Investigation of the opinions of pre-service special education teachers on the use of assistive technologies in special education

Abstract

Teachers are expected to have sufficient knowledge and skills on assistive technologies in order to use assistive technologies, which are defined as various technological tools and methods that facilitate the lives of individuals with special needs, in the field of education. Considering that this is related to undergraduate education programme in which teachers gain knowledge and skills in their fields. So it is important to consult the opinions and experiences of teacher candidates. The aim of this study, based on this, is to reveal the experiences and opinions of special education teacher candidates about the use of assistive technologies in education. For this purpose, 13 special education teacher candidates who continue their education were interviewed in the study carried out by using the phenomenology method, one of the qualitative research designs. The data obtained with an interview form consisting of 9 questions were analyzed by content analysis. As a result of the research, the participants found the use of assistive technology in special education mostly beneficial, especially the technology-related courses they took in undergraduate education; however, it was observed that they stated that the existing trainings were insufficient.