3 Ways EdTech can Support Students with SEND

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Navigating the complexities of supporting learners with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) is an ever-evolving journey in education. Recent insights from the Department for Education (DfE), specifically addressing attendance and contemporary issues within the current SEND system, underscore shortcomings in the current educational approach for these students.

Can educational technology (EdTech) be the game-changer in empowering students with SEND to reach their full potential? Absolutely! 

While assistive technologies have been instrumental in enhancing accessibility and fostering independence, EdTech offers a new dimension. It goes beyond entry points, aiming to create an educational experience that is not just accessible, but also inclusive, engaging, and adaptable. In this article, we explore three impactful ways EdTech can revolutionise supporting children with SEND, propelling them toward success in their educational journey.

Supporting SEND Students Through Adaptability

Students with SEND constitute a diverse community of learners, meaning it is essential that educational experiences can seamlessly adapt to their individual needs.

Consider, for instance, autistic learners who often thrive in structured environments. Unpredictability may induce stress, highlighting the necessity for a consistently structured learning environment to foster their ability to flourish.

Among certain learners with ADHD, this can work both ways. Where an overly repetitive environment may lead to understimulation, hindering engagement and information retention, an overload of new information may result in overstimulation, overwhelming their capacity to regulate, process, and organise new knowledge.

When supporting SEND students facing Cognition and Learning needs, voice-to-text, text-to-voice, layout customisation, and text customisation modifications can prove vital in ensuring they are able to access the content.

For more information on SEND learner types, take a look at our SEND Resources guide.

By leveraging EdTech with manual customisation features or adaptive learning technology, educators can tailor educational experiences to align with the distinct learning needs, styles, and preferences of SEND learners. Consequently, in this context, EdTech can supplement the role of assistive technology by further democratising access to education through a flexible, adaptive learning experience. 

Supporting Children with SEND Through Inclusivity

In traditional classrooms, students with SEND often face challenges that can hinder their learning experience, contributing to attainment disparities compared to their peers. The predefined pace of these classrooms may not always suit their unique needs, leading to academic difficulties and, more significantly, impacting their mental wellbeing.

Furthermore, where obstacles to learning can create a cycle of frustration, isolation, and low self-esteem, they can also manifest disruptive behaviours. This partly explains why children with SEND contribute to a large number of exclusions.

This means that not only are students with SEND more likely to face cognitive barriers to education, but they may also miss out on valuable learning opportunities due to physical expulsion from lessons.

Enter EdTech as a transformative solution. By leveraging digital technology, learners can progress through materials at their own speed, offsetting the emotional overwhelm associated with falling behind.

Among disruptive or anxious learners, EdTech opens up new avenues for lesson participation. Remote solutions allow SEND learners to participate in classes from either the comfort of their homes, or through alternative off-site school environments. 

Essentially, embracing EdTech not only acknowledges the barriers faced by SEND learners, but actively works towards dismantling them. By enabling students to recognise that positive educational outcomes are, in fact, an attainable goal, it supports the intended realisation of education as a universal undertaking.

Supporting SEND Learners Through Engagement

Online learning and video content have been proven to stimulate the brain and engage
learning to a higher level. By focusing on visually stimulating content, children with SEND can reignite their learning and focus on their academic development.

Furthermore, certain learners engage with materials in greater depth when afforded a more hands-on experience. This means EdTech with interactive elements, such as quizzes and simulations, can be pivotal in supporting students with SEND to explore the core ideas and concepts of a topic.

Final Advice and Next Steps

Working with SEND students effectively means delivering one-to-one support and a calm and understanding approach to their studies. And the appropriate integration of EdTech requires planning and creating a system where everyone works collaboratively with one another to supervise and support students who are struggling.
 
EDClass provides exactly this support for UK-qualified teachers via video or text chat, and is perfect for SEND and vulnerable learners. The platform prioritises safeguarding and allows students to flourish in their studies. Students can learn at their own pace and claim
attendance codes on the platform. EDClass is very cost-effective and communicates efficiently with schools to achieve maximum results.

Photo by Steinar Engeland on Unsplash