Multimodal resources to facilitate language learning for students with special needs

Abstract

Students with special needs are often isolated from the rest of the class and have to attend specific courses designed for them. This report describes an action-research project with two students with a hearing impediment and who were following a course at a university of science and technology. A student with mild autism was appointed as a teaching assistant because the course teacher wanted to provide him with the opportunity to express himself and to communicate with others. The course teacher presented material by means of an interactive whiteboard and video-based coursebook to maximise student understanding and foster learning, while the autistic assistant, also using an interactive whiteboard, often helped the two students go over what they had learned. A literature review focuses on the use of an interactive whiteboard and activity-theory in education, especially with students with special needs. This paper concludes with the statement that the findings were encouragingly positive. Suggestions are made to assist teachers who would like to take further steps towards the use of computer technology in special needs education. © by the author(s).