ICT in Special Education and In-Service Training
By Brodin, Jane; Assistive Technology - Shaping the Future: AAATE 2003 Conference Proceedings, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 212-215Publication Date: 2003
Study involves issues surrounding special educators working with children with disabilities in Sweden, and their relation to information and communication technology (ICT). The results are presented from a program intended to train special educators in the field, which utilized questionnaires answered by 618 special educators, and interviews with 20 general education teachers and 10 head teachers. The questionnaire contained 29 multiple-choice questions concerning personal data, educational tasks, disability field, expectations of in-service training, level of knowledge, and attitude to ICT as an educational tool. The training program focused on disabilities related to reading and writing, though most of the teachers expressed a desire for more specific knowledge about children with disabilities. The results from the interviews and questionnaires revealed that following the training program, 79 percent of the respondents believed that ICT was a useful tool for students with disabilities, yet none expressed any enthusiasm at the premise of including the Internet in their curriculum. The authors found that all educators were only concerned about the role of ICT in the educational setting, which amounts to a lack of a holistic view on how ICT can help students with disabilities to make improvements in all areas of their lives, including family life, social interactions, and educational performance. Implications for further professional education and training are discussed.
Published by: IOS Press (Website:http://www.iospress.nl)
Association for the Advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe (AAATE) (Web Site: http://www.aaate.net )
ISBN: 1-58603-373-5
