
|
Learning
Helper
system
automatically
collects
a
student's
lesson
playing
results
in
terms
of
number
of
correct
answers
and
response
time
for
each
trialed
item.
The
progress
report
for
each
lesson
playing
session
is
displayed
at
the
end
of a
lesson,
and
can
be
retrieved
through
Lesson
Explorer
under
the
lesson
tree
item
that
report
belongs
to.
Progress
reports
attributes
include:
Total
Tries
-
total
number
of
trials
proceeded
for
a
report
Number
of
Correct
Answers
-
total
number
of
correct
answers
out
of
total
tries
for
the
report
Response
Time
-
number
of
seconds
elapsed
from
the
beginning
of
items
presented
to
the
moment
student
responded
Percentage
of
Correct
Answers
-
number
of
correct
answers
over
total
number
of
trials
Report's
Maximum
Data
Count
-
maximum
number
of
trials
for
a
report,
a
new
report
will
be
generated
when
trial
count
exceeds
Progress
Threshold
-when
the
percentage
of
correct
answers
equals
to
or
exceeds
the
threshold
for
an
item,
it
is
considered
mastered
if
there
is
no
prompt,
otherwise
the
prompt
will
be
lowered. |
|
|
|
|
>
