Virtual manipulatives as assistive technology to support students with disabilities with mathematics

Assistive technology supports students with disabilities in a variety of ways, including serving as a means of instruction. Although virtual manipulatives can serve as an assistive technology tool, limited research examines virtual manipulatives in-and-of-themselves to support students with disabilities. This study explored app-based virtual manipulatives as mathematics-based assistive technology to support middle school students to acquire and maintain solving division with remainder problems. Through a single-case multiple probe across participants design, researchers found the three students acquired and maintained their accuracy in solving division with remainder problems when provided with the app-based manipulative. The study corroborates the use of virtual manipulatives by students with disabilities when learning mathematics.