Technology & Education
There has been a fundamental change in almost all aspects of our life brought about by computer technology and the spread of digital media. Educationalists also agree that this development in technology has left an undeniable mark on the process of education reforms (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology, 2010). Researchers also agree that technology has the ability to help students improve and enhance knowledge and skill acquisition. This, they say, can be achieved through learning with and about technology, which has become essential for students in the 21st-century society and workforce to gain competencies to perform well (Chen & Hwang, 2014). Additionally, student-centered learning can be well supported by technology since it is intrinsically motivating for many students and can be easily customized.
Academicians and researchers have defined technology as an articulation of a craft and deals with that branch of knowledge which can help in the creation and the use of technical means with constant interrelation to life, society as well as the environment and draws its source from subjects like industrial arts, engineering, applied science and pure science (Floyd, 2011). Technology can assume a number of forms in the classrooms from the low-tech pencil, paper, and chalkboard to more sophisticated and complex use of presentation software or the use of high-tech tablets and online collaboration as well as conferencing tools, etc. The latter of the technologies allows students and teachers to make use of virtual classrooms -- a thing that had never been possible before. In a nutshell, the use of the type of technology in a classroom is dependent on what one is trying to achieve (Patti & Vince Garland, 2015). Many of the researchers are of the opinion that technology in education is one of the key factors that can, and has to an extent, brought about radical changes to the formal educational system (Shehnaz & Sreedharan, 2010).
This has also led to the perceived enhancement of the use of technology in the classroom for special education to a greater extent compared to the regular classrooms (Boonmoh, 2012). Since the modern technologies are customizable and can be altered to suit a particular need, it can be assistive to suit the needs of different types of disabilities which plague special needs students (Saxena, 2016). A student with special needs tends to suffer from a variety of learning disabilities, including learning impairments in Reading or in Math or in any other subjects. Intellectual disability, language comprehension problems and emotional or hearing or visual disorders are among the other special needs of such students.
The types of assistive technologies that help students with special needs include computer software, devices for communication and displays and learning enhancing devices. Technology is also adapted to suit the degree of challenge in special needs students. For example, the students with a mild cognitive disability in reading are helped by reading skill software and technologies like text-to-speech products and interactive storybooks among other technologies. On the other hand, voice recognition and software for word prediction is often used for students with impairments in writing.
In a survey conducted by Marino, Israel, Beecher, and Basham (2013), who examined the perceptions among the students of middle school conducted across 14 states in the U.S., showed that a significantly high number of students preferred the use of virtual learning environments over and in addition to the traditional instructional methods like class discussions, reading and labs (Marino, Israel, Beecher, & Basham, 2013). The explanation offered by the authors is that difficulties in the skills of reading and writing of students are enhanced by the traditional learning methods as they rely on reading and writing only and hence impact content instruction. However, even though the efficacy of the use of mobile devices and apps in learning is still an emerging subject of research according to Nordness, Haverkost, & Volberding, (2011), there is some evidence that these technologies are helpful for students with disabilities and with special needs who run the risk of learning failure.
Statement of the Problem
Technology has somewhat changed the way students are learning these days. The advent of handheld devices and the internet had encouraged a section of the student to use such technologies (LI, 2015). One of the reasons, according to Davis (2012) for the use of technology by a section of students in schools is their assessment of the need to do so with respect to their performance levels compared to students who have access to technology and uses it to good effect (Davis, 2012). In fact, education today requires the use of technology in the gathering of information and research since the access is to it easy. However, according to Robinson and Sebba, (2010), lack of adequate...
life brought about by computer technology and the spread of digital media. Educationalists also agree that this development in technology has left an undeniable mark on the process of education reforms (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology, 2010). Researchers also agree that technology has the ability to help students improve and enhance knowledge and skill acquisition. This, they say, can be achieved through learning with and about
This qualitative research uses a Delphi study to explore the perceptions of special education teachers regarding retention. This Delphi study includes twenty-five to thirty special education teachers of K-12 in two California districts of less than 40,000 students. The information gathered provides leaders in the field with successful practices in retaining special education teachers. Purpose of the study The primary purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of special education
In the past, students with disabilities tended to be isolated from their peers by Special Education paradigms that obliged them to receive learning in a physically isolated setting. Far from helping these children to achieve their full potential, such setups tended to stigmatize them, making, making it even more difficult to look beyond their ability for their own identity and how this could be applied for the benefit of society
Then students use AlphaSmart software to paste the picture and explain in a paragraph why, how and where in the plot they feel that picture relates to the story. This tests three things: (a) student concentration; (b) student level of understanding of the general plot; and - student imagination. This is an important implementation because it opens the students' horizons and allows them to see the general links and
In their study, "Thinking of Inclusion for All Special Needs Students: Better Think Again," Rasch and his colleagues (1994) report that, "The political argument in favor of inclusion is based on the assumption that the civil rights of students, as outlined in the 1954 decision handed down in Brown v. Board of Education, which struck down the concept of 'separate but equal,' can also be construed as applying to special
" According to Patton (1998) the overrepresentation of African-American children in special education programs that are intended for students that have serious emotional or behavioral disorders, learning disabilities, and mental disabilities has continued to be a problem even though many researchers have recognized the problems that have occurred as a result of such overrepresentation. In fact there is exhaustive amounts of literature that explains the "causal factors that range from failure
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