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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Educ.
Sec. Digital Learning Innovations
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1447489
This article is part of the Research Topic Trends in the digitization of education: approaches, innovations and scenarios View all 7 articles

Inclusive digital education strategies Strategies for Inclusive Digital Education: Problem/Project-Based Learning, Cooperative Learning, and Service Learning for Students with Special Educational Needs

Provisionally accepted
Paola D'Elia Paola D'Elia 1*Aleksandra Stalmach Aleksandra Stalmach 2Sergio Di Sano Sergio Di Sano 1Gino Casale Gino Casale 2
  • 1 Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University of Studies G. d'Annunzio Chieti and Pescara, Chieti, Italy
  • 2 School of Education, University of Wuppertal, Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study assesses the effectiveness of problem/project-based learning (PBL), cooperative learning (CL), and service learning (SL) in inclusive digital education. Through a survey of nine education experts in Italy and Austria, we explored how these pedagogical methods can be implemented to support students with special educational needs (SEN). According to experts, PBL, CL, and SL are generally effective but require differentiated implementation approaches to maximize inclusivity.Practical implementation in the inclusive context of PBL requires promoting student reflection and self-assessment adapted to students' individual needs; in CL, group projects supported by digital collaboration tools (e.g., Google Docs) facilitate structured dialogue, peer collaboration, and shared responsibility, thereby increasing engagement; in SL, linking learning to real-world practice and designing experiences that reflect students' abilities and interests emerge as crucial, especially for students with SEN.The implications of these findings suggest that educators should adopt flexible and adaptive strategies to successfully implement PBL, CL, and SL to ensure that they meet the diverse needs of students in digital environments. Limitations of the study and recommendations for future investigations are discussed to develop this area of research further.

    Keywords: Digital learning, Inclusive education, Problem/project-based learning, cooperative learning, Service learning

    Received: 11 Jun 2024; Accepted: 27 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 D'Elia, Stalmach, Di Sano and Casale. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Paola D'Elia, Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University of Studies G. d'Annunzio Chieti and Pescara, Chieti, Italy

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.