Preparation of a Teacher to Use Digital Technology in Teaching Primary Students with Intellectual Disabilities
The purpose of the study was to determine the methods of training future teachers to use information and virtual tools to work with younger students with intellectual disabilities.
The relevance of training future teachers to work with students with intellectual disabilities is quite high today. This is explained by the fact that the educational environment is developing based on the principles of equality and accessibility. Therefore, it assumes the provision of educational services to all categories of schoolchildren. In this context, the introduction of digital technologies into the process of interaction between a teacher and a child with intellectual disabilities is relevant.
This study explores the use of digital learning tools to improve the education of primary school children with intellectual disabilities. A quasi-experimental design was used with 30 students divided into an experimental group (n=15) using digital tools and a control group (n=15) using traditional methods. Over one month, the experimental group showed significant improvements, with 86% correct answers in test tasks compared to 66% in the control group. Additionally, 80% of the experimental group achieved “good” grades for written tasks versus 53% in the control group. Tools like PearDeck, Kahoot, and ZOOM enhanced cognitive, emotional, and social skills.
The study demonstrates that integrating digital tools into the education of children with intellectual disabilities significantly improves learning outcomes, highlighting the potential for technology to foster both academic and social development in this population.
It was found that working with younger students with intellectual disabilities involves some features that teachers must consider when planning a training session. It is proved that special educational needs in younger schoolchildren affect emotional, volitional, and cognitive areas of activity. The study drew attention to these features and revealed the ways of their development based on digital technologies.
The findings can be used in the preparation of teachers for classes with younger students with intellectual disability and in the development of curricula for this category of students.
The paper presented various approaches that can be used both in the course of full-time and distance learning. It is established that the involvement of digital tools in educational and correctional activities presupposes the mandatory availability of teachers’ skills to use them effectively.
The findings suggest that incorporating digital technologies in special education teacher training could significantly improve educational outcomes for students with intellectual disabilities across the global education system.
Future research should examine the long-term effectiveness of digital teaching tools for students with intellectual disabilities across different cultural contexts, age groups, and disability levels, ideally with larger sample sizes and more diverse digital technologies.
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