Introduction
Scientific and technological growth of the last few decades has
brought not only the economic globalization and worldwide development of
technologies but changes in social relations, culture, and education as well. The fast development of telecommunications, media, and information technologies
bears a huge potential for improving the quality of life. It is particularly energetic
for those, who cannot obtain an appropriate level of education without assistance
of educational and technology specialists, it means people with special
educational needs. Technological advance has revealed meaningful social
opportunities for such citizens by providing more suitable access to information
and communication tools.
problems faced by specially-abled students at
our school
Physical: Students with
physical disabilities may need the use of braces, a cane or a wheelchair, or
many other conditions, all of which can present convenience challenges.
Sensory: Sensory
disabilities include visual impairment and deafness and hard-of-hearing
conditions can prevent students from utilizing traditional classroom materials
and tools.
Cognitive: Students with
cognitive disabilities can be all over the map in terms of intelligence, but
may suffer from difficulties with memory, self-expression, information
processing, and other learning disabilities that prevent them from performing
their academic tasks in the same manner as other students.
Health-related: Students
suffering from chronic conditions such as diabetes or epilepsy, or other
diseases such as cancer often experience difficulty attending class regularly.
Ways we can
use ICT to solve these problems
Speech-Recognition software: Students dealing with blindness/visual impairment, or
with physical limitations that prevent them from typing on a keyboard, can use
text-to-speech devices to compose their works. When using these programs,
students speak into a microphone, which then translates their words into typed
documents. The most well-known of the software programs that perform this task
is Dragon Naturally Speaking, which also recognizes voice commands such
as “insert exclamation point.”
Text-to-Speech software: This kind of technology helps students with visual
impairments by allowing them to listen to the text that appears on a computer
screen. This is a huge improvement over the world because once the program is
installed on the computer, it can read anything on the screen, no matter what
format it is in (e.g. .pdf or website) with no waiting for translation. This
enables students to participate in online activities, use email and text, and
have immediate access to course materials.
Audio Aids: Another broad
category of assistive technology, these student aids include sound
amplification tools, alerting devices that use flashing lights or icons on the
computer screen rather than sounds to signal users, closed-captioning for
videos, TTY is also known as Telecommunication for the Deaf; phones enabled with
Voice Carry-Over (VCO) technologies that allow students with hearing
difficulties to communicate over the phone with their own voice.
Physical Aids: For students
with physical mobility, stability, motor coordination, and range of motion
challenges, several technologies are available to assist them in completing
their schoolwork, including audiobooks for students who cannot physically
handle books, keyboard adapters such as keyguards to prevent mistyping from
tremors or loss of control, voice recognition software for students who cannot
type.
Conclusion
It must be stressed that there exists a substantial potential in
the educational uses of ICTs combined with many challenges and dangers. New technologies
can provide the means to explore new forms of learning that break the traditional
chain of command of educational systems and develop genuine alternatives to inflexible,
passive approaches to learning of people with special educational needs. However,
these technologies can turn up as obstacles to education if they are applied
without a commitment to the principles of equality, participation, and responsibility.
