See, Hear, and Touch the Screen: New Technologies and Learning by Students With Diverse Academic Needs

The new technologies that have marked recent decades have impacted on every area of our lives. A highly salient factor influencing that impact is the easy accessibility, even when considering cost, of products such as laptop computers, iPads, and smart phones, items that have made the use of advanced technologies habitual for most of us, from adults to young children. In education, evidence of the benefits of advanced technologies in the support of learning is continually being gathered, with these tools now considered to be almost as fundamental as textbooks and pencils to lesson planning. Research has already shown that these technologies, constructed on the basis of diverse input channels, facilitate the multi-sensory learning (association of visual with sensory and auditory representations) necessary for effective learning as well as teaching (Mayer, 2003; Paivio, 1986).

Nevertheless, many questions remain regarding just how to apply such technologies in specific settings and for different educational goals. These questions are particularly demanding in light of the wide range of populations being taught and the need to organize educational systems so that they can benefit from the technologies available. For instance, how efficient are they for supporting special needs populations? How adaptable are they to the wide range of educational needs? Finally, how can they be evaluated regarding their adaptability to the student's individual learning needs but also selected by teachers for classroom use? The articles in this special issue confront diverse aspects of these issues.