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POLICY BRIEF article

Front. Educ.
Sec. Special Educational Needs
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1437673
This article is part of the Research Topic Advancing inclusive education for students with special educational needs: Rethinking policy and practice View all 9 articles

Cognitive Load and Neurodiversity in Online Education: A Preliminary Framework for Educational Research and Policy

Provisionally accepted
Anne-Laure Le Cunff Anne-Laure Le Cunff 1*Brandon-Lee Martis Brandon-Lee Martis 2Caitlin Glover Caitlin Glover 3Emily Ahmed Emily Ahmed 4Rhian Ford Rhian Ford 5Vincent Giampietro Vincent Giampietro 1Eleanor Dommett Eleanor Dommett 1
  • 1 Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
  • 2 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Peterborough, United Kingdom
  • 3 School of Engineering and Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
  • 4 Warwick Medical School, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine, University of Warwick, Coventry, West Midlands, United Kingdom
  • 5 School of Biosciences, Faculty of Science, University of Nottingham, Loughborough, East Midlands, United Kingdom

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

    This theoretical paper presents the development and analysis of an inclusive educational framework designed to manage cognitive load for neurodivergent students in online learning environments. Taking a neurodiversity-informed perspective that focuses on interventions addressing challenges common across a range of conditions, it identifies six critical areas that impact cognitive load in online learning for neurodivergent students: format, environment, delivery, instruction, support, and research (FEDIS+R). To assess the external factors influencing the potential implementation of the framework, a PESTEL (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal) analysis was conducted. The analysis highlights challenges such as resource disparities, institutional commitment to inclusion, and legal requirements for accessibility. Future research directions are suggested to evaluate its effectiveness across diverse educational contexts.

    Keywords: Online learner, neurodiversity, Inclusive education, ADHD, autism, Dyslexia, Cognitive Load

    Received: 24 May 2024; Accepted: 05 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Le Cunff, Martis, Glover, Ahmed, Ford, Giampietro and Dommett. 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: Anne-Laure Le Cunff, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom

    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.