Impact of Fine Motor Skill Development App on Handwriting Performance in Children with Dysgraphia

Abstract

Use of digital technology in education has a potential to influence children's learning experience and quality. In particular, integration of an appropriate technology tool plays an important role in learning environment and cognitive development. The primary objective of this study was to explore the dexterity performance outcome of children with dysgraphia in a technology-enhanced learning environment. The study participants were nine elementary school students in an age group of 5 to 10. They had writing difficulties (dysgraphia), according to the occupational therapists and clinical psychologists. An iOS application namely dexteria was used in this study. A pretest was conducted in them by paper-and-pencil method to know their current performance. After that they were introduced to the software dexteria in a tablet computer. This touch-based training software provides three sessions of activities - 'Tap it', 'Pinch it' and 'Write it'. The tap and pinch activities are intended to improve their fine motor skills and the 'Write it' is a letter tracing activity. Fifteen minutes were allotted for each activity per child per day for the training, so a total of 45 minutes spent by each participant in a day. Each participant received a total of 27 hours training on iPad to develop handwriting readiness. After the training a post-test was conducted. The results showed that these children have improved in their handwriting legibility and speed. The study concluded that the iPad-based training program focusing on visual motor skill training appeared to be effective in enhancing the handwriting readiness and time taken for completing the activity among children with dysgraphia. This pilot study is part of an ongoing research to design and develop a sophisticated technology tool for dysgraphic children.