Abstract:

It is important that a quality education for all guarantees that all students have access to resources and instructions that enable all to fulfil their potential [95], [190]. Missing this goal means denting access to invaluable resources for members of educational communities. To enable Special Educational Need or Disability (SEND) students to participate, it is necessary to:
1) Adhere to both the universal design in learning principles [27], [156] and Universal Design Instruction principles [26]
2) Participate and put effort into one of the 25 ways that the Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology (DO-IT) is changing the world [61] through its programs.

Develop accessible resources. Having accessible resources and putting significant effort in developing such resources have a positive effect on the whole educational community.

Leveraging on a literature review on tools and resources available for special education teacher formation we will report on an experience run on a Master course for special education teachers in Italy.

In Italy, a significant nationwide effort has recently been implemented to train in-service, pre-service and teacher students for teaching SEND learners [172] at all school levels from primary through high school. The effort culminated in multiyear educational initiatives spread nationwide with master courses for teachers. The courses, usually run in one or two years, provide in many cases a nationally recognized certification for teachers of SEND learners.

A laboratory in this master course was designed with these goals:
1) Provide the learners with information seeking tools and techniques applied to the domain of interest, eliciting the main reference points and information sources in the domain of interest. Provide an overview on who and what is taught around the world [102], [172].
2) Provide the learners with Computational Thinking abilities using tools and techniques applied in an interdisciplinary setting to construct software and hardware tools as well as learning resources useful for people with special abilities. Test and get feedback from the students involved in their daily class activities, asking feedback with others in the same community.
3) Promote communication, collaborations and networking among teachers. Reflection and experience reports peer-lead meetings had a positive impact on the whole educational process.
4) Organize the activities around a curriculum delineated by special abilities focusing on technologies, pedagogies and content.
5) Favor project based pedagogies in group settings.
6) Leverage on tools such as concept maps [30], [116], [138] as a design tool useful for teachers and students.

The main difficulties faced during the programme were due to a severe lack of time for the participants. An overbooked schedule and a tight and tough master program contributed to a heavy cognitive overload in all participants, resulting in lost momentum in the educational activities despite the commitment of teachers and the dedication to their students. Self and group reflection using on-line communication means should be pursued for after-experience reflections. Blended and on-line instruction initiatives should be sought to avoid depleting time, energy and resources to teachers simply for reaching the campus location.

Keywords:

Special Education, Teacher pre-service education, Accessibility.