Abstract
This paper is a review of literature surrounding how technology is used to help students with special needs learn in the US and China. The latest data from the US Department of Education reveals about 24,000 school-age children have visual impairments making them eligible for special education services. Similar reports from China indicate larger numbers of students with visual impairments, but similar percentages are seen in schools in the US. Many educational institutions across the world are struggling to determine which technology should be utilized and how students and teachers can effectively use that technology. It is important that school leaders address the unique needs of these learners using assistive technology. The goal of this review was to determine which practices, using technology, work and what problems were encountered when making these discoveries.
Keywords:technology, special education, disabilities, visually impaired, hearing impaired.
Comparing the Use of Technology With Special Need Students
In the US and China
The US Department of Education data indicate that more than 20% of all students with disabilities have great use of technology. Also, the most recent data available from the U S Department of Education indicate that one - two percent of students ages six to 17 enrolled in special education programs in the United States have hearing impairments, and that a small fraction (0.02%) of these students are both deaf and blind (Kritzer, 2011). According to the most recent data available, about 24,000 school-age children have visual disabilities that make them eligible for special education services. Although it is difficult to classify or label the varying degrees of visual acuity succinctly, most students with visual impairments find that they need some type of device to help them to be effective learners in school settings (Worrell & Taber2009).
The onset of technology ushered in the main structural transformations that are integral to the achievement of important improvements in productivity. Technology, which supports both learning and teaching, provides classrooms with digital learning instruments, such as handheld machines and computers. Technology also broadens course offerings, supports learning 24 hours a day seven days a week, increases learner participation and motivation, accelerates learning, and expands the classroom experience (Moeller & Reitzes, 2011).
Initially, technology in education was a debatable issue among the education community particularly because everyone had perceptions regarding the modernization of education and making it technology-aided. Moreover, there were cons to education technology. Online learning opportunities, together with the use of open education resources, have increased educational productivity, and minimized costs linked to program delivery or instructional materials. However, as the learning institutions welcomed technology, they acknowledged the significance of technology in education (Lancioni & Singh, 2014).
Technology touches almost every part of people's lives, in homes and communities. Unfortunately, most educational institutions fail to keep pace when it comes to integrating it into classroom learning. Many are just beginning to discover the real capability technology offers for learning and teaching. Integrating technology into the classroom curriculum means more than teaching basic computer abilities and software programs in a separate computer class (Ertmer & Otternbreit-Leftwich, 2010). Effective integration must take place across the instruction in ways that indicate deepened and enhanced learning processes. Specifically, technology integration must support four main elements of learning: engagement in groups, links to real world professionals, active participation, and frequent interaction and feedback. Today, many educators believe that technology-enabled project learning is the next step in classroom curriculum (Light & Polin, 2010).
The number of students with special needs in the United States is higher than that of those in China. However, the latter has a history in regards to the acknowledgment of learners with disabilities despite the country's late start in special education. In the United States, the number of special education students is increasing. In 1975, just five percent of all students received special education services (Dempster, 2003). However, by 2006, the figure doubled to nearly 10%. While Blacks make up 15% of the normal school-going population, they incorporate more than 20% of all special education learners. Both American Indians and Hispanics show similar patterns. Recent studies reveal that Black students who receive special needs services are more likely to drop out compared to their disabled white counterparts. Notably, societal misconceptions might contribute to this particular issue since they are more likely to grow up in poor neighborhoods. About 54.4 million American citizens have a disability (Billet, 2002). Both the percentage and number of Americans influenced by disabilities have increased over time.
China, on the other hand, is attempting to do more in the way of education for special needs students. Before 1949, private education was offered to the few who could afford it, and Christian missionaries usually served those with visual and hearing impairments. By 1987, only 55% of learners with disabilities were in schools compared to the Chinese enrollment rate of 97% (Laurillard, 2000). Additionally, in 1990, there were about 105,000 learners with disabilities in educational institutions where 18% of them were enrolled in general education classrooms. Unlike the situation in the United States, China is currently experiencing a number of challenges, for instance, the reality of large class sizes. Regular classes have about 75 students making it hard to individualize curriculum for those learners who need it. Moreover, numerous educators in normal learning institutions have never had training in special education (Beetham, 2002). Children with numerous or severe disabilities and those with moderate disabilities are still ruled out from public schools.
It is important to know that technology is utilized more in a special education classroom setting than in any other due to all the distinct types of learners, learning requirements, and educational achievements. Unfortunately, many students suffer from specific learning disabilities, which can incorporate learning impairments in math, reading, and other topics (Glaubke, 2007). Such learning institutions, therefore, need to use different types of technology for special needs students.
Technology education incorporates the process of encouragement, strength and guidance of faculties, whether body or mind, so as to prepare them for the work they have to carry out. In terms of intellectual progression, deaf individuals in America and across the world are some of the most handicapped of the afflicted. Those born with a hearing impairment or later lose their sense of hearing at a very early age are unable to speak. They automatically have a speech impairment since they are deprived of hearing and are incapable of imitating the sounds which make up speech. (Warschauer & Matuchniak, 2010).
.
Before the Christian era, the condition of hearing impaired and visually impaired was quite shocking especially become many children were considered cursed of heaven. They were referred to as monsters and to some extent, put to death as soon as their disability was confirmed. However, after being educated on the significance of these individuals in society, people slowly but gradually embraced the hearing impaired and visually impaired individual (Kritzer, 2011).
In the US, the hearings impaired and visually impaired are entitled to a share of the educational funding through special day and boarding schools. The US and China are currently the two most progressive nations in the globe in including these individuals. Concerning special education, the United States is a role model for other countries. Using technology in education with special needs students is more of a challenge than with students without special needs. The US and China include various types of technology that are used among hearing and visually impaired students.
Types and Uses of Technology for Hearing impaired and Visually Impaired Students in United States
Following the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975, the US has assured a liberal and suitable education for all learners with disabilities. This particular Act acknowledges 13 groups of disabilities which are visual impairment, hearing impairment, physically handicapped, mental retardation, traumatic brain injury, speech and language disorder, deaf-blindness, specific learning disability, autism, developmental delay, emotional disturbance, and other health impairments (Gadbois & Bowker, 2007). Of these groups, the more majority of students have learning disabilities. An estimated one out of ten people in a given community has a hearing loss. Similar to children, adult learners with hearing and speech impairments may need accommodations and assistive devices in the classroom environment in order to have the best access to educational programming. Notably, university programs in the US that prepare educators for children who are hearing and visually impaired offer the chance for research and teacher certification. Some learners with hearing loss usually attend state residential learning institutions or private day schools (Ellsworth & Zhang, 2007). Studies in the field of hearing impaired and visually impaired education tend to concentrate more on the numerous aspects of deafness, such as native sign languages, technology advances, teaching techniques to learners who are hearing impaired and visually impaired, and the deaf society and culture.
Given the increasing number of hearing impaired and visually impaired students in the United States, most of the educational programs require learners to become proficient in American Sign Language (Kritzer, 2011). Moreover, technological research also concentrates on education, audiology and communication. Access to education and attainment for the hearing impaired and visually impaired are currently gaining attention as more learners attend neighborhood-learning institutions. Teachers are also becoming familiar with choices and chances to improve instructional delivery. They have realized that multimedia materials and settings can provide numerous representations of ideas that are more meaningful to learners who are hearing and visually impaired. While active learning is important for all students, it is quite critical for those who are hearing and visually impaired. Despite the fact that research indicates that learners at all grade levels tend to enjoy digital materials and are engaged by them, it is less clear that such materials enhance reading comprehension (Becker, 2000).
The (ANSF) recently designed a project of the signing avatar technology, which creates unique and efficient instructional materials for the hearing impaired and visually impaired learners. The usability and attractiveness of such projects are considered instructive for educators and parents, many of whom are not familiar with the signs of specialized learning. Nonetheless, instructional materials that contain digital signing avatars teach the signs and have been designed for a K-3 mathematics curriculum for the hearing and visually impaired students. From what has been observed in the past, communication between the hearing and visually impaired community is quite cumbersome or limited (Cooper, 2002). Human interpreters are in this case required to translate in person making the process rather costly and inconvenient. However, following the introduction of technology in education for the hearing impaired and visually impaired in the United States, the use of the Internet has significantly improved the learners' ability to communicate from a distance. The hearing and visually impaired can now actively engage in mainstream online societies. Technology has enabled the world of sign language to be more accessible to anyone learning the language. Notably, fingerspelling and sign language dictionaries, practice sites, and tutorials are more interactive through animation or streaming videos (Light & Polin, 2010).
Teachers of the hearing and visually impaired in the US acknowledged that ability to fashion interactive communication and instructional materials are quite valuable to learners with special needs, because materials are immediately relevant, based on the classroom content, and modified. By involving learners in the creation of the learning materials, teachers are establishing a reliable means of increasing the students' reflection on the subject and participation. Together with hearing aids, cochlear implants, and FM stations, technology has considerably transformed education. In the past, the hearing impaired and visually impaired community often evaluated such technological advancements particularly in the education sector differently. However, in 1964 a deaf scientist by the name of Robert Weitbrecht came up with an acoustic coupler that could convert sound into texts and vice versa (Winn, 2006). These technical abilities gave rise to an industry that eventually transformed the quality of life for the hearing and visually impaired in the United States. It is important to note that not all technological progressions have been widely accepted by the hearing and visually impaired community. For instance, the risks and effectiveness of cochlear implants have become a vital part of discussions since there are a few who view them as a physical impairment. That is why the main concentration is now on the learner's introduction to visual language and the kind of educational services and support he or she receives.
Types and Uses of Technology for Hearing impaired and Visually impaired Students in China.
Special education in China was quite similar to that of the United States of America before the implementation of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. However, there is a lack of consistency within the urban regions of China. Presently, the country is making an effort to do more than in the past, in terms of educating children with disabilities. China is an agriculturally founded culture with the majority of it is citizens residing in the rural regions. Physical labor is considered the main work since people can operate productively even if they are uneducated. Persons with disabilities such as autism and hearing and visual impairments may not get a chance to attend school in remote and rural areas (Zucker & Light, 2009). Moreover, the costs associated with funding special schools in China for most children with disabilities are quite limiting. Influenced by corporations in Western nations, learning in the regular classroom was introduced in the early 1990s. This resulted in about 18% of students with disabilities being placed in general education classrooms (Deng & Harris, 2008). Presently, three main groups of disabilities are being served in regular education environments. These are the mentally retarded, visually impaired, and hearing impaired. The most recognizable attainment made by China's LRC program is the significant increase in the number of enrolled children with disabilities.
Special education in China began over 2,000 years ago when the Chinese citizens began to acknowledge the existence of certain and obvious abnormalities in a few individuals. Influenced by Confucius's principle, the treatment of persons with disabilities in ancient China was more compassionate compared to the situation in the United States at the time (Levine & Wadmany, 2008). Ten years prior similar practices were used in the West, this principle respected human rights of survival and advocated public concern for disability. Initially, American and European missionaries introduced special learning institutions in the late nineteenth century. Western ideas such as sign language and Braille brought a focus on educational and humanitarian rights of persons with disabilities in China. Given the limited number of colleges and schools that offer for training special educators, other reasons also tend to limit the progression of special educators in the country. Cases of poor working conditions, lower wages payment and long working hours reported in special schools compared to normal schools in China, resulted in reduced enrollment in special education schools aimed at training special educators (Anderson & Goldstein, 2004). Daily practice in schools for the hearing impaired and visually impaired incorporates a number of Chinese Sign Languages. Secondary and elementary school instructions indicated low expectations for these persons and lack similar academic content provided to normal, hearing students. Moreover, there are also limited higher education alopportunities for the deaf and dumb in China (Worrell, & Taber 2009).
Recently, there have been some developments in terms of Chinese higher education for the deaf and dumb individuals. People are acknowledging the fact that higher education enables such persons to acquire the necessary knowledge and abilities for employment and social survival, similar to those with normal hearing and speech. The implementation of technology established higher education for the hearing impaired and visually impaired through the Internet. This was considered an effective means and objective needs for China to carry out in respect to special higher education. A few universities constructed specialized areas for the hearing impaired and visually impaired, such as the Engineering College for the hearing impaired of Tianjin University of Technology, and the Special Education College of Changchun University (Oalussen, 2010). These institutions adopted the policy of Exam Alone and Admit Alone, which allows for special education colleges and universities to have independence on enrollment. This provided numerous chances for students with disabilities to enter schools (Convertino, Sapere, & Zupan 2009). The problem, however, is the learners' lack of preparation for the examinations, re-taking the exam on numerous occasions. In these learning institutions, lessons and classes are usually set up autonomously for the hearing and visually impaired students.