ICT Training for Special Education Frontline Professionals: A Perspective from Students of a Master's Degree on Special Education

Authors

  • Jaime Ribeiro CIDTFF - Department of Education - Universidade de Aveiro
  • António Moreira CIDTFF - Department of Education - Universidade de Aveiro

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v5iSI2.1218

Keywords:

Assistive Technology, computer, ICT, SEN, Special Education, Teacher Training

Abstract


A large number of special education professionals agree on the fact that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is an important tool for teachers and students to overcome barriers and promote the acquisition of skills. ICT can promote school and social integration by diminishing the obstacles for students with Special Education Needs (SEN). A correct educational implementation of ICT depends strongly on the teacherâ??s awareness of the possibilities of their application and his/her training and capacity to adapt to the differentiated learning styles that he/she encounters in his/her teaching of SEN students. However, the lack of or no training on ICT is one of the most frequently pointed reasons for not using or for misusing the potential that ICT can offer to the education of pupils with SEN as pedagogical tools or as individual Assistive Technologies (AT). The findings of a survey conducted with teachers attending a Masterâ??s Degree on special education, balancing the acquisition of general ICT skills and facts on specially oriented ICT solutions for students with learning disabilities, will be reported here. The educational support provided by trained and specialized professionals at ease with basic ICT skills and assisted by specialized means and techniques constitute a form of aid for the student who needs to see his/her disadvantage reduced or overcome.

Author Biographies

Jaime Ribeiro, CIDTFF - Department of Education - Universidade de Aveiro

Jaime Moreira Ribeiro is a graduate in Occupational Therapy and has experience in technical and educational support of children and young people with special needs (Special Education). He has background in the study, counselling and prescription of Assistive Technologies for pupils with learning disabilities. With training in Multimedia in Education he is currently a researcher of the Digital Contents Laboratory at the University of Aveiro. He is undertaking research on the use of ICT in the Education of Students with Special Educational Needs in the framework of his PhD, teaching the subject in post-graduate courses for Special Education professionals. He also has publications in the fields of ICT in Education for Students with SEN, ICT in Education and usability assessment.

António Moreira, CIDTFF - Department of Education - Universidade de Aveiro

António Moreira holds a PhD in Didactics of Languages and is currently the Director of the Masters Course and Doctoral Programme in Multimedia in Education, at the University of Aveiro, where he also coordinates the Digital Contents Laboratory and the ERTE-PTE Competence Centre for teacher education in ICT. He supervises several MA, PhD and Post-Doctoral students, both in Didactics and ICT in Education. He is also the general editor of the online journal Indagatio Didactica.

Downloads

Published

2010-03-18

How to Cite

Ribeiro, J., & Moreira, A. (2010). ICT Training for Special Education Frontline Professionals: A Perspective from Students of a Master’s Degree on Special Education. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET), 5(SI2), pp. 55–59. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v5iSI2.1218

Issue

Section

Special Focus Papers