Investigating the Impact of Technology on Preservice Teacher Knowledge of Autism Spectrum Disorder

• In Event: Technology Use in Teaching Students With Disabilities

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is rising and affects 1 in 88 children. Although many general and special educators will encounter ASD students, most teacher graduates receive minimal preparation in evidence-based practices for this population. This study evaluated a technology-driven intervention designed to address current time and content constraints of teacher preparation in ASD. Using a quantitative, two-group posttest design, two groups of randomly assigned undergraduate teacher education candidates interacted with either a narrated PowerPoint enhanced with text/pictures synced to audio or the same information in text format to determine impact of instructional delivery on knowledge of ASD. The enhanced narrated PowerPoint group outperformed the read-only group on knowledge of ASD. Implications for teacher education programming in ASD will be described.

Authors

• Juliet E. Hart Barnett, Arizona State University

• Cori M More, University of Nevada - Las Vegas