Technological Early Intervention Tools for Families of Children with Hearing Loss: Parental Learning Preferences

Development of effective technological tools depends upon knowing the users' learning preferences. The researcher found no existing study regarding learning preferences of parents of children with hearing loss for learning language strategies via technology. An instrumental case study design was used to determine what content, delivery characteristics, and technological platforms were valued by 19 parents of young children with hearing loss enrolled in early intervention through 1st-grade deaf/hard of hearing programs in a large public school district. Parents participated in focus groups and completed surveys. During focus groups, parents described their preferences for content and delivery characteristics. On the survey, parents indicated their likelihood of using each of 4 technology platforms: VHS tapes, DVDs, computer software, or Internet Web sites. The researcher transcribed the discussions based on focus group audio and video recordings, and applied constant comparative methods of inductive analysis to classify and describe emerging themes from these transcripts. Frequency distributions were generated based on survey responses to reflect parents' preferences for technology platforms. Results indicated that parents prefer content relevant to daily routine and special events. Parents value delivery characteristics that include multimedia demonstrations of language strategies, strategies organized based on children's language abilities, and ease of navigation. DVDs and Internet Web sites were preferred platforms. These findings will contribute to positive social change by informing the design of technologies that address the learning preferences of parents, and therefore have a greater likelihood of being used by them to support their children's language learning.