ICT in special needs education: what are European practitioners asking ICT researchers for?

摘要

The use of computer and information technological aids by a teacher working with a child who has special educational needs is one possible end-point of the research and development process the UAHCI conference is concerned with. An information society for all needs to consider and meet the needs of the least as well as most able of its citizens. This paper considers some of the central issues raised by ICT and special education specialists who participated in a study conducted by the European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education. They highlight a number of concerns about access to appropriate hardware, software and support for pupils with special educational needs and the teachers who work with them. This paper suggests that there needs to be more direct dialogue between ICT researchers and this group of users if the potential to apply ICT to meeting the needs of such children and a real information society for all is ever to be fulfilled.