14022 Technology in the Service of People with Special Needs

Credits: 4 graduate credits in Education / Learning Technologies or Learning Systems

Prerequisites: Curriculum Development and Implementation, Research Methods in Education, Technology and Learning

Recommended: Fundamental Issues in Special Education (or a parallel undergraduate course)

The course is based on a reader (in Hebrew and English) edited by Tali Heiman and Sigal Eden.

People with special needs have long used computerized and advanced technologies, both to assist users and to correct various disabilities. The use of the technologies raises numerous theoretical and practical questions from ethical issues, to the effectiveness of the technologies, and to their influence on learning processes.

Objectives: To expose students to the major developments and recent trends in the area of technology in education; To impart the central issues and dilemmas that characterize the integration of technology into special education; To present the various assistive technologies available to special needs populations; To familiarize students with the use of technologies in issues relating to cognition, language and speech, physiology, social and emotional aspects, and learning.

Topics: Approaches to the use of technologies in the service of people with special needs; Assistive technology; Technology that enables and improves language and speech; The physiological aspect in the context of technology; Social and emotional disabilities, Technology and cognition, Technology as an aid to learning, Dilemmas and future expectations.