Digital educational games & phonological awareness

This article presents the results of an investigation focused on the validation of "Digital Educational Games", using the Microsoft PowerPoint programme, aimed at the development of phonological awareness in pre-school children with special educational needs. The research is qualitative and exploratory, constituting a multiple case study, from an action-research perspective. During the investigative process, were carried out practical sessions to implement the "Digital Educational Games" with two children, and the data was collected using two observation grids. At the same time, were interviewed two specialists in Information and Communication Technologies and a Special Education specialist, who analysed and evaluated the games. In the collection, treatment and analysis of the data, it was verified that the children obtained good results in the acquisition of the phonological awareness skills, registering a marked improvement in learning, participation, involvement, interest, collaboration and persistence that led to a gradual improvement in their performance. The results obtained were within the expectations of the experts, as evidenced by the analysis of the content of the respective interviews, having these ones positively appreciated the overall construction of the games, considering them valuable in the teaching / learning process.