Technology Application In Inclusive Education

Abstract:

“Inclusive education – according to UNESCO means that the school can provide a good education to all pupils irrespective of their varying abilities. All children will be treated with respect and ensured equal opportunities to learn together. Inclusive education is an ongoing process. Teachers must work actively and deliberately to reach its goals”. These students typically encounter learning problems across all curriculum areas. Persistent failure throughout school, despite remediation, may lead some students to develop social and emotional difficulties including low self-esteem, an embarrassing reliance on others, low motivation and disengagement from school activities. Poor handwriting, comprehension and organizational difficulties may also be barriers to learning for these students. Technology makes it possible for a classroom to be enhanced with individual learning events, allowing instructors to provide greater flexibility and differentiation in instruction. Teachers can use technology to offer a variety of learning opportunities and approaches that engage, instruct, and support special education students with a myriad of tactics designed to appeal to individual learners.

Introduction

Technology makes it possible for a classroom to be enhanced with individual learning events, allowing instructors to provide greater flexibility and differentiation in instruction. Teachers can use technology to offer a variety of learning opportunities and approaches that engage, instruct, and support special education students with a myriad of tactics designed to appeal to individual learners. No longer are students stuck in a classroom they don’t understand, trying to learn at a pace they can’t keep up with or participate in.” There is no doubt that technology has changed the way children learn in the classroom. Technology has altered how students engage in learning activities, the format of learning materials they use, how tasks are completed, and how they demonstrate what they know. The way we as educators design and deliver learning experiences, and what instructional materials we use to enhance student learning, has also changed.

Students with learning difficulties can be defined as students who experience particular difficulties in achieving at school that are not due to a disability or impairment. (Ashman, 2005; Westwood, 2003) Students with learning disabilities include those students with chronic academic problems. These students may have been diagnosed with dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia or other neurologically based conditions.

Students with learning difficulties and disabilities display a variety of characteristics that can be grouped into four main categories, academic, emotional, motivational, cognitive and metacognitive. (E. Twomey, 2006.)

“Inclusive education – according to UNESCO means that the school can provide a good education to all pupils irrespective of their varying abilities. All children will be treated with respect and ensured equal opportunities to learn together. Inclusive education is an ongoing process. Teachers must work actively and deliberately to reach its goals”. These students typically encounter learning problems across all curriculum areas. Persistent failure throughout school, despite remediation, may lead some students to develop social and emotional difficulties including low self-esteem, an embarrassing reliance on others, low motivation and disengagement from school activities. Poor handwriting, comprehension and organizational difficulties may also be barriers to learning for these students.

Objectives:

The main objectives of this study are to

• Impact of using technology in inclusive education to achieve equal opportunities for all children.
• enhance the relevant technology skills for students with SEN in Information Society;
• improvised the strategies to overcome the barriers in assistive technology in providing inclusive education for students with SEN;
• Critical and reflective selection and use of special technologies according to the specific needs of students in an inclusive setup.
• Creating opportunities by using technology on the educational aspect for the success of the inclusive education set up.
• Developing and implementing the use ICTs in SNE based on ‘knowledge’ implies theoretical and practical knowledge of the content to be learnt. ‘Competencies’ mean the ability to transfer and adapt the skills of the technology in inclusion.

Technology Is Changing Modern Educational Techniques Specially In Inclusive Education

How this technology is changing modern educational techniques and particularly Inclusive education. The revision requires Individualized Education Programme teams to consider what assistive technology can do for individual special needs students. How Modern Technology Helps Students With Special Needs. These numbers tell us that there can’t be a single technological solution that would suit the needs of all students with special needs. Due to the high diversity of types of disabilities, the best possible outcome can be guaranteed by the use of custom-made solutions designed according to the requirements of a particular group of students.

Special technology allows increasing the independence of a particular student freeing him from the constant need for direct teacher involvement. As a result, a student can choose the speed of learning that is convenient for him which leads to more personalized learning. When a student doesn’t inhibit the learning process for the whole group, it allows reducing the anxiety level which plays a significant role in education as well. Implementation of technologies in special education allows simplifying the communication and improves the academic skills of students with disabilities.

“Technology makes it possible for a classroom to be enhanced with individual learning events, allowing instructors to provide greater flexibility and differentiation in instruction. Teachers can use technology to offer a variety of learning opportunities and approaches that engage, instruct, and support special education students with a myriad of tactics designed to appeal to individual learners. No longer are students stuck in a classroom they don’t understand, trying to learn at a pace they can’t keep up with or participate in.” “Technology can help school staff improve IEP compliance necessary for state and federal guidelines as well as ensure adequate and timely funding is procured.

Types Of Technology Tools:

Reading Tools

• Text to speech. Software that incorporates text to speech enables students to access content and information by having text read aloud, often in high quality, realistic synthesised voice.
• OCR
• Talking books
• Software that converts text files to audio

Writing Tools

• Organizational software
• Onscreen word banks
• Word prediction
• Voice recognition
• Portable word processors or note-takers

Prerequisite Skills for Appling technology in inclusive education:

Before applying for services of a company that develops technologies for children with special needs in inclusive setup education, consider the following prerequisite are as follows:

• Pay attention to the cost of a given solution and its potential effect on the learning process.
• Prefer a technology that is not difficult to master.
• Make sure that the application you’re going to choose is reliable and will naturally integrate into the educational process.
• Focus on user-friendly and intuitive solutions.
• Possibility to implement custom functionality that meets your requirements or customize the existing solution.

The Use of Technology In Inclusive Education: Application And Solutions

The educational standards claim that students with disabilities should be provided with opportunities to realize their potential. They should participate in education and training on the same basis as students without disabilities and that they are not subject to discrimination. Due to the progress in the IT industry, digital technologies are easily accessible and widespread which allows using them for providing students with new opportunities. Technology can simplify the educational process for people with disabilities.

Applying Technology in Inclusive Education: Breaking The Barriers

In inclusive education there will be both disabled and nondisabled students gain their education in one place so in that case technology providing a vital role in education aspect so there are many ways of how technology can help students with special needs. Some of Using technical tools intended for human speech recognition and synthesizing, you can avoid the necessity to use paper and pen during the lessons. Such technology would be also helpful for students with disorders that don’t allow to process visual information correctly.

• The adaptive computing technology allows using digital devices to bypass challenging tasks. Screen reader applications such as JAWS along with specially designed Braille keyboards allow visually challenged students to use the computer.
• Augmentative communication systems help students with speech problems to overcome the communication barrier. Such systems use picture charts, books, and specialized computers providing functions of word-prediction for more effective communication.
• Use of open-source software for reading purposes i.e. JAWS, NVDA, etc
• Some of the technology tools used for the mobility purpose in this case the direction feed in programme so the mobility devices guide the person with disabilities to move from one place to another place.
• The special educator using technology to teach the concept for children with special needs with the help of a computer, laptop, tab and android mobile smart classroom and e-learning

Role Of Technology In Inclusive Education:

These are the main role of technology to impact inclusive education for children with special needs.

• Compensation uses – technical assistance that enables the active participation in traditional educational activities such as reading or writing
• Didactic uses – the general process of using ICTs to transform approaches to education. Many ICTs can be used as a didactical tool to enable a more inclusive learning environment
• Communication uses – technologies that can enable communication – often referred to as alternative and augmentative communication devices and strategies
• Computers can improve independent access for students to education
• Students with special educational needs are able to accomplish tasks working at their own pace
• Visually impaired students using the internet can access information alongside their sighted peers
• Students with profound and multiple learning difficulties can communicate more easily
• Students using voice communication aids gain confidence and social credibility at school and in their communities
• Increased ICT confidence amongst students motivates them to use the internet at home for schoolwork and leisure interests.

Conclusion

Technology is boon to special need children because that will overcome all the barriers in education aspects. Properly designed software and hardware allow students with special needs to get modern education and achieve any required information online. Technology helps provide students with individual learning events, enables reaching higher flexibility and differentiation in educational methodologies. With modern technology, teachers can adapt to the possibilities of a particular student with minimum effort and choose one of the dozens of available learning tactics designed to meet the needs of individual learners.

References:

1. Wahl, L. and Duffield, J. (2005), Using flexible technology to meet the needs of diverse learners, online publication available.
2. E. Twomey, Linking learning theories and learning difficulties, QUT, AJLD Vol11, No.2, 2006, pp. 93-98
3. Ashman, A. (2005). Society, culture and education, in A.Ashman and J.Elkins(Eds), Educating children with diverse abilities (pp.5-36). Sydney: Pearson Education Australia.
4. Lange, A., McPhillips, M., Mulhern, G. and Wylie, J.(2004), Assistive software tools for secondary level students with literacy difficulties. Queen’s University, Belfast, UK
5. Global schools and Community Initiative (GeSCI). 2007. Concept note: Developing a model for inclusive education and assistive technology appropriate for teaching and learning contexts in developing countries.
6. (Article 3, Salamanca Framework for Action)
7. UNESCO 2008 “UNESCO 48th International Conference on Education – Reference document”.