"The field of special education technology is devoted to a variety of activities that ultimately serve to augment, bypass, or compensate for a disability"(Edyburn 1). Like much of educational technology today, the question for educators is, "which technology should we purchase and how should we implement it?" In the article by Dave Edburn he dives into this question as he considers the research, theory, practice, policy and development of technology in Special Education.
As with most educational technology, one of the main concerns is the evidence to determine if it helps improve student achievement. Often new technology comes around so frequently that a school district will move on to the new device before determining if the old device was successful or not. According to Edyburn, "The entire work of the field of special education technology can be summarized as searching, trialing, selecting, implementing, and evaluating technologies that augment, bypass, or compensate for a disability"(Edyburn 2 ).
One aspect that is key for advances in educational technology in Special Education is innovation. "It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them. The notion that the benefits of a new technology may not be fully recognized until after it is used. In practice, this causes some technologists to have an insatiable appetite to chase what is new (Reinhart 1998). Innovation can be difficult for educators because many schools want the "shiny new object" without truly determining how effective it can be in the classroom. Some good news for technology in the Special Education realm is that new innovations have made certain technologies cheaper. For example the Proloquo2go AAC device has dropped the cost from $7000 to $200 dollars (Edyburn 4).However, with this new technology does come with challenges. Staff is often untrained with these new forms of technology and it is difficult for staff to be trained on all of these devices as they are implemented too frequently.
Evidence has shown that new technologies such as adjustable wheelchair seating and speech recognition software have had significant impacts for students with special needs. The difficulty when purchasing and implementing much of this technology is that, "The standard of proof that a new technology works is very low. Proof that something works is generally obtained through a demonstration that the object basically operates as intended" (Edyburn 7). According to the research, there is often not enough time or case studies to determine how the technology will work for students in different circumstances.
The good news is that through advocacy groups, they have been able to directly impact public policy and make education more equitable for special education students. Although not all educational technology has helped Special Education students there have been positive strides through evidence and trial and error.
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