On the use of a multimedia platform for music education with handicapped children: A case study

The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for students with special learning needs is being particularly studied by the research community. Likewise, music has gained recognition through the years in the field of learning disabilities, playing lately a key role in providing a better quality of life to people with special needs. However, there is still a gap on the combination of ICT and music teaching tools. In this work, we present the results of a case study where students with disabilities took a 3-month introductory music course using the multimedia tool called PLAIME (PLAtform for the Integration of handicapped children in Music Education) developed by the same authors. The aims of this work are three-fold: i) to explore the capability of disabled students to acquire musical knowledge using PLAIME, ii) to measure the improvement in their ICT skills, and iii) to observe their behavior along the study. At the end of the program, students showed an advance in their music knowledge and a positive improvement in behavioral development, being able to perfectly manage the computer platform.