Venture Lab Limited is a charity based in Hong Kong that strives to inspire and educate students through innovative technology. We have been collaborating with a local primary school since 2020 to develop novel interventions for students with Special Education Needs (SEN) through VR technology. This project is also subsidized by the Quality Education Fund with a total of 1.1 million HKD. Our project team includes specialists from the education and social services sectors, including educational psychologists, kindergarten and special needs teachers, and counselors. While designing our VR interventions and programs, we rely on the following principles: (i) interest-based learning, (ii) gamified and activity-based learning, (iii) technology-assisted learning, and (iv) adopting evidence-based practices. Based on these principles, we developed the “VR Soccer Training Programme” (“the Programme”). The programme is an eight-week group-based intervention that aims to alleviate the symptoms of AD/HD students. This was accomplished as we have designed VR soccer mini-games that specifically target students’ attention and impulse inhibition abilities. As the program concluded in May 2024, we have implemented a total of 8 group interventions, serving a total of 32 students and 32 parents. Our psychometric
assessments indicated that there were statistically significant improvements in students’ AD/HD symptoms. Pre-post (repeated measures) t-test comparison on parent-reported SWAN mean scores found that students had reduced inattentive symptoms (t(24) = 3.14, p < .01), with a moderate effect size (d = .628); reduced impulsivity/hyperactivity symptoms (t(24) = 2.42, p < .05), with a small effect size (d = .484); and reduced overall symptoms (t(24) = 3.00, p < .01), with a moderate effect size (d = .601) after they have attended the eight-week intervention programme. Qualitative and quantitative data on programme effectiveness indicated that students generally found the programs engaging and enjoyable, while parents shared examples of how the programme was able to help their children in real life. We will share our programme design, as well as the interventions and evidence-based practices that we have adopted to achieve these results during the 11th World Congress on Special Needs Education. Aligning with the latest trends in education technology and pedagogy, this sharing will provide valuable insights for teachers and educators interested in incorporating novel technologies and innovative interventions into their everyday practice. Additionally, we will discuss and explore the potential development of VR-based interventions for students with Special Education Needs.

Speaker: Anson Hau Ho Lun

Published in: World Congress on Special Needs Education (WCSNE-2024)

• Date of Conference: 4-6 November 2024
• DOI: 10.20533/WCSNE.2024.0002
• ISBN: 978-1-913572-75-4
• Conference Location: St Anne’s College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK