FEATURE FOCUS: SEND
across the 21/22 academic year and had three core objectives it wanted to meet as a result. These included supporting inclusivity and pupil wellbeing of children with special educational needs; drive active learning and support pupil wellbeing, by engaging challenging learners via interactive and advanced methods; and improving teaching and learning across all subjects. The chain of schools approached SMART and, following a review of their ways of working, we agreed our SMART 6000s V3 panels were best suited for the schools. We installed 60 of these panels and all 150 of ALP’s staff members were trained to use them and our Lumio software, a web-based collaborative learning tool. As a result, the ALP schools are seeing improvements in the quality of lessons now afforded to students with special educational needs, meeting learners’ needs and, most importantly, increasing their attention span. In summary, edtech has proven itself invaluable across ALP - and we are witnessing the same across other SEND schools too.
teacher like never before. Across the world, systems found ways to not only put devices and content in the hands of students and families, but also found creative ways to ensure they had web access and connectivity. While the pandemic highlighted many gaps, it also showcased the ingenuity and resilience possible to help fill them. With the use of technology, SEND teachers were still able to reach their students at home and conduct revised versions of their curriculum. While there is no denying the sector faced challenges – particularly teachers of SEND pupils with attention span difficulties – the education industry was able to adapt to the best of its abilities and ensure critical learning could continue.
The impact of COVID-19
It is not possible to discuss the evolution of edtech in SEND environments without evaluating the impacts that COVID-19 had on the sector. Almost overnight, the education system was forced to transform its ways of working to accommodate remote learning and teaching. Millions of students globally were able to access a fully digital environment, which allowed for a new type of connectivity between student and
Technology in education, specifically SEND, has shown over the past few years that it can help teachers accommodate where previously it has struggled, such as with providing audio descriptions for visually impaired students or enabling innovative options for students to share their own voice with others. These provide overall improvements to how SEND students communicate with their teachers and provide greater autonomy via assistive technology. Looking ahead from COVID-19, the challenges that were overcome and the lessons learnt in implementing edtech strategies will have a positive impact on our classrooms for many years to come. Any hesitancy surrounding the adoption
of edtech has, for the most part, been proven to be unfounded and we are seeing an influx of schools, SEND and beyond, embracing a new way of teaching.
Building an inclusive edtech strategy For most schools that are now in a position to move forward from COVID, re-evaluating their edtech strategy and ensuring it’s fit for purpose and supports their overall vision is key. Investing in the technology to help further inclusion is an incredibly important step for all schools but the strategy around the implementation is equally as crucial. So, how can schools do this? Key to this is including a comprehensive timeline for training on new devices, software and technology not just for the students, but also teachers. It’s essential that educators are comfortable and confident on all implemented edtech so they develop a greater understanding for the sake of their students. It’s also crucial to include parents and carers into this training as they are an essential cog in the support system for the student.
Implementation can often be the key barrier of education technology. Schools can often find it hard to adopt edtech, due to in part difficulties surrounding planning and professional development. This is despite the fact that studies have shown that well-implemented edtech can not only expedite SEND learning as well as reduce costs in other areas. However, when schools choose difficult-to-adopt technology, these potential savings become costs that could have been avoided. As such, schools must take care to ensure any investment made into technology is considered and the devices have been tried and tested.
Overall, the recent exposure that SEND education has received is enlightening to witness and can only help benefit the students who will derive value from it. Improvements are being made each and every day to education technology which is making it even easier to provide for those with even the most severe of learning difficulties.
Embracing the new technologies that are on the market, and allowing them to support SEND teaching, will support teachers and parents, while making learning engaging for students. With the help of technology, educators can be confident that they’re providing the support system that SEND pupils deserve and often require.
October 2022
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