Uncovering challenges and opportunities of including children with visual impairments in mainstream schools

2017. Oussama Metatla
Proceedings of the 31st British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Conference.

Abstract

We report on a field study aimed at understanding the challenges facing inclusive education practices for children with visual impairments (VIs). We interviewed 25 practitioners and observed seven teaching sessions at three support services and mainstream schools that include children with VIs. A thematic analysis of the data highlighted the need to develop incidental learning opportunities; to break the phenomenon of the "teaching assistant bubble"; and to support a maker culture prominent amongst practitioners. Our findings offer insights into areas where technology-enhanced learning tools could be introduced to address the challenges of including children with VIs in mainstream schools.

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Citation

Metatla, O. (2017). Uncovering challenges and opportunities of including children with visual impairments in mainstream schools. Proceedings of the 31st British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Conference. Swindon, GBR: BCS Learning & Development Ltd. URL: https://doi.org/10.14236/ewic/HCI2017.102, doi:10.14236/ewic/HCI2017.102

BibTeX

@inproceedings{10.14236/ewic/HCI2017.102,
author = {Metatla, Oussama},
title = {Uncovering challenges and opportunities of including children with visual impairments in mainstream schools},
year = {2017},
publisher = {BCS Learning \& Development Ltd.},
address = {Swindon, GBR},
url = {https://doi.org/10.14236/ewic/HCI2017.102},
doi = {10.14236/ewic/HCI2017.102},
abstract = {We report on a field study aimed at understanding the challenges facing inclusive education practices for children with visual impairments (VIs). We interviewed 25 practitioners and observed seven teaching sessions at three support services and mainstream schools that include children with VIs. A thematic analysis of the data highlighted the need to develop incidental learning opportunities; to break the phenomenon of the "teaching assistant bubble"; and to support a maker culture prominent amongst practitioners. Our findings offer insights into areas where technology-enhanced learning tools could be introduced to address the challenges of including children with VIs in mainstream schools.},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 31st British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Conference},
articleno = {102},
numpages = {6},
keywords = {visual impairments, qualitative methods, inclusion, education, assistive technology},
location = {Sunderland, UK},
series = {HCI '17}
}