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Factors impacting special education teachers’ acceptance and actual use of technology.
Summary
Nur Siyam uses the technology acceptance model in his study to understand the factors
that impact special education’s use of technology. Twenty four special educators from the United
Arab Emirates answered questions about access to technology, job relevance, self-efficacy, time,
and usage (Siyam, 2019). Siyam examines the results from the questionnaire to get insight into
special education teachers’ attitudes towards using technology, and the factors that either
encourage or prevent the use of this technology. Finally, Siyam discusses the implications for
practice and future research necessary to increase technology use in special education.
Analysis of Author’s Key Points
Siyam focuses on the key factors in technology implementation in special education, such
as availability of resources, professional development, technical support and time (Siyam, 2019).
Similarly, he explains how teacher perceptions are one of the biggest factors for technology use
in the classroom, even though it has been proven to have positive outcomes for students’
learning.
This study’s focus is to understand the extent of technology acceptance among special
educators in the UAE and these factors that impact the use of it in their classrooms (Siyam,
2019). Throughout this journal, Siyam explains the importance of technology integration for
special education classrooms and why teacher beliefs play such a large role in this success for
learning. Using the TAM model, Siyam is able to explain how external factors, such as time and
job relevance, contribute to the usefulness and ease of use, thus contributing to teacher attitudes
and usage.
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SIyam focused this study on a k-12 school with 150 teachers, 1500 students, and 110 of
those students with special education needs; out of the 150 teachers, 30 of them were special
educators and 24 of them were involved in the study. This school included 8 computer labs, with
only one of them in the special education section, and lower grades received Ipads to share. The
questionnaire given included 31 items, ranging from attitude towards usage to actual usage, and
educators were asked to consider all types of technology.
Overall, the results of this study showed teachers having a positive attitude towards
technology use in general (Siyam, 2019). Compared to other studies, this coincided with results
that majority of teachers believe technology is beneficial in the classroom, meaning there is more
of a likelihood that they will integrate technology into their classrooms. However, this still can
vary depending on external factors and school accessibility.
Personal Response
By considering external factors to teacher attitudes, this study was able to conclude a
teachers’ had positive attitudes towards the use of technology in the classroom, and this positive
attitude led to actual use of the technology. As an educator, I use technology regularly in my
classroom, and I know that when I get frustrated with a certain platform, I am less likely to use it.
Although this study showed positive correlations, there are still implications for practice
and need for further research. In order for teacher attitudes to remain positive towards
technology use in their classroom, there needs to be appropriate training in how to effectively use
technology to support students with disabilities, not take over their instruction. Also, these types
of technology should be included in teacher preparation courses, so teachers can see both sides of
the platforms they will be using.
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Furthermore, to understand these results on a larger scale, there needs to be more research
in different styles of learning, countries, and educator demographics. This study was isolated to
one school with only 30 educators surveyed. To truly understand the implications of technology
use in special education classrooms there needs to be a more diverse population in future
research (Siyam, 2019). Although there is a need for future research, this study gives insight into
teacher attitudes and factors impacting technology use.
References
Siyam N. (2018, in press). Special Education Teachers’ Perceptions on Using Technology
