special needs
Using ICT in education for persons with disabilities
The report “Report on using information and communication technologies (ICTs) in education for persons with disabilities”, published in 2012, is the outgrowth of a joint initiative by UNESCO and the Trust for the Americas, non-profit organization cooperating with the Organization of American States (OAS).
The joint project consisted of a significant study, country by country in South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean, elucidating achievements and shortfalls, while demonstrating that democratizing free access to ICTs for persons with disabilities in the field of education is an attainable goal.
As a result, the final report provides a meaningful assessment of the status of access to ICTs for such persons and identifies both the good practices and the problems and pending needs that require the most support. It also evinces the need to enhance access to ICTs and the duty for all societal stakeholders, both governmental and non-governmental, as well as international organisations, to work toward attaining this goal.
The overall goal of the study is to provide recommendations to improve information policies, strategies for using ICTs to educate persons with disabilities and incorporate issues related to disability.
The publication targets especially decision-makers, national and regional educational institutions, organisations and associative movements of and for persons with disabilities.
Universidade de Aveiro lança projecto Geometrix
O Projecto Geometrix, inserido no Grupo Álgebra e Geometria do Centro de Investigação e Desenvolvimento em Matemática e Aplicações (CIDMA), é um projecto interdisciplinar agregando matemáticos, informáticos, educadores e desenhadores gráficos, dirigido aos diversos graus de Ensino com o objectivo de desenvolver novos ambientes de aprendizagem assistidos por computador.
Este projecto abrange duas vertentes, uma ligada à investigação nas áreas de Matemática, Inteligência Artificial e Educação Matemática tendo em vista a concepção de metodologias, arquitectura de sistemas e desenvolvimento de ferramentas computacionais para o ensino e a aprendizagem da Matemática, com ênfase na Geometria, e outra associada à produção de software educativo. Aglutina os seguintes sub-projectos:
- Ecotoons: software educativo de Matemática para o 1.º ciclo do Ensino Básico
- TexMat: livro interactivo de Matemática para o 2º Ciclo do Ensino Básico
- LpMat: software Educativo para Crianças com Necessidades Educativas Especiais decorrentes de surdez, perturbações do espectro do autismo, cegueira ou baixa visão, deficiência motora e mental
- IntBooks: plataforma agregadora de diversos tipos de tecnologia web para criação de documentos digitais
- Jogos: colectânea de jogos lúdico-educativos
- SGC – Sistemas de Gestão de Conteúdos
Um outro objectivo do Geometrix é o desenvolvimento de projectos em parceria com instituições nacionais e internacionais.
A equipa do Geometrix realiza a pedido de instituições, seminários referentes às suas actividades e sessões presenciais e experimentais com grupos de alunos. Os pedidos devem ser enviados por correio electrónico para o endereço dmat-geometrix@ua.pt
Fingers on the Screen: Game-Based Learning for Students with Intellectual Disabilities
Game-Based Learning in the special education classroom is still regarded with skepticism by educators, or has been used mainly as an extrinsic reinforcement.
This communication presents a series of observations made by researchers and educators on the motivational impact of games in the educational experience of users with intellectual disabilities.
ICT Resources Centres for Special Needs Education
Human and material resources were assigned to schools, setting up special units for multiple disabilities, for autism spectrum disorders, and reference schools for blindness/low vision and deafness/hard hearing.
A network of ICT Resources Centres was launched in 2007-2008 in order to evaluate assistive technologies needs for these pupils, that the Ministry of Education has financed in the last two years. These units are located in schools around the country and have district coverage, supporting other schools. This network is monitored by a central department of the Ministry of Education, using Moodle platform to share resources and news and to submit annual activity plans and reports, according to national pre-established guidelines.
Considering the complexity of evaluating the needs of these pupils, the units are oriented to seek partnerships with other institutions with expertise in the field. Private institutions, former backbone that used to host these children and youth, were certified as resources centres to support schools from a technical and therapeutic point of view. Special needs departments at Universities/Polytechnics with research in disabilities issues have also been involved, as well as assistive technology companies.
ICT Resources Centres have raised awareness among the educational community for the inclusion of these children in mainstream schools and for the importance of the use of assistive technologies to help their development and future autonomy. Many public events (workshops, seminars) have taken place, opened to teachers, school staff, students and parents.
ICT Resources Centres have carried out training support to their peers in the use of assistive technology, namely, switches, alternative keyboards, augmentative communication tools, Braille devices, screen readers, speech synthesizers, optical character recognition systems and so on. They also support pupils with severe illnesses that are permanently or temporarily absent from school and need distance learning tools.
Each Centre uses online forms of communication through websites, blogs or school Moodle platforms .
Further work and resources will be required to sustain the inclusion process, but these efforts are producing already some positive results.
Preparing special education frontline professionals for a new teaching experience
This paper reports the findings of a survey conducted among teachers attending a Master’s Degree on Special Education in which they were asked to analyse the acquisition of general ICT skills and specially oriented ICT solutions for students with learning disabilities. The collection, compilation and processing of the survey's data describes and explains the actual perceptions, skills and training needs of this professional group.
The results seem to confirm other studies that conclude that special education teachers support the use of ICT as a useful tool in the education of students with learning disabilities. However, our conclusions show that prior to a specific ICT for SEN training, teachers must acquire a set of basic ICT skills. The educational support provided by trained and specialized professionals assisted by ICT means and techniques constitutes an extraordinary aid for those students who need to see their disadvantage reduced or overcome.