The digital skills of teachers in the teaching practice with students with specific needs

Abstract

The use of digital technologies in the educational context has been reinforced by the importance they represent in the teaching-learning process of children with specific needs. In this sense it is important to understand the importance attributed by teachers regarding the use and training in this area. 108 teachers of the group of special education teaching in schools in the North of Portugal participated in this study. The study is quantitative in nature, the statistical analysis was performed using the IBM/SPSS program, version 26.0 with exploratory factor analysis. Ethical issues were taken into account, safeguarding the anonymity of participants throughout the process. The participants were informed about the research objectives and gave their consent for the publication of the results, as well as being free to leave the study whenever they wanted. The questionnaires were sent via email and collected by one of the study authors. The results point to a clear recognition of the advantages of digital technologies in the teaching-learning process of students with Specific Needs, not being so evident with regard to Technologies as a decisive factor in the process of inclusion of these students. It was verified that the teachers' perceptions do not always agree with the usefulness of their practices. An aspect that is not dissociated from the gaps highlighted in terms of specific training in digital technologies.