The Role of Assistive Technology in Fostering Inclusive Education uses evidence-based research to explore issues related to implementation of ICT-based Assistive Technology (ICT-AT) in education. It focuses on programmes and activities that aim at the empowerment of the learners with disabilities, as well as the empowerment of the entire educational ecosystem.

The book provides a synthesis of political and theoretical discussions as well as practical experiences on the implementation of ICT-AT in education. Analysing international policy frameworks in relation to inclusive education and technology, it discusses examples of school self-assessment and action plan methodologies for digital inclusive education, as well as case studies of innovative ICT and AT solutions in educational environments. The authors elaborate on digital empowerment as a wider societal challenge through reflection on the barriers that people with disabilities meet in education and beyond.

This book will be of great interest for academics, researchers, and postgraduate students in the fields of inclusive education and assistive technology, as well as those interested in education research and policy development.

Table of Contents Forward

Author: E.A. Draffan

Introduction

Authors: Ivan Traina, Katerina Mavrou and Evert-Jan Hoogerwerf

Chapter 1. "A Framework for Action"

Authors: Andrea Broderick, Delia Ferri and Fleur Heleen Boot

Chapter 2. "Defining objectives: A self-assessment tool for inclusive schools for improving the adoption and use of AT"

Authors: Katerina Mavrou and Evert-Jan Hoogerwerf

Chapter 3. "The choice and use of enabling technologies in educational environments: research findings and case report"

Authors: Ivan Traina, Bryan Boyle, Trish Mackeogh, Anita Yakkundi, John Owuor, Lisa Clinton, Alan D. Power, Lorenzo Desideri, Lisa Cesario, Arianna Gherardini, Aziz Rouame

Chapter 4. "The development of competences in Assistive Technology"

Author: Evert-Jan Hoogerwerf

Chapter 5. "Inclusive education and digital empowerment as part of wider societal challenges"

Authors: Evert-Jan Hoogerwerf and Katerina Mavrou

Biography
Evert-Jan Hoogerwerf is the Head of the Assistive Technology Sector of AIAS Bologna Onlus, Italy, and past president of the Association for the Advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe.

Katerina Mavrou is an Associate Professor of Inclusive Education & Assistive Technology at the Department of Education Sciences, European University Cyprus.

Ivan Traina is a Post-doc Marie Curie Research fellow at the Department of Psychology, National University of Ireland Galway.