Do you think that Computer based Technology is helpful in training of Special Children?

Millions of students have a disability that impairs them to participate in a typical classroom environment. For these students, computer-based technologies can play an especially important role. Computer technology facilitate a broader range of educational activities to meet a variety of needs for students with mild learning disorders and gives them the opportunity to become active learners in the classroom alongside their peers who do not have disabilities.

Technological innovations have helped level the playing field for special needs students and have enabled these students to succeed in the regular classroom. The use of technology can enhance a student’s acquisition of skills and content knowledge when the computer is used to deliver well-designed and well-managed instruction. A teacher’s ultimate goal is to help students develop skills and knowledge that can be used in real-world settings. Many computer-based applications, such as the Internet, communication technologies, CD-ROM reference materials, and multimedia presentation tools, can provide students with opportunities to use their skills to engage in projects that address real-world problems, for example, word processing and word prediction software, communication and networking technologies, and the use of hypertext and multimedia projects.

The word processor frees students from the more tedious duties related to the editing process enabling them to spend more time on the content of their written products. Word prediction software is another example of a computer-based technology that can help students communicate with written language more easily. This software provides assistance with spelling for students of various ability levels. For example, in one application, a list of words appears that begins with the letter a student presses on the computer keyboard. Furthermore, use of computers for communication and networking activities via the Internet can expand the learning environment beyond the walls of the classroom and allow students with disabilities, just like other students, to access and send information literally around the world. Yet improved access and delivery systems do not necessarily bring improved instruction. To the contrary, improved learning is dependent upon the quality of instruction and not on the medium through which it is delivered. Communication technologies become a powerful tool for learning only if they offer students opportunities to gather a wide variety of resources and information and then to exchange their thoughts and ideas with others in collaborative learning environments, networked through the Internet.Besides, text with hyperlinks, or “hypertext,” enables users to access electronically linked resources with the click of a mouse, leaping through vast amounts of textual information in a non sequential manner. Hyperlinksenable students to jump to electronic units of information with the speed and freedom of human thought, creating meaningful learning experiences through quick and easy links between new and previously learned information. In addition, Multimedia environments are a relatively new extension of the hypertext concept. Research demonstrates that learning environments that incorporate dynamic images and sound are especially helpful for students who have limited background knowledge in a subject, which is often the case for students with learning disabilities. Multimedia applications also provide students with ways to express their knowledge other than in writing. Many students with mild learning disabilities are reluctant writers. By providing these students with alternative ways to demonstrate what they have learned, multimedia applications can be very motivating. The technology provides a tool for students with disabilities to express themselves, and an opportunity for them to showcase unique abilities and talents that generally are not revealed in traditional school assignments. Multimedia projects can be especially important for students with disabilities who seldom have the opportunity to demonstrate their strengths at school.

There is no doubt that technology has the potential to act as an equalizer by freeing many students from their disabilities in a way that allows them to achieve their true potential. More widespread use of technology would meet both the legal requirements and the spirit of the laws calling for students with special needs to be educated in the least restrictive environment. Thus, it is important for all individuals who are involved in policy decisions regarding the placement of students with disabilities, teacher training, and the funding of educational technologies to become familiar with the issues surrounding the use of technology for students with disabilities. Working together, parents, teachers, administrators, and school board members, as well as both students with disabilities and their nondisabled peers, can help create classroom environments in which all students have opportunities to learn.

Yes. Most special needs children are more visual than anything else. Visualizing an assignment rather than writing it and thinking on their own is actually been proven to work better for special needs children. 

yes it is helpful because it the children them visually.

Yes. Most special needs children are more visual than anything else