| Description of good practice: |
Structure of Specialized Training Course:
The specialized training course ICTs in Education for People with Special Needs consists of four training modules.
Some Specialized Training Course:
Module 1. Special Needs Education in Information Age:
The module’s goal is to show the impact of Information Age on the life of people with special needs, to explain the necessity of ICT implementation into SNE presenting extra opportunities, thus helping to build a more inclusive society. The module presents the issues of equal opportunities in education and information access to be provided for each and
every member of a society, primarily for people with special needs. Particular emphasis is made on social drive toward inclusion in education; special attention – to SNE organization principles and its main characteristics.
Module 2. Assistive Technologies for Students with Special Educational Needs:
Primarily, this module is designed to provide a short but comprehensive understanding of assistive technologies (AT), their theory, and description of application areas. The issues of choosing the right AT solutions are important when new services for students with SEN are paid special attention. After a general introduction to AT, the module discusses the use of assistive technologies for educational purposes in relation to the needs of five main groups of impairments: physical, visual, hearing, speech and language, cognitive, and learning.
Module 3. Distance Technologies for Students with Special Educational Needs:
Module 3 introduces core features of distance education (DE) vital for education of students with SEN. The module begins with a short overview of DE evolution and main qualities of ICT-based DE. The first unit contains a description of key technologies used in DE and their benefits for students with SEN. The second unit focuses on accessibility barriers to educational resources and on ways to overcome them, as these issues have special emphasis on distant education of students with SEN.
Module 4. ICT Policy in Special Needs Education:
The module provides an ample overview of ICT policy in SNE: objectives, principles, and means. The module starts with a brief introduction of the best international practice examples with respect to legislation affecting ICT policy in SNE. Then it presents the key activities of ICT policy implementation in SNE, including promotion of ICT infrastructure for SNE, integration of ICTs into SNE curriculum, training and retraining of ICT specialists in SNE. The module particularly emphasizes basic aspects of monitoring of ICT usage in SNE, including necessary and sufficient conditions of SNE quality improvement by means of ICTs. Also, the module describes the approaches to analysis and interpretation of evaluation results to further improve ICT policy development in SNE.
Recommendations for Training Organization:
Brief Description of Instructional Methods:
The training course can be delivered either in conventional classroom or via e-learning (learning via the Internet). Conventional provision is the most common type of in-service teaching, though requiring from the trainees to travel to the institution for the purpose of in-service education. In most cases, it is oral presentations of instructors, dialogue with trainees, tutorials and guidance, laboratory practice in computer classes and other labs. Often, it includes the study in libraries or media resource centres. E-learning separates a teacher and trainees. Interpersonal face-to-face communication of conventional education is replaced by communication and guidance mediated by the Internet. This form of in-service education is considered a complimentary to conventional provision in many countries.
The instructional method of the training course is based on a common approach for both forms of learning, i.e. conventional classroom learning and e-learning. The basic instructional approach is a learner centred approach – self regulated and collaborative learning guided and supported by a trainer. In order to build the appropriate background
both for knowledge accumulation in the sphere of ICT application in SNE, as well as for stimulation of skills’ application in the daily educational practice, there is a need to provide reflexive, pragmatic, and experiential approaches. In this case, the trainees will be placed at the centre of the teaching-learning process and will have to find their own individual access to information to construct their knowledge.
Recommendations for Training Organization:
• The course should be held in classes with no more than 20 students.
• A qualified trainer should be able to guide the cognitive process of the target audience.
• Before the training session, a trainer must update the web links/information and provide the target audience with links according to the current situation.
Recommendations for Equipment:
Having ICT tools available during the training session is the starting point of the training course. It is recommended to use a projector to present images from the computer.
Since the course deals with the materials from the Internet, Internet access is highly recommended. However, the training materials are developed in such a way that the training course is applicable without Internet access.
Time Requirements:
Training session is assumed to take 72 hours, including face-to-face and distance learning. In practice, the required time and its distribution between face-to-face and online modes of instruction will depend on the trainees’ previous experiences with ICTs and specific requirements for organization of the training session.
Forms of Assessment:
The specialized training course allows two modes of trainees’ assessment: interim and final.
#Interim Assessment:
Each unit contains several assignment tasks in form of structured essay tasks and self-assessment questions. The primary intent of interim assignment is to enable the trainees’ self-reflection of training outcomes. During the training sessions the trainers may use additional assignments and transformative reflection questions to evaluate their performance. During face-to-face training sessions the trainees are involved in discussions and project design, relevant to the attained knowledge and skills.
#Final Assessment:
The goal of the final assessment is to obtain overall understanding of the attained level of trainees’ knowledge and practical skills on ICT application in SNE, formed by the specialized training course. This procedure also includes structured essay tasks and self-assessment questions. The accomplishment of these tasks assumes overall assessment of all parts of the course. |
