Utility and Professional Attitudes Toward Assistive Technology in UAE Special Needs Centers
Date
2021Type
ArticleAuthor
Fteiha, Mohammad
Deena, Elsori
Ashraf, Khalil
Ghanem, Al Bustami
Metadata
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The attitude of teachers about the use of technology is critical. As a result,
when teachers have a constructive outlook toward a new type of assistive
technology, they are more likely to make meaningful efforts to successfully
integrate it into the teaching-learning process. The way assistive technology
is used in the teaching and learning environment is heavily influenced by a
special education teacher’s attitude. Therefore, the study explored the
availability of assistive technology and explored the attitudes of professional
of special education towards the use of assistive technologies in special needs
centers of United Arab Emirates (UAE). Questionnaires were distributed and
100 responses were received from special education professionals. No
statistically significant differences were observed in the attitudes of special
education teachers and therapists with respect to their experiences,
profession, gender, academic qualification, or locality. Assistive technologies
were mostly used in different areas of special education including computer
access, spelling, learning, recreation, environmental control, vision and
hearing, writing, communication, mathematics, mobility, and positioning and
seating. There is a constructive impact on the learning process of the children
with special needs considering the expertise of specialist teachers and
therapists on assistive technology linked to positive educational outcomes of
students with special needs.