Framework for detection, assessment and assistance of university students with dyslexia and/or reading difficulties

Abstract

During the past years, the adoption of Learning Management System (LMS) to support an e-learning process has been continuously growing. Hence, a potential need and meaningful factor to provide a personalized support, within the context of these systems, has been the identification of particular characteristics of students to provide adaptations of the system’s elements to the individual traits. One particular characteristic that has been little studied in a personalized e-learning process are the learning disabilities (LD) of students. Dyslexia is a common LD in Spanish-speaking university students, which is specifically referred to the manifestation of different difficulties in reading. Dyslexia requires special attention by higher educational institutions to detect, assess, and assist affected students during their learning process. Thereby, an open challenge has been identified from this implication: How to include Spanish-speaking university students with dyslexia and/or reading difficulties in an e-learning process?

Una necesidad potencial y un factor significativo para proporcionar un soporte personalizado, en el contexto de los Sistemas de Gestión del Aprendizaje (LMS), ha sido la identificación de las características de los estudiantes con el fin de proporcionar adaptaciones de los elementos del sistema a los rasgos individuales. Una característica particular que ha sido poco estudiada en un proceso de e-learning son las dificultades de aprendizaje (LD) de los estudiantes. La dislexia es una LD común en estudiantes universitarios de habla española, que se refiere específicamente a la manifestación de diferentes dificultades en la lectura. La dislexia requiere atención especial por las instituciones de educación superior para detectar, evaluar y asistir a los estudiantes afectados durante su proceso de aprendizaje. De este modo, un desafío abierto ha sido identificado: ¿Cómo incluir a los estudiantes universitarios de habla española con dislexia y/o dificultades de lectura en un proceso de e-learning?