Conceptualizing Access: Technology-Enhanced K–12 Education and Disabled Students

• In Event: Designing for Equity With Technology and for Technology-Rich Environments

Abstract

As technologies are incorporated into K-12 classrooms disabled students are increasingly confronting the paradoxical situation in which they can access the physical classroom but not the learning that takes place therein because the technology that mediates the learning is inaccessible to them. This paper addresses the question: how should disabled students’ access to technology-enhanced K-12 education be conceptualized? An examination of the literature from the fields of human computer interaction, law and policy, instructional technology, and disability studies revealed that no existing conception of access fully addresses the complex issue of disabled students’ access to technology-enhanced K-12 education. Therefore, a cross-disciplinary framework, Accessibility4Inclusion, is advanced to provide the missing holistic picture of the complex and nuanced practice.

Author

• Natalie Shaheen, Illinois State University