Key Characteristics of Digital Educational Games for Students With Intellectual Disabilities

An individual approach to learning is very important for students with disabilities. Teaching based on games enables certain educational content to be introduced to students in a suitable and understandable way. The aim of this paper is to identify important characteristics digital educational games should have to be playable by students with intellectual disabilities. The key characteristics will facilitate special education teachers' selection of digital educational games that their students can play which will enhance the teaching process and enable students with intellectual disabilities to acquire academic and socio-emotional skills necessary to function in everyday life. The research was conducted in two phases. The first phase included a review of the literature that identified 13 characteristics. The second phase of the research was a survey with special education teachers that provided leveling for eight characteristics and defined nine additional characteristics without leveling by which one can assess whether a game can be played by a student with intellectual disabilities.