Center for Inclusion and Accessibility through Technology (CIATec)- Open Platform of Adaptive Games for Inclusive Education: An Artificial Intelligence Model for Personalized Learning Based on Autism Spectrum Disorder

• Grant number: 25/07104-3
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Science Centers for Development
• Start date: November 01, 2025
• End date: October 31, 2030
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Education - Educational Teaching and Learning
• Principal Investigator: Carlos Bandeira de Mello Monteiro
• Grantee: Carlos Bandeira de Mello Monteiro
• Host Institution: Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades (EACH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• City of the host institution: São Paulo
• Principal investigators: Fernando Henrique Magalhães
• Associated researchers: Alessandro Hervaldo Nicolai Ré ; André Ricardo Backes ; Carina Marconi Germer ; Daniela Regina Molini-Avejonas ; Fátima de Lourdes dos Santos Nunes Marques ; Kelly Cristina Brandão da Silva ; Lucia Helena Reily ; Luciano Vieira de Araújo ; Luis Mochizuki ; Ronaldo Valdir Briani ; Rosana Glat ; Rosângela Gavioli Prieto ; Ruth Caldeira de Melo ; Talita Dias da Silva Magalhães ; Tânia Brusque Crocetta

Abstract

In the state São Paulo public education system, the diversity of learning profiles and paces highlights the limitations of standardised approaches, which fail to accommodate each student's uniqueness. Although there are specific actions for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), these often fragment the curriculum and create distinctions that reinforce exclusion, rather than fostering coexistence and collaboration in a broader educational sense. There is an urgent need for integrated resources capable of offering uniform and real-time adjustable pedagogical experiences, without labelling students or disrupting the collective dynamics of teaching.By proposing a platform of collaborative educational games adjustable by artificial intelligence, CIATec addresses a systemic issue: how to ensure both quality learning and inclusion without compromising collective learning environments. This approach demands not only technological innovation, but also the integration of multiple dimensions of school experience-curriculum, teaching mediation, active student participation, digital infrastructure, teacher training, and sensitive data management. The complexity is heightened by the need to ensure equity, personalised learning, and scalability at the state level, while remaining attentive to ethics, data protection, and accessibility.This is a multifaceted challenge, whose resolution requires ongoing collaboration across education, data science, neurodevelopment, public policy, and usability.This complexity justifies the creation of CIATec (Centre for Inclusion and Accessibility through Technology), focused on the development of a digital platform of adaptive educational games powered by artificial intelligence and aimed at promoting inclusive education. The initiative targets students in years 1 to 5 of primary education in São Paulo's public school system, with special attention to learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).The platform will consist of accessible, collaborative games based on the principles of Universal Design for Learning and UNESCO's Four Pillars of Education (learning to know, to do, to live together, and to be). Using artificial intelligence, the games will be adjusted in real time according to each student's performance profile, offering personalised learning and inclusive experiences.Data generated through use will feed predictive models that support teachers, schools, and administrators in evidence-based educational decision-making. The system will also enable continuous monitoring of student engagement, progress, and support needs, strengthening the link between school, family, and community data.The proposal will be implemented through a robust and participatory governance structure, with interdisciplinary hubs in education, technology, health, communication, and data science, in coordination with SEDUC-SP and SEDPcD-SP.The project will be carried out in six phases over five years, including co-creation with schools, technical development, pedagogical validation, large-scale testing, and dissemination and sustainability strategies. It involves highly experienced professionals from fields such as education, accessibility, neuroscience, computing, and public policy, affiliated with USP, UNICAMP, UFSCar, UNESP, UFJF, UDESC, FMABC and the University of Exeter (UK). Contributions from FENAPAE and UNIAPAE-SP strengthen real-world implementation, while international collaboration broadens scientific and institutional reach.The project is expected to directly impact public school students, promote the ethical use of inclusive technologies, reinforce public education policies, and generate scalable, replicable knowledge at both national and international levels. (AU)