Programmed Instruction to teach pointing with a computer mouse in preschoolers with developmental disabilities.

Three preschoolers with developmental delays needed to learn computer mouse pointing. The team broke the skill into three baby steps: move the mouse, move the cursor on screen, then click. An adult gave gentle prompts at each step and faded them out as the kids improved.

The study used a single-case design. Each child worked on the computer until they could point and click without help.

All three children learned to point and click. They kept the skill after the prompts were removed.

The step-by-step prompting package worked quickly for every child.

Shih et al. (2009) and Shih et al. (2010) later swapped adult prompts for high-tech fixes. They used a mouse-wheel poke or hand-swing detector to help adults with minimal movement. Same pointing goal, different tools.

Shih (2012) went further, turning the simple pointing skill into full drag-and-drop with the same wheel-poke interface. The 2006 paper laid the groundwork; the later studies show how the skill can grow.

Robinson et al. (1981) used a similar prompt-and-fade logic, but for language instead of mouse work. Both studies show that careful prompting plus fading works across very different preschool skills.

If you work with young children who struggle with computers, use this three-step prompt chain. Start with hand-over-hand, move to verbal cues, then let them fly solo. The same ladder can later take them from pointing to drag-and-drop when they are ready.