The Future of Education
Donia Stellini
Institution: Department of Human Communication Sciences and Disorders, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta
Country: Malta
Donia Stellini is a Speech and Language Pathologist and early career researcher based in Malta. She specialises in bilingual language development and Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). Her current work focuses on creating inclusive, gamified tools that bridge clinical practice, education, and digital innovation.
She is one of the core inventors of Olly’s Adventures: A City of Two Languages, a connected board game and companion app co-developed alongside her research team through user-centred design with families, educators, and clinicians. The tool supports Maltese-English bilingual children aged 5–8 in developing conceptual language, sentence formation, and social communication skills. It has been evaluated with over 120 participants, demonstrating strong potential for use in both therapy and classroom settings.
The above-mentioned work has been supported by the TAKEOFF Seed Fund Award (TOSFA) and Xjenza Malta’s Smart Cities Programme. Donia has since collaborated with interdisciplinary teams at the University of Malta and Flying Squirrel Games Malta Ltd. to develop scalable, data-informed interventions that support bilingual language development in therapeutic and educational settings.
She is currently in the final stages of completing her MSc (by Research) in Human Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Malta. Donia’s research interests include user-centred design methodologies, digital accessibility, and the integration of therapy tools into mainstream settings.
She is one of the core inventors of Olly’s Adventures: A City of Two Languages, a connected board game and companion app co-developed alongside her research team through user-centred design with families, educators, and clinicians. The tool supports Maltese-English bilingual children aged 5–8 in developing conceptual language, sentence formation, and social communication skills. It has been evaluated with over 120 participants, demonstrating strong potential for use in both therapy and classroom settings.
The above-mentioned work has been supported by the TAKEOFF Seed Fund Award (TOSFA) and Xjenza Malta’s Smart Cities Programme. Donia has since collaborated with interdisciplinary teams at the University of Malta and Flying Squirrel Games Malta Ltd. to develop scalable, data-informed interventions that support bilingual language development in therapeutic and educational settings.
She is currently in the final stages of completing her MSc (by Research) in Human Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Malta. Donia’s research interests include user-centred design methodologies, digital accessibility, and the integration of therapy tools into mainstream settings.
