Knowledge, Skills and Professional Development of Special Education Teachers to handle Assistive Technology for Students with Disabilities

Abstract

This research paper focuses on knowledge, skills and professional development to handle assistive technology of special education teachers. Assistive technology is enormous balancing in a classroom with diverse learners. Students with disabilities face many challenges in learning and assistive technology can be a potential aid for compensating for their educational needs. The purpose of this research was to explore the knowledge, skills and professional development of special education teachers on assistive technology for students with disabilities. Data were collected from eighty seven participants via a self reporting questionnaire. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Descriptive statistics makes use of summary measures such as means and standard deviations. This helps in understanding the data, show the patterns and relationships and therefore, very important in reporting the outcomes. Results revealed that special education teachers do not have adequate level of knowledge and skills in using assistive technology. Special education teachers are in need of training programmes to increase their overall knowledge and skill in implementing assistive technology in their classrooms effective while teaching students with disabilities.