Elementary Special Education Teachers Place Value in the use of Technology Resources for Students?Technology is an integral part of society. People share and communicate ideas using emails, Skype, and public/private forums. For numerous organizations and businesses technology is a must to increase productivity. This is why schools have begun the process of creating an environment that immerses staff and students in technology, with school administrators taking on the technological transition (Garland & Tadeja, 2013). Technology investment within schools not only enables varied learning opportunities for students, but it also helps students discover or improve their own ability to research and analyze information, collaborate and communicate, and solve problems (Lim, Zhao, Tondeur, Chai, & Tsai, 2013). Comment by Tarae Terry: Citation? How do we know this is true? Who is the source-Also the opening/introduction needs to be a little bit stronger an attention grabber. Introducing the issue up front is critical. If you are investigating technology use in special education that should present in the first couple of sentences/paragraphs...
Technology helps provide other benefits. Integrating technology in schools, especially in other areas like special education enable staff to develop new ways of teaching and creating curriculum custom made for special needs students. Fernandez-Lopez, Rodriguez-Fortiz, Rodriguez-Almendros, and Martinez-Segura (2013) stated, "The development of customizable and adaptable applications tailored to them provides many benefits as it helps mold the learning process to different cognitive, sensorial or mobility impairments" (p.77). Teachers have the option of constructing lessons using videos, pictures, and slide shows to allow a diverse array of teaching methods. From use of visual aids to increasing the size of text and making text colorful and appealing, technology makes instruction easier. Digital textbooks for example, allow students access to homework and lesson from the convenience of a mobile device or laptop (Orey, Jones, & Branch, 2013). Comment by Tarae Terry: This reads odd.
The addition of digital textbooks in universities allows for greater student freedom and ability to take their schoolwork wherever they go. In the case of special education students, some stay homebound for long periods of time. If they have the option of digital textbooks, they can have text enlarged, study from home, and collect information for study at their own pace. Technology allows for customization of lesson plans which enables a better learning experience for special education students who often require customization for academic success. Without the use of technology, special education students have limited options.
Barriers still exist in terms of technology and teaching. This is especially true for special education (Cornelius & Nagro, 2014). Special education teachers may integrate some aspect of technology in their curriculum, but some remain resistant, believing technology integration is unnecessary. Schools may be at fault because of the continued lack of policy changes and training for special education teachers. Those with learning disabilities (the majority of special education students) require additional instruction and varied teaching (Fernandez-Lopez, Rodriguez-Fortiz, Rodriguez-Almendros, & Martinez-Segura, 2013). Comment by Steve Moskowitz: When you speak about special-education, you really need to be specific in terms of what population technology can help.
If schools integrate the use of technology in special education, every special needs student will be able to receive a varied and customizable curriculum that may lead in the long run to a higher quality education as evidenced by the use of distance and online learning (Abrami, Bernard, Bures, Borokhovski, & Tamim, 2012). While technology in schools seems like a recent endeavor, the transition from technology free to technology centric has been in the making for over four decades (Keengwe, 2015). In these four decades many schools have made great strides. Even with progress, some teachers remain resistant to technology integration in schools. Comment by Tarae Terry: Says who? Where is your citation? Also how does technology cut down expenses. Please be sure your statements are supported by the literature and connect well to the study. Comment by Steve Moskowitz: This does not make sense.
One article notes teacher's attitudes towards technology as being the main barriers for integration. "Teachers' own beliefs and attitudes about the relevance of technology to students' learning were perceived as having the biggest impact on their success" (Ertmer, Ottenbreit-Leftwich, Sadik, Sendurur, & Sendurur, 2012, p. 423). If teachers believe they do not need to use technology to instruct students or they do not feel they can use technology to instruct students, this may make them more resistant to technology integration in schools, especially if...
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