Digital Augmentation in Special Needs Reading Enhancing Inclusiveness: Exploring a Digitally Augmented Reading System in Special Needs Education

In the evolving landscape of educational technology, Digital Augmentation of Reading, incorporating digital media augmentations, including sound, illustrations and light effects, is being explored to enhance reading comprehension, motivation, and overall learning experiences. This paper presents an ongoing initiative in its early stages, focusing on optimizing reading instruction for special needs education. Leveraging an established design approach-rooted in Design-Based Research, Design Space exploration, and Design Thinking-that has previously proven successful in creating STREEN, a digitally augmented reading technology aimed at promoting reading comprehension and motivation among third-grade students. With this approach, we aim to redesign STREEN for special needs education. Utilizing insights from a previously published study on needs in a school for students with special needs, we engaged with school stakeholders to envision the repurposing of STREEN. We propose evaluation activities to assess teachers' acceptance of STREEN and measure its impact on student engagement. In addition, we established a Design Thinking Club in a primary school to support the generation of solutions for the adaptation of STREEN. Finally, we developed a Virtual Reality Simulator for rapid prototyping of STREEN.