Creating and Sharing Digital ABA Instructional Activities: A Practical Tutorial
Turn any in-person program into a digital lesson in under an hour with free Google tools and keep therapy rolling during shutdowns.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Mattson et al. (2020) wrote a how-to guide. They show BCBAs how to turn any in-person lesson into a digital one using free Google tools.
The steps use Google Slides for pictures and prompts. Google Forms collects data. Google Classroom sends everything to families.
What they found
The paper does not test kids. Instead it shows the whole build-share-track cycle can be done in under an hour.
You end up with a lesson parents can run on any phone or tablet while you see the data in real time.
How this fits with other research
Aguilar et al. (2023) took the same Google-Slides idea and proved it works. They coached three parents via bug-in-ear telehealth. Every child with autism followed the digital schedule with no extra training.
Awasthi et al. (2021) went bigger. They moved 92 kids in India to telehealth after clinics closed. Language goals kept growing, showing the digital switch can scale.
Rispoli et al. (2020) sit in the middle. Their review bundles the tutorial alongside other COVID-19 telehealth tools, giving you a wider menu.
Why it matters
You no longer need fancy software or long prep. Open Google Slides, drop in your task analysis, add a Form, and push play. Parents get a clear lesson, you keep the data, and therapy continues even when the clinic door is locked. Try it with one program this week and watch how fast you can pivot when life interrupts again.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) may encounter situations, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, that preclude them from providing traditional in-person applied behavior-analytic services to clients. When conditions prevent BCBAs and behavior technicians from working directly with clients, digital instructional activities designed by BCBAs and delivered via a computer or tablet may be a viable substitute. Google applications, including Google Slides, Google Forms, and Google Classroom, can be particularly useful for creating and sharing digital instructional activities. In the current article, we provide task analyses for utilizing basic Google Slides functions, developing independent instructional activities, developing caregiver-supported instructional activities, and sharing activities with clients and caregivers. We also provide practical recommendations for implementing digital instructional activities with clients and caregivers.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 2020 · doi:10.1007/s40617-020-00440-z