Ensino mediado por avatares na sala de recursos multifuncionais : efeitos sobre as interações sociais de estudantes autistas

Abstract

The Public Policy on Special Education, part of the Programa Educação 10 Anos (10-Year Education Program) by the Government of the State of Mato Grosso and in compliance with recent relevant legal provisions, has provided greater visibility to a student population previously overlooked in the school context – autistic students. However, despite measures taken to include these students, the challenge remains not only to ensure their physical presence in classrooms but also to provide effective learning opportunities. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the effects of teaching mediated by 3D animated avatars in a virtual environment on teaching social skills to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who are served in Multifunctional Resource Rooms (MRR). The hypothesis is that interaction mediated by such avatars between students diagnosed with ASD and neurotypical students will result in improvements in the social skills of the autistic participants. To this end, an eight-week study was conducted in the MRR of a state school in a medium-sized city in Mato Grosso. The interactions took place in three different virtual scenarios on the Spatial.io platform. The sample consisted of three autistic children and six neurotypical children, divided into three groups, with one autistic student and two neurotypical students in each group. During the interactions, the autistic participants were assisted in initiating and responding to greetings and personal introductions. The analyses indicate an increase in the quality of interactions based on coherence and objectivity criteria, as well as a decrease in the average time for initiation and response. This suggests that the approach can be effective in teaching social skills to autistic students. Therefore, the benefit for students is the opportunity to develop or improve their social interaction skills, and for teachers, an interesting and engaging pedagogical approach in the context of the MRR.