Assistive Technology to Help Students With Disabilities

This chapter reviews some of the low-tech as well as the high-tech devices available for a wide variety of students with special learning needs. A history of assistive technology devices is explored and defined. Assistive technology has increased in use in recent decades due to accessibility of computers and the digital age. Digital devices such as hand held scanners, online learning environments, and digital resources have changed the educational experiences for students with special needs and disabilities. In response, teacher in-service programs and ongoing professional development programs need to be involved to understand and develop appropriate 21st-century learning opportunities and curricula. Future trends, such as virtual reality (VR) environments, allow opportunities for safe, effective learning. To assist in understanding and choosing the appropriate devices, multiple resources, such as global and national organizations, and online resources are provided.

Informing School Rehabilitation Professionals

The importance of appropriate use of test accommodations has drawn researchers to look closely for empirical evidence that supports the appropriateness and effectiveness of current accommodation practices over the last three decades. To inform teacher candidates enrolled in special education courses as well as school rehabilitation professionals who may or may not be new to the field, this chapter synthesizes research findings on the effectiveness of major accommodation categories and discusses how to make valid decisions for students with diverse special learning needs.

Control monitoring of the educational process of students with special learning needs

This article outlines and establishes the relationship of the main participants in the educational environment of inclusive education: triad “teacher-psychologist-teacher’s assistant”. The place, role and significance of the teacher's assistant in the team activity of psychological and pedagogical support, in the development and implementation of the individual program of development, differentiation and individualization of the educational process in an inclusive class, effective cooperation with parents, his participation in facilitating the socialization and adaptation of a child with special educational needs in the educational environment are determined. The stages of the educational process control of students with special educational needs and its structure are defined: assessment, diagnostics and monitoring. The principles of control and evaluation of the educational process for students with special educational needs are revealed. The participation in controlling of all members of the educational inclusive environment team is established. The importance of diagnosing the development of students with special educational needs and involving in the elaboration of an individual development program is also revealed.

Giftedness as a framework of inclusive education

As societies move toward a deeper engagement with humanitarianism and egalitarianism, education systems have increasingly embodied a commitment to principles of inclusion. The field of gifted and talented education (GATE) has reflected these changes in recent discussions around equity, diversity, and inclusive practices. This article aims to re-examine the practices of gifted education and rethink the possibility of generating an egalitarianism-based, GATE-derived inclusive education discourse that can serve as a parallel to the predominant humanitarianism-drive inclusive education movement. Within a discourse of self-actualization, we propose framing “gifted” as a process-based, rather than person-based, construct that applies to all students as they are enabled to transact their gifts and talents through engaging in a “gift-ed” process through honing self-knowledge and learning gifted behaviors. We advocate the use of person-first language, (i.e., students with advanced learning needs/advanced and special learning needs (ALN/ASLN)) that will encourage specific interventions.

A TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE PEDAGOCIG WORKERS’ PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCY UNDER QUALIFICATION IMPROVEMENT CONDITIONS

The article discloses the essence of such notions as competency, professional competency, technology; it is proved that improvement of professional competency in pedagogic workers in the course of their qualification improvement occurs due to a technology, the constituents of which are lectures, seminar classes and trainings. The authors have determined considerable differences in methodologies on conducting laboratory and practical classes in nature sciences and humanities and sociology disciplines to attain the main goals of training, as well as the methodology of teaching juridical disciplines at higher education institutions. The importance of the attained knowledge in rendering socio-psychological and corrective services to students with special learning needs and its practical application in the higher education institutions’ practices has been researched; also, the efficiency of the described technology for the qualification improvement courses attendees in their further pedagogic activities has been proved.

MENTAL ACTS OF MATHEMATICALLY GIFTED STUDENTS WHEN SOLVING FRACTIONS PROBLEMS

In the classroom, we will find various types of students with their special learning needs. One group of learners who have different learning needs are gifted students. The paper will focus on the study of mathematically gifted students. This research aims to obtain a description of the mathematically gifted students’ mental acts when solving fractions problems. The respondents were two students of the 7th graders in junior high school, in the West Java Province, Indonesia. The research approach was qualitative. The data were collected through paper and pencil measure, observation, and interview. The data were analyzed by grounded theory with coding and constant comparison. The results show four types of mental acts, those are interpreting, explaining, problem-solving, and inferring. The results of this study can be made as one of didactic anticipation when teachers teach the concept of fractions to the mathematically gifted student. These findings are significant to be considered by the teacher when teaching the mathematically gifted student. Teachers should anticipate how students think when they teach gifted students. So that teachers and students can achieve optimal learning outcomes.

Teachers’ Professional Development and E-Learning

Teachers’ professional development is a process in which teachers constantly transform their practice through their participation in training and educational programs, among other practices. This process is significant, since teachers have to face numerous challenges, due to the fact that education is a dynamic process. The advances in technology have enabled teachers’ professional development through e-learning, which is supported by various studies to be an effective means. The aim of this paper is to examine the importance and usefulness of e-learning.However, teaching students with special learning needs is the first major area in which teachers identify their educational needs, followed by teaching in a multicultural setting and student counselling. In addition, EFL teachers acknowledge, understand and accept the important role of e-learning in facilitating, supporting and encouraging their professional development. Moreover, the access to resources of e-learning, the existence of skilled teachers’ educators and technical support, and the evaluation of the program were found to facilitate their participation in an e-learning training program

Exploratory Action Research: Teaching EFL Vocabulary to Deaf Students through the Use of Visual Aids

In Chile, the 2015 Decree 83 from the Ministry of Education demands curriculum adaptations to ensure that students with special learning needs fully develop their skills by being included into the mainstream classroom. However, little information can be found regarding deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH) students in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms. Therefore, this qualitative Exploratory Action Research (EAR) aims to explore the contribution of using visual aids in the EFL classroom for teaching written vocabulary to five D/HH students from a public school in Chile. Two multitask tests were conducted before and after the intervention to assess the performance of the students on recalling vocabulary, and a semi structured interview was carried out to identify the students’ perspectives regarding visual aids and EFL learning. While the performance test showed inconclusive results, the students’ perspectives on the use of visual aids were positive. These findings are relevant to provide insights into the challenges these students face and the importance of Sign Language and visual aids to create an effective environment for inclusive teaching practices.

Forging Strong Links

Integrating information skills into the school curriculum is one of the prime focus areas of the teacher librarian and strong collaboration is a key to the library becoming a vital cog in the teaching and learning mission of a school. This is easily said, but how do we make it happen? What strategies can we use for building information literacy and effecting change? This paper will briefly consider definitions and models of information literacy and collaboration, particularly Montiel-Overall’s work, including the theoretical and pedagogical underpinning of these ideas. As well as reflecting on the role and the mindset of the teacher librarian, a range of practical macro- and micro-strategies for effectively developing information literacy in collaboration with teaching staff will be presented, including technology, special learning needs, building a reading culture, literacy and instructional design. A self-diagnostic tool developed from this paper will be offered to enable each teacher librarian to evaluate opportunities for further developing information literacy through his/her library.

Collaboration is the key

Collaboration is the key for a school librarian to work successfully at integrating information skills into the school curriculum and to become a vital cog in the teaching and learning cycle within the school. This is easily said, but how do we make it happen? What strategies can we use to develop opportunities for collaboration with teaching staff? How can we foster strong links across the whole learning community of the school? This paper will briefly consider a definition of collaboration and various models of collaboration including their theoretical and pedagogical underpinning. In addition to considering the role and mindset of the teacher librarian, a range of practical macro- and micro-strategies for developing collaboration with teaching staff in an effective and integrated way will be presented; these include technology, special learning needs, building a reading culture, literacy and instructional design. A self-diagnostic tool developed from this paper is offered to enable each teacher librarian to evaluate opportunities for furthering collaboration in his/her school context.