Technology Integration Among Special Education Certified Co-Teachers in the Inclusion Classroom

Abstract

This study explored the technology integration attitudes and perspectives of special education co-teachers within the United States. The sample consisted of 300 special education co-teachers working in the inclusion classroom in grades pre-kindergarten through 12th grade throughout the country. In the quantitative phase, participants completed a three-part survey about their technology integration attitudes within their co-taught classroom, as well as their practices in integrating specific technology tools. For the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight of the outlier co-teachers about their lived experiences with technology as a co-teacher. The pairing of the quantitative and qualitative data collected led to three conclusions about special education co-teachers, including that they (a) are seeking additional learning opportunities about technology, (b) plan asynchronously using collaborative technology tools with their partners, and (c) tend to focus on pedagogy within technology integration.