Influence of Digital Assistive Technologies Used in Higher Education on the Development of Individual Educational Strategies among Students with Disabilities

Abstract

The digitalization of education significantly facilitates access to the educational process for people with special needs. The study aims at determining the main possibilities of using digital technologies as a means of supporting the education of students with disabilities. The research strategy requires both quantitative and qualitative methods to understand what university staff considers effective when using digital technologies for students with disabilities with due regard to their experience, knowledge and abilities to meet the needs of such students. To achieve this objective, the authors used a set of theoretical and empirical methods: theoretical, empirical and numerical methods. The main research method was an online survey. Based on the online survey of teachers, IT specialists and network administrators (from six Russian universities), the authors of the article have revealed the advantages, directions and opportunities of digital technologies to support the learning of students with disabilities, considered the use of digital assistive technologies in teaching such students and the issues of introducing digital technologies as a means of supporting students with disabilities and creating conditions for overcoming them. The study results have demonstrated that the pedagogically balanced and expedient use of digital technologies will help students with disabilities fully engage in the educational process and develop individual educational strategies acceptable to them.