By Laren Helfer, Caroline Monsell and Kerry Sharples

  • Technology allows groups from different geographical areas, and of all sorts, to connect in real-time, often without a financial cost to any of the group members (Jimerson, 2018).
  • Digital Learning makes successfully balancing work, school and home life more achievable. It allows learners to allocate their time where it’s the most necessary at that moment, which increases the likeliness that a learner will persevere to accomplish their goals (Jimerson, 2018).
  • When learning takes place in a digital environment, it allows for assistive technology to compensate for various disabilities, or residual birth deficiencies while simultaneously eradicating barriers an accommodated learner may face; such as differentiation and exclusion (Maria, Francesca, Patrizia & Rosalba, 2014).
  • Technology integrated learning environments have become a must-have in order for learners with specific learning challenges to become successful (Francesca, Patrizia, & Rosalba, 2014).
  • Educators who use digital learning methodology to create an inclusive classroom feel inadequately prepared and require additional instruction and guidance in the use of technology and digital applications (Donne & Hansen, 2014).
  • Digital learning experiences designed for inclusion that incorporate rote learning create a divide between the student and the context which limits the learner from making sense of new content (Sulecio de Alvarez & Dickson-Deane, 2018).
  • Students become alienated when they do not understand why they are using the intended solution (technology) and what is the outcome that should be learned (Sulecio de Alvarez & Dickson-Deane, 2018).
  • Brown, Cummins and Sayers provided examples and discussions on how using an academic language learning framework (which focused on “maximum cognitive engagement, maximum identity investment, and a critical focus on linguistic meaning”), was able to support a more diverse student population by offering innovative forms of technology (Warschauer, 2007).
  • From a teaching and learning perspective,  adopting a more inclusive environment allows for more cultural diversity in the classroom and expands upon crucial learning to the learner, such as identity and a more valued learning experience (Parrish, 2016).
  • Recently, there is more demand for reform in education to bring a more inclusive atmosphere into the classroom. The implementation of a “social emotional learning curriculum”  bringing in UDL (universal design for learning) are just small components to help identify the deficits facing learners (Sokal & Katz, 2015).

References

Donne, V., & Hansen, M. A. (2014). Business and Technology Educators. International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education, 9(4). https://doi.org/10.4018/ijicte.2013100106

Jimerson, P. (2018). How technology influences diversity and inclusion. Indianapolis Business Journal, 39(14), 15. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.royalroads.ca/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/docview/2055195111?accountid=8056

Maria, M. A., Francesca, C., Patrizia, O., & Rosalba, L. (2014). Pedagogical-Didactic Training for an Inclusive Didactics: The Precision Teaching for Strengthening of Basic and Integrating Skills in Intellectual Disabilities. In M. Khosrow-Pour, D.B.A. (Ed.),

Parrish, G. (2016). Inclusive Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from https://teachingcenter.wustl.edu/resources/inclusive-teaching-learning/

Sokal, L., & Katz, J. (2015). Effects of the three-block model of universal design for learning on early and late middle school students’ engagement. Middle Grades Research Journal, 10(2), 65–82.

Sulecio de Alvarez, M., & Dickson-Deane, C. (2018). Avoiding Educational Technology Pitfalls for Inclusion and Equity. TechTrends, 62(4). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-018-0270-0

Warschauer, M. (2007). The paradoxical future of digital learning. Learning Inquiry, 1(1), 41–49.