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How tutors assist adults with learning disabilities to use virtual environments

Purpose : To describe strategies used by tutors teaching adults with learning disabilities to use desktop virtual environments and to investigate their effectiveness by examining changes over time in tutor and learner behaviour. Method : Twenty adults with learning disabilities spent 12 sessions with one of four non-disabled tutors learning to use desktop virtual environments designed to teach independent living skills. Sessions were recorded on videotape, categories of behaviour were described and tapes analysed for frequency of tutor behaviours and goals achieved by learners. Results : Tutor strategies were described in terms of whether they aimed to help the learner master the interaction devices or to navigate and achieve goals in the virtual environments and how directive they were. There were some differences between tutors but this did not relate to whether tutors were experienced users themselves of the environments or were initially unfamiliar with them. Goal achievement was maintained at a constant level while help with the interaction devices and specific information about the environment decreased over repeated sessions. Rates of non-specific information did not change. Conclusions : Pretraining with the interaction devices would free both tutor and learner to concentrate on achieving goals in the environments. Much of the specific help given by the tutor could be incorporated into the software.