Work-in-Progress: Teaching Autistic Children Arabic Letters Using Augmented Reality Technology

The aim of this study is to aid and encourage autistic children to learn the Arabic alphabet with supervision of their mentors and instructors. This is done by creating a mobile AR application, LearnIT, which shows the Arabic alphabet letter visualized as an overlaid augmented object whose name begins with the letter on the given flashcards. LearnIT provides animations and sound effects related to the 3D objects in an attempt to boost the children’s enthusiasm for learning and memorizing the alphabet as proven in many studies that using animations in education is one of the most powerful instructional tool for teaching individuals with special needs. The evaluation metrics that will be used to test the effectiveness of LearnIT in the study are computational assessment and engagement questionnaire. The computational assessment will be done by matching the correct letter that corresponds with a visualized 3d object and its related word. While the other evaluation tool targets the child’s caregiver by providing a questionnaire that assess the child’s level of engagement and experience while using LearnIT.