Project LONDI 2

Implementation and evaluation of the LONDI online platform for diagnosis and support of learning difficulties

The LONDI online platform has been developed to support teachers, educational therapists and parents in their work with children who struggle with reading, spelling and/or mathematics. LONDI provides comprehensive, scientifically validated information for teachers, educational therapists and parents on the symptoms, management, diagnosis and support of reading, spelling and maths difficulties. An app-based screening is available for the economic assessment of the need for special support in these key areas. The platform also provides concrete decision support for the selection of diagnostic procedures and evidence-based support programmes. The LONDI 2 research project aims to identify appropriate conditions for the successful implementation, dissemination and use of the online platform.

The central research questions relate to the dissemination and reach of the platform, its effectiveness, acceptance, implementation and the sustainability of its use among the various user groups. Over a period of four years, central questions concerning the implementation of the platform will be clarified at the two project locations DIPF and LMU Munich. In the course of the research project, the platform will be continuously optimised in terms of content and technology on the basis of implementation experiences in schools in four German states and further usage analyses. The use and formative evaluation of the online platform LONDI in primary schools will be implemented in a school study at the DIPF. In particular, the online platform will be optimised for specific schools and the acceptance and perceived usefulness of the specific services among teachers and school psychologists will be increased.

For this school-based implementation study, cooperation with about 20 primary schools in several federal states is planned. The platform will be implemented in the schools through close formative-evaluative monitoring of these partner schools. The partner primary schools will use the LONDI online platform for at least one school year in several grades. During this period, participating teachers will keep a standardised digital diary in which they will answer questions about the use and success of the platform. This will provide important information for adapting and optimising the platform to the needs of the school. In addition to this data, data from teachers and school psychologists who do not use the platform as part of a school partnership will also be analysed. The willingness to use the platform and the success of its use in school practice should be maximised and secured in the long term by taking into account technical, content-related and pedagogical issues.

The overall aim of the project is to explore the evaluation, implementation and dissemination of the LONDI online platform.

This includes in particular

• the dissemination of the platform in the different areas of use: school, therapy and home
• an accompanying evaluation in primary schools and school-specific optimisation of the platform
• The development of a concept for the sustainable provision and long-term operation of the online platform after the end of the funding period.