The National Council for Special Education in Ireland (NCSE) carried out re-search, “Assistive technology/Equipment in Supporting the Education of Children with Special Needs-What works best?” (Wynne et al., 2016). This study was granted by the Department of Education in Ireland and examined 100 pupils ac-quiring and using AT. The AT met the needs of 70% of the students. Educators found that AT increased students' access to the curriculum, and improved class participation, and academic outcomes. The research found that the main benefit of AT use was the positive impact it had on literacy in the classroom, as software,
such as text-to-speech allowed students to read their school books and compre-hend the content. The other main benefits from this study were improved engage-ment and interest in learning, access to resources, and student preparation and organisation. Teachers found that students were less stressed during the school day (Wynne et al., 2016).
The National Council for Special Education in Ireland (NCSE) carried out re-search, “Assistive technology/Equipment in Supporting the Education of Children with Special Needs-What works best?” (Wynne et al., 2016) and reviewed AT provision in other countries worldwide. This study viewed AT provision through an international lens, examining AT in the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Italy, and New Zealand, and in reviewing Irish and interna-tional guidelines and principles. Wynne et al. (2016) concluded the best practice for AT provision:
AT needs to be observed from an inclusive education perspective
AT can play an important role in UDL
AT provision must be supported to ensure effective use of the tool in the physical environment and in curriculum assessment
It is vital that curriculum and instructional technologies do not generate barriers in the use of AT by learners with LD
AT use and learning and teaching should be linked and coordinated with educators
Communication with parents and students is crucial during the needs as-sessment process and AT selection
Assessment professionals play a key role to play in choosing appropriate AT for students
A phased approach to identifying the appropriate technology to the needs of the student is crucial
Ensuring that the student is cognitively able to use the AT independently and appropriately
AT provision is part of the individual educational planning
Positive attitudes to AT should be promoted among all stakeholders in-volved with the AT provision of the student
Consistent AT maintenance is an essential practice in the AT process.
Students with high-incidence disabilities, such as LD experience better academic outcomes when they are given access to AT devices (The IRIS Center, 2021). The IRIS Center (2021), a national center in the United States, dedicated to improve learning outcomes for students with LD, states the importance of plan-ning and implementing AT in the classroom.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines AT as a vital environmental facil-itator (Wynne et al., 2016). Atanga et al. (2020), discuss how AT makes the learn-ing environment more inclusive, bridglearn-ing the gap between elementary and middle school students with learning disabilities, and their classmates without learning disabilities. Bouck and Long (2020) states how AT allows a child to select his/her own pace of learning. Atanga et al. (2020) state that children with LD who have the opportunity to work at their own pace with AT, feel less pressure, and conse-quently improve in areas, such as communication, attention, and behaviour.
Bouck and Long (2020) also confirm how AT promotes independent learning.
Masouleh and Jooneghani (2012) describes autonomous learning, also known as independent learning, as the learner’s ability to take control of their own learn-ing. Masouleh and Jooneghani (2012) state that a student change becomes an autonomous learner through teacher instructional scaffolding.
Panesi, Bocconi and Ferlino (2020) discuss the role and impact that technology has on student well-being and inclusion in school. Positive student well-being and inclusion are related to AT utilisation, helping students with LD to integrate into their educational environment. Panesi et al. (2020) highlights that a number of researches, in particular the research, “Is school participation good for children?”
by de Róiste et al. (2012), show that the active involvement for a student in school in positive social and emotional well-being.
Reading and writing AT tools help students to become independent learners through the various range of facilities, such as text-to-speech, speech-to-text, word recognition, word prediction, and spelling correction (AHEAD, 2021).
Atanga et al. (2020) speak of a study on AT carried out by Cullen et al. (2008) on the use of talking word processors in conjunction with word prediction software,
and found that 70 percent of students with learning disabilities in the study showed improved quantity and quality in their written work.
The use of text-to-speech AT on a tablet results in progression in shared reading, guided reading, and independent reading. Text-to-speech software reads words aloud, as well as highlights them for the reader; this familiarises students with written text (Atanga et al., 2020).
Marsh et al. (2021) explain how children with LD acquire literacy skills slower than students who do not have LD, and that AT can be one of the appropriate strate-gies to developing literacy needs in students with LD. Flewitt, Messer and Kucirkova (2015) explain how the iPad encourages learning opportunities, and promoted motivation, concentration, expression, and independent learning.