Special Education Students’ Attitudes towards Assistive Technologies

Abstract

Considering that all teachers use technology intensively in educational environments, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, special education teachers are also expected to integrate technology into their lessons effectively and efficiently in the future. Thus, this study aims to determine the attitudes of special education students towards assistive technologies. The data were collected in the 2020-2021 academic year. Participants were 240 special education students from various universities. The data collection tool was an attitude scale consisting of 4 dimensions and 18 items. Findings reported no significant difference in the attitudes towards assistive technologies regarding variables such as the duration of daily Internet use, grade level, and gender. However, a statistically significant difference was found in terms of variables such as the frequency of following technological developments and taking an assistive technology course. Based on scale mean scores, special education students have positive attitudes towards assistive technologies. Given that following the technological developments is effective in developing a positive attitude towards assistive technologies, special education students are recommended to closely follow current technological developments in future. It is considered that students who follow these technological developments will be more beneficial to students with special needs.