Effect of assistive reading software on high school students with learning disabilities: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE This research project was designed to test the immediate effect of using assistive reading software - Kurzweil 3000 (K-3000) for high school students with learning disabilities (LD) to improve their English reading and other school performances. PARTICIPANTS 29 Taiwanese high school students with LD were randomly assigned to one of two groups: (1) use of the K-3000 or (2) control group (using a pen and paper). METHODS Both groups were asked to complete the standardized measurements using pen and paper a pre-test. Students in experiment group used the K-3000 to do the post-test after they were familiarized with the K-3000, while the students in the control group used pen and paper for the post-test. The differences between the pre-test and post-test of two groups were analyzed. RESULTS The results suggested that the K-3000 had an immediate impact on students' English word recognition and pronunciation. However, the use of K-3000 did not have a significant influence on the students' general English proficiency, learning adjustment, and academic self-perception. CONCLUSIONS The use of K-3000 had a positive effect on students' English word recognition. The reason why there was no significant change in students' other performances could be due to the length of the intervention.

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