Special Education and Professional Development: Catalytic Power of Technology to Promote Inclusive Education

• In Event: Emerging Perspectives and Approaches for Teacher Education Research

Abstract

Assistive technology (AT) has demonstrated the catalytic power that prepared teachers to design and create inquiry-based learning environments. The study investigates the adaptation of a research-based professional development approach for special education teachers to adopt inquiry-based curriculum. The research design used a convergent parallel mixed methods approach to analyze both qualitative and qualitative data to capture how special education teachers used AT to adapt curriculum. The quantitative results from the teacher questionnaire revealed the positive statistically significant shifts over the period of professional development in terms of teachers’ ability to adapt inquiry-based curriculum. The qualitative results based on teacher interviews showed emerging leadership activities: teachers took more initiative to design projects and collaborate with other teachers in the school community.

Authors

• Xiaoxue Du, Teachers College, Columbia University
  Presenting Author

• Ellen B. Meier, Teachers College, Columbia University
  Presenting Author