TITLE:
ICT and Inclusion in Higher Education: A Comparative Approach
AUTHORS:
Valentina Della Volpe
KEYWORDS:
Inclusion, Information and Communication Technology, Online Tutoring, Disability
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.3 No.9,
September
18,
2015
ABSTRACT: The following research describes an attempt
to combine ICT and Special Education through an inclusive pedagogical
perspective. It examines how an innovative use of Information and Communication
Technology can help create inclusive environments on the web. Specifically, the
study focuses on the way the University responds to diversity and to
e-inclusion through some development phases of an experimental research project,
which is most far-reaching called “Network@ccessible: teaching/learning
together and for everyone in a life project” carried out by six Italian universities
and research institutions, from 2009 to 2014, and involved 1174 students (1.6%
disabled students). This study is split into two main parts: 1) description and
analysis of the data collected following the administration of an inquiry tool,
developed to detect the climate experienced by the students involved in the
online working groups; 2) investigation and detection of the elements of change
that can encourage the process of inclusion in online learning environments to
acquire credits allocated to the university courses. This study proposes
further research to take place in the area of inclusive online university
courses.