Assistive Technology in Education

The impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on the school success of the student with special needs*

We are deeply grateful to the RÉCIT national en adaptation scolaire for sharing their expertise and documents in the production of this new section of Intech.

The positive impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on the school success of a student with special needs is a given. Students with handicaps, learning difficulties or who have difficulties adjusting to school benefit from ICT possibilities to learn, sometimes better, and sometimes in a different way. In order to do so, they generally use the same technological tools as students without special needs.

Sometimes, however, some students with special needs must have access to dedicated technological aids or assistive technology that is more appropriate to address specific needs such as physical or sensory needs, needs in terms of school or social maladjustments or needs linked to the acquisition of competencies. This assistive technology, mainly used by the students, is called a learning aid.

At other times, school resource teams will have to resort to some kind of assistive technology to maximize their pedagogical intervention and adjust it to address the specific needs of a student or of students. This technological aid, mainly used by school resource teams, is called teaching aid or remediation aid.

Thus, there are three (3) categories of technological aids related to special education: Learning aids, Teaching aids and Remediation aids.

What is a learning aid?

A technological learning aid is an assistive technology used by students with handicaps, students with learning disabilities or students who experience social maladjustments. A learning aid enables students to perform a task or simplifies a task that they cannot perform or that they would have trouble performing without it. The decision to request an assistive technology must represent the most adequate means to address the student's need. It is a technological tool mainly used by the student to address a precise and identified need; it is useful, and, in some cases, essential to the performance of a pedagogical task.

The learning aid, representing equity and equality of opportunity, must be seen as a supporting tool for the school success of the student with special needs. For a student with handicaps, this tool helps minimizing the situation experienced by that student. Note that the allocation of assistive technology is not meant to favor the student with special needs compared to students of the same age or classmates. It is meant to 'normalize' the student's situation compared to the situation of his/her fellow students.

The learning aid must be used as a tool of pedagogical differentiation so that the student with special needs can acquire competencies, as well as more autonomy and involvement in his/her communication and in his/her learning process. Technological aids must enable students to play an active role in tasks related to planning, organizing, creating, producing and sharing information.

The various types (typology) of assistive technology are available here. Actual brand names and vendors are available here.

What is a teaching aid?

A technological teaching aid is an assistive technology used by the school resource team in normal classroom activities to address a precise and identified need of one or several student(s) with special needs. This tool is mainly used by school resource teams in order to simplify or perform a task related to their teaching or to any other pedagogical activity with the students. This tool may benefit all the students in the class, but it is specifically designed to adequately address the specific needs of one or several student(s) who have handicaps, learning disabilities or school maladjustments. Teaching aids must help the acquisition of certain competencies or address certain learning needs of these students who would be hard, or impossible, to reach without them.

A teaching aid, representing equity and equality of opportunity, must be seen as a supporting tool for the success of the student with special needs. Note that the use of technological teaching aids by the resource team is not meant to favor the student with special needs compared to students of the same age or classmates. It is meant to 'normalize' the student's situation compared to the situation of his/her fellow students.

A teaching aid must be used as a tool of pedagogical differentiation so that the student with special needs can acquire competencies, as well as more autonomy and involvement in his/her communication and in his/her learning process. Technological aids must enable students to play an active role in tasks related to planning, organizing, creating, producing and sharing information.

This kind of aid is mainly used by the homeroom teacher and other teachers, including the resource teacher in class.

What is a remediation aid?

A technological remediation aid is an assistive technology used by a specialist, resource teacher or speech-language pathologist for rehabilitation activities, in one-on-one meetings with a student or in small groups with a limited number of students outside the classroom settings. This tool is mainly used by school resource teams with one student or with a small number of designated students who have handicaps, learning difficulties or social maladjustments in order to simplify or to perform a task related to students’ rehabilitation or diagnosis. This type of technological help must favor the evaluation, teaching, reinforcement or rehabilitation of pedagogical concepts or competencies related to learning and communication.

This type of aid is mainly used by the resource teacher or the speech-language pathologist in one-on-one meetings or in small groups (free flow).

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* This documentation on Assistive Technology is a joint collaboration of the RÉCIT national en adaptation scolaire and the Direction de l'adaptation scolaire (DAS) du MELS.