Computers in the Delivery of Special Education and Related Services: Developing Collaborative and Individualized Learning Environments

Use computer technology to complement and strengthen your special education program!

This book provides practical information, case examples, theory, and a critical summary of applied research about how computer technology can be used to support and improve special education and related services. With Computers in the Delivery of Special Education and Related Services, you'll learn how technology can be used to facilitate an individualized and collaborative approach to learning. Topics of discussion include innovative instruction, consultation, family collaboration, curriculum-based assessment, and professional development.

Computers in the Delivery of Special Education and Related Services is a valuable resource in which special services providers can find ways to use computers to enhance individualized instruction and the problem-solving skills of their students, as well as avenues of professional collaboration and support.

Computers in the Delivery of Special Education and Related Services presents thoughtful discussions that examine:

• how computer software can be used in the assessment of students’progress within specific curricula
• how students can use the Internet to discuss class projects with experts in a process known as ”telementoring”
• how software can help a school-based consultation team through specific aspects of the problem-solving process, including data collection, intervention selection, team decision documentation, and follow-up
• ways to use the Internet to create new types of learning communities for students and professionals, extending Vygotsky's notion of ”zone of proximal development” (ZPD) to the community level
• the advantages and disadvantages of using email with the intention of complementing and strengthening face-to-face collaboration
• the aspects of home computer use that address a student's special needs
• the importance of understanding the family's values, expectations, and cultural background
  
  Computers in the Delivery of Special Education and Related Services reflects the editors’hope that creative applications of technology will soon transcend the nagging stereotypes of computers (they isolate students, they're too difficult to use, that they lack the flexibility to treat people as individuals). Then computers will be viewed as partners in the process of special education--machines that enhance current practices and open new vistas for learning and education.