Computer-based spelling instruction for students with developmental disabilities.
Computer spelling lessons that mix anagram puzzles and typing can give teens with developmental delays lasting spelling and reading gains.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Vedora et al. (2007) worked with two high-school students who had developmental delays.
The team used a classroom computer to teach spelling. Kids dragged letter tiles to build words, then typed the word.
Sessions ran daily until each teen spelled every word correctly three times in a row.
What they found
Both students learned the full list of words and kept the skill weeks later.
A nice bonus: after mastering the spellings, the teens also read the words aloud more accurately.
How this fits with other research
Newman et al. (1991) did something similar years earlier. They used constant time-delay on a computer and most students learned, too. Joseph adds anagram and writing tasks, showing you can swap the teaching format and still win.
Moreno et al. (2005) used computers to teach thinking skills, not spelling. Both studies kept gains for months, so the machine itself seems to help memory stick.
Arslan et al. (2020) warns that teens with developmental delays still have weak verbal memory. Joseph’s short, repeated computer trials may work around that bottleneck by giving lots of quick practice.
Why it matters
If you have older students who still struggle with basic spelling, a simple drag-and-type computer lesson can close the gap. You need no fancy gear—just a free anagram template and a list of functional words. Try it for five minutes a day; the study says mastery plus oral reading gains can show up fast.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Learning to spell on the computer may lead to functionally useful writing skills. Alan and Suzy, teenagers with developmental disabilities, were already proficient on a variety of naming and matching tasks but had difficulties spelling; Suzy also made errors reading orally. In Experiment 1, computer teaching led to new anagram and written spelling performances. Suzy's reading also improved. On tabletop tasks, Alan and Suzy sorted and retrieved objects to a list they wrote and read aloud. When the tabletop tasks were repeated weeks later, Alan's spelling accuracy declined but Suzy's was nearly perfect. In Experiment 2, using a different and refined teaching format, Alan relearned his old words and Suzy learned to spell new words. Immediately afterwards, and weeks later, both Alan and Suzy performed nearly perfectly on the tabletop matching, sorting, and reading tasks. The results replicate previous research and extend it with a refined package of computer methods that establishes durable and potentially functional writing skills. The possibility that learning to spell also improves oral reading is worthy of further research.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2007 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2006.06.006