THE EXPERIENCES OF STUDENTS WITH DYSLEXIA USING MOBILE TECHNOLOGY TO SUPPORT THEIR LEARNING

There has been a great deal of research into dyslexia, and also into mobile and web technologies and this is an opportune moment to investigate how these areas of study can come together. The number of students in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) that are known to have dyslexia is significant and there is evidence that students in this group may have difficulties with progression and completion. This in turn affects funding for HEIs. Students paying what they perceive as high levels of fees also have expectations that their own particular needs will be met so there is pressure on HEIs to find ways of better supporting students with dyslexia. This planned research builds on previous work investigating the experiences of a group of students with dyslexia using mobile and web technologies to support their learning and teaching. It will be a study over one academic year and will use a variety of data collection methods including interviews, observation and self-reporting diaries. The study will be conducted using an interpretive phenomenological perspective, in order to capture the experiences of students from their own perspective, contemporaneously, and in their own space. As the researcher has dyslexia herself there will also be direct effects on the students as the researcher will be coming from a position of both knowledge and understanding. The research methods chosen will, therefore, be of those most suited to a researcher with dyslexia. The main focus of the research will be on the experiences of the students, however, the opportunity will also be taken to explore those research methodologies most suited to a researcher with dyslexia.