Ict and special educational needs: A Tool for Inclusion (Learning & Teaching with Information & Communications Technology)

"a useful contribution to the field, integrating research and practice to highlight useful case studies, guidelines and resources for effective IT provision. A balanced account of the pros and cons of using IT with pupils with additional educational needs is presented, along with a clear acknowledgement of the important role that teachers need to play if provision is to be effective." BJET

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is indispensable to those who teach learners with special educational needs or who manage provision across the different phases of education in mainstream and special settings. ICT and Special Educational Needs addresses what teachers, classroom assistants and those who manage provision need to know and do to maximise the value of technology as an important component of effective, inclusive education. The book gives the broader context for the use of ICT in special and inclusive settings, and gives a wide range of examples of ICT in use.

In particular, the book:

• Considers the role of technology in overcoming barriers of access to the curriculum
• Includes in-depth examinations of the uses of ICT as a teaching tool to promote inclusion
• Features contributions from researchers and practitioners who explore the development of ICT, recent innovations, assessment, and specialist knowledge.

ICT and Special Educational Needs will be invaluable to teachers on professional development courses and those preparing to teach learners with special educational needs, as well as experienced professionals seeking to update their knowledge and gain new inspiration in this rapidly developing area.

David Brown, Nottingham Trent University is Reader in Interactive Systems within the Department of Computing and Mathematics. His primary research interest is in the design, implementation and evaluation of multimedia systems to promote social inclusion. He holds several European and National grant awards in this field and is currently leading research to develop virtual training environments for use by people with a cognitive disability and multimedia systems to develop basic skills in young homeless people, as well as maintaining an ongoing collaborative research programme with Dr Penny Standen. He is also a member of the national steering committee for the British Computer Society Disability Group.

Lani Florian is a lecturer in Special and Inclusive Education in the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. Her research interests focus on models of provision for meeting special educational needs and teaching practice in inclusive schools. She has carried out research on special educational policy and provision in the USA, England and Europe. In 1999 she won the NASEN/TES Academic Book award for co-editing Promoting Inclusive Practice.

Ian Hedley is a teacher and SENCO in a mainstream secondary school. In 2001 he received a Masters Degree in Education from University of Plymouth. His dissertation investigated the effects of Successmaker on pupil achievement.

John Hegarty is Head of the Psychology Department at Keele University and has specialized in the application of educational technology to individuals with learning difficulties for over thirty years. He is particularly interested in promoting the effective use of ICT through understanding the psychology of individual and organizational barriers and opportunities to the effective use of ICT.

Clive Lilley was appointed to his current post as headteacher of a large special school in North Staffordshire in 1987. The school became one of the first 75 beacon schools in the country in 1998. This has provided the opportunity to support special needs pupils and teaching and support staff in mainstream and special schools across the region. The school has a reputation for excellence in the use of ICT.

Lesley Rahamin Lesley’s career has included class teaching in London primary schools, working as a support teacher for learners with special educational needs and advisory work for CENMAC, using IT to support learners with a variety of individual needs. Lesley now works as an Education Consultant promoting good practice in ICT and SEN.

Allison Rees has been teaching since 1975. She has taught in both KS1 and KS2 and worked extensively as a Learning Support teacher. She has acted as an SEN Advisory teacher for London Borough of Havering and is currently the SENCO for Early Years and KS1 in a large primary school.

Chris Singleton, University of Hull, is Senior Lecturer in Education at the Department of Psychology. His main research interests are in cognitive factors that underlie the development of basic skills (especially literacy) and how these relate to success and failure in education. His research group pioneered the development of computerized diagnostic assessment systems that are now widely used in primary and secondary schools in the UK and elsewhere in the world. He is co-editor of the Journal of Research in Reading, and also co-editor of the book Psychological Assessment of Reading (Routledge, 1997).

Penny Standen, Nottingham University, is Reader in Health Psychology and Learning Disabilities where she is involved in evaluating ways of promoting the independence and quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities. She has been working with Dr David Brown since the early nineties developing and evaluating virtual environments and multi media for training and education of people with intellectual disabilities. They have recently received funding from the ESRC to look at tutoring strategies in virtual environments and from the EPSRC to develop more appropriate devices for interacting with and navigating through virtual environments. She is currently working with switch controlled software for people with profound and multiple disabilities and investigating the potential of interactive software to promote cognitive skills.

Chris Stevens, BECTa, was appointed to NCET/BECTA in February 1996 as Head of Special Educational Needs and Inclusion. Following a long teaching career, he was appointed as Professional Officer for SEN at the National Curriculum Council (NCC), later the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority (SCAA). Chris worked at SCAA during the Dearing Review of the National Curriculum and Qualifications and was responsible for extending access both to the curriculum and to recognition of achievement.

Anna Williams is Head of SEN Support Service in an outer London Borough. She has worked as a "class based" SENCO in primary schools. Her current work as the Advisory teacher for pupils with physical impairments includes pupils from pre-school to post 16. INSET is a key part of the role of the SENSS team in supporting SENCOs in meeting the needs of pupils effectively.