Learning Process of Children with Disabilities - Research Proposal Example

Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Background Children with disabilities such as hearing impairment, visual impairment and intellectual disability need to be assisted so that they can undergo the learning process like their colleagues who do not have any of the aforementioned disabilities. The type of assistance required for children living with any of these disabilities depends on how the disability affects the individuals. Hеаring imраirmеnt or deafness is defined as the “reduced function or loss of the normal function of the hearing mechanism” (Inciong, Quijano, Capulong, Gregorio & Gines, 2007, p. 205). A visual impairment is “a measured visual acuity of 20/70 or worse in the better eye, even after vision is corrected to the extent possible, such as with glasses” (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2015, para. 8). On the other hand, an intellectual disability refers to “substantial limitations in present functioning” of individuals (American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) cited by Handen, 2007, p. 553). Many of the learners who are affected by the disabilities that have been mentioned above are not able to benefit from the general public education systems that exist in most countries (Aldabas, 2015). Children with any of the aforementioned disabilities (hеаring imраirmеnt, visual impairment and intellectual disability) or other types of disabilities can be said to have special educational needs. As a result of recognising special education needs, the field of special education has been introduced in many countries to take care of the educational needs of children with disabilities (Aldabas, 2015). A child is said to have special educational needs if she or he has a learning difficulty that makes it necessary for special educational provisions to be made for the child (Frederickson & Cline, 2009). One of the characteristics that define a child who has a learning disability is a scenario whereby the child “has a disability which either prevents or hinders the child from making use of educational facilities of a kind provided for children of the same age in schools within the area of the local education authority” (Frederickson & Cline, 2009, p. 39). Notably, disabilities such as hеаring imраirmеnts, visual impairments and intellectual disability do hinder the ability of the affected children to use the educational facilities that are used by other children of comparable ages who do not have any form of disability. As a result of realising the challenges posed by various types of learning difficulties, every country the world over has come up with its own system of offering special education services. In addition, countries across the world make efforts to improve their special education systems each year (Aldabas, 2015). Saudi Arabia is among the nations across the world which have made efforts to develop and improve their special education systems. In particular, over the years, Saudi Arabia’s special education system has changed to offer better support for the learning of children with disabilities by ensuring that such children get the same educational experience as those without disabilities (Aldabas, 2015; Alothman, 2014; Pinkton, 2014). This argument is supported by Alnaim (2015), who notes that the Saudi Arabian education system has paid much attention to the area of special education needs, especially in terms of providing assistance to children with learning disabilities. It is further indicated that Saudi Arabia has given much attention to special education services over the last 15 years. The increased attention is reflected in regard to the growing number of special education services that are provided (Alnahdi, 2014). However, according to Alnahdi (2014), the notable growth in the provision of special education services has not been followed by creation of the necessary support services that are required to ensure that the special education programs run smoothly. For instance, lack of equipment such as computers to support the use of assistive technologies in teaching children with disabilities has been identified as one of the limitations to the use technology in special education institutions in Saudi Arabia (Alfaraj & Kuyini, 2014) As well, Alnahdi (2014) notes that there has not been adequate provision of a wide array of appropriate educational placements to support special education services. Additionally, Alnahdi (2014) argues that the expansion of special education services in Saudi Arabia has not been assessed with respect to how it is applied, the quality of output, as well as continued development. Further, Alnahdi (2014) is of the view that “it remains clear that the quality of these services has not improved significantly and the outcomes associated with these services have not changed” (p. 85). On the basis of the foregoing statements by Alnahdi (2014), the current study was conducted to evaluate how technology is used to help children with disabilities; to assess the challenges that schools face in their efforts to use technology in teaching children with disabilities; and to examine the perceptions that educators have towards using technology to meet the educational needs of children with disabilities. 1.2 Setting of the study The setting of the study was in Saudi Arabia. The study involved carrying out an investigation to determine how technology is used in the teaching of children with the aforementioned types of disabilities in various institutions in different cities in the country (Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam). This section provides an overview about Saudi Arabia as a country and also discusses the historical and current information about special education in the country. The information about Saudi Arabia as a country includes the county’s geographical position and population. The historical and current information provides an overview of how special education in Saudi Arabia has evolved over time. 1.2.1 Overview about Saudi Arabia The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an Asian country in the Middle East region. It borders the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf as well as seven countries: Jordan, Iraq, Oman, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Qatar (Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 2017). See figure 1. Figure 1: Map of Saudi Arabia showing some of the country’s cities and the country’s borders. Source: CIA (2017) Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the Middle East region with a total land area of 2,149,690 square kilometers (Trading Economics, 2017a). The country’s population is 31.7 million people based on 2016 estimates (Trading Economics, 2017b). There has been a significant population growth in the country given that the nation had just four million people in 1960 (Trading Economics, 2017b). A door-to-door nationwide census that was conducted in Saudi Arabia indicated that approximately 0.8 percent of the country’s total population had a disability by the year 2013 (Altamimi, Lee, Sayed-Ahmed & Kassem, 2015). Saudi Arabia’s economy is largely depended on oil, and the government strongly controls major economic activities in the country (CIA, 2017). In regard to education, the Saudi Arabian government has in the recent years had strong budgets for the development of general education. The government also provides strong support for the sustained growth of the education sector. According to U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council, n.d.), there has been an upward trend of budgetary allocations for education in Saudi Arabia, which is indicative of the Saudi Arabian government’s belief that “education is the cornerstone of sustained economic development” (U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council, n.d., p. 4). This is because education enhances human knowledge and capital, which are essential ingredients of social cohesion and economic growth. Saudi Arabia’s public expenditure for education stands at 5.7 percent of the country’s gross domestic product GDP, which is comparatively higher in relation to some countries in the developing and developed worlds. For instance, public expenditure for education as a percentage of GDP stands at 4.2 percent for South Korea, 4.3 percent for Germany and 5.3 percent for the UK (U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council, n.d.). 1.2.2 Historical and current perspective of education in Saudi Arabia Formal education in Saudi Arabia dates back to 1925 when King Abdulaziz established the first formal education framework referred to as the Directorate of Education to replace the system that has been established by the Ottoman regime and which was providing instruction to girls and boys in Turkish up to 1918 (Masters, 2013). The schools under the Ottoman regime were confined to the north of the Arabian Peninsula and the Hijaz region and were unpopular among Arab families due to their practice of having girls and boys in the same class (Somel, 2001). Following the unification of Saudi Arabia territories, the new education system experienced challenges such lack of funds and a shortage of educators. Saudi Arabia established the Ministry of education in 1954, and the ministry was charged with the responsibility of coming up with public primary schools for boys, replacing the 1925 Directorate of Education that had been under the Ministry of Interior (Pavan, 2013; Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Washington DC., 2014; Wynbrandt, 2010). The current system of education in Saudi Arabia is premised on contents of the Education Policy Document that was issued in 1969 by the Saudi Council of Ministers. Under the policy document, there are several organizations that work in collaboration to regulate, oversee and develop and implement laws that pertain to the system of education in Saudi Arabia. The organizations involved comprise the Ministry of Education, the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation, and the Ministry of Higher Education. Saudi Arabia’s education system comprises two broad categories: general education and higher education. Private and public schools follow the same curriculum, general policy and instruction methods. General education involves 12 years of going to school, starting with elementary school at the age of six years. On the other hand, high education comprises the training that is received at any of the various colleges, vocational training institutions and universities. More than 90 percent of Saudi Arabian students study in public schools (U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council, n.d.). Under the current structure of the education system in Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of education is in charge of primary schools up to the sixth year, years 7 to 10 intermediate schools and boys’ secondary schools at years 11 and 12. The ministry also oversees the implementation of policies and compliance requirements in Saudi Arabia’s privately-owned schools. On the other hand, the General Presidency for Girls’ Education is charged with the running of girls’ education while the Ministry of Higher education oversees universities (Al-Dali, Fnais & Neubould, 2013). The Technical Education and Vocational Training Corporation and the Human Resource Development Fund are responsible vocational and competency training (Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Washington DC, 2014). The government of Saudi Arabia has made remarkable efforts in enhancing the country’s educational system in the recent times by coming up with new education programs, establishing research and development initiatives, and building several schools and higher education institutions (U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council, n.d.). 1.2.3 Special education in Saudi Arabia Special education started in Saudi Arabia in the 1950s, with the individual efforts of three Saudis – Alswaid, Almufda and Alhusain – who learned the Braille alphabet in Arabic so as to teach other Saudi Arabian citizens who were visually impaired how to write and read (AlShahrani, 2014). By this time, the government was not providing special education services for people with disabilities and children. As such, children with special needs relied entirely on their parents for any kind of support in terms of education (Aldabas, 2015). When the training for Braille started, the services were only available for visually impaired adults. Children were not considered and the special education service did not consider other disabilities other than visual impairments and blindness (Aldabas, 2015). An increase in the adoption of special education in Saudi Arabia was witnessed when some community colleges and schools started offering after school (evening) teaching for blind people in 1957 (AlShahrani, 2014). In 1958, after the initiative of teaching blind people had been deemed successful, the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia established the first formal after school class sessions at Jabrah Primary School. The classes grew rapidly both in terms of the number of students and the spectrum of special needs that were catered for in addition to visual impairment (AlShahrani, 2014). In 1960, the Saudi Arabian government established the first special education institution, called Al-Noor Institute for the Blind, in Riyadh (Aldabas, 2015; Al-Mousa, 2010). Al-Noor Institute for the Blind was an institution that catered for the educational needs of visually-impaired individuals and formed the foundation of public special education in Saudi Arabia. With the support of the Ministry of Education, Al-Noor Institute for the Blind educated male individuals. The institution trained individuals of various ages from elementary school to middle school and high school. The curriculum used at Al-Noor Institute was the same as the curriculum for general education but instruction was adapted to meet the special needs of learners with visual impairments (Aldabas, 2015). The establishment of Al-Noor Institute was followed by the creation of other institutes for the deaf, mentally retarded and blind individuals (Al-Mousa, 2010). As a result, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of special education institutions as well as the number of students studying in these institutions (Al-Mousa, 2010). For instance, three institutes were established in 1964 in Mecca, Aneaza and Alhofouf to cater to the needs of individuals with visual impairments (Aldabas, 2015). In the same year, Al-Noor Institute for visually impaired girls was created and offered educational as well as training services for girls with visual impairments (Aldabas, 2015). Alongside the aforementioned developments, the Administration for Special Needs Education (ASNE) was established in 1962 (AlShahrani, 2014). The institution was attached to the Ministry of Education and was in charge of overseeing the provision of vocational and educational support to all students with special needs, though the organisation’s initial mandate was to serve three main groups: the visually impaired, learners with hearing impairments, and learners with cognitive disabilities (AlShahrani, 2014). The first institute to cater to the needs of learners with hearing impairments was Al-Amal Institute. The Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia established two Al-Amal Institutes in Riyadh in 1964, one for girls and another for boys (Aldabas, 2015; Bin Battal, 2016). Al-Amal Institute focused on teaching sign language and used an adapted general education curriculum to meet the needs of students with hearing impairments (Aldabas, 2015). The Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia upgraded ASNE to a full governmental organisation called the Directorate General of Special Education (DGSE) to deal with the special learning needs of people with visual impairments, hearing impairments and the learning disabled. The main roles of DGSE were to train educators, launch new programmes, conduct inspections, provide teaching materials and equipment, develop and modify curriculums, and to provide educational management and improvement. Over the years, the DGSE has undergone tremendous development and how has divisions that cover developmental disabilities, physical and multiple disabilities, and learning difficulties (AlShahrani, 2014). Concomitant with the changes that have been implemented regarding the provision and management of special education over the years, Saudi Arabia has also made changes in laws to support people living with disabilities. Al-Mousa (2010) notes that in regard to regulations and legislations relating to people with disabilities, the ministries of social affairs, health and education have been making significant efforts to come up with policies and draft organisational bylaws since the initial days of special education and rehabilitation initiatives in Saudi Arabia. Notable legislations include the Legislation of Disability (LD) that was passed in 1987 and the Disability Code that came into effect in 2000 (Alquraini, 2011). LD contains important provisions that seek to ensure that people with disabilities have equal rights as other people in Saudi Arabia (Alquraini, 2011). Similarly, the Disability Code seeks to ensure that individuals with disabilities have rights to resources such as “a free appropriate public education” (Al-Mousa, 2010, p. 15). Currently, there are many institutions in Saudi Arabia offering special education based on the segregation model (where there is separation of genders) as well as mainstreaming (where children with disabilities are integrated with others who do not have disabilities) in public schools (Al-Mousa, 2010; Bin Battal, 2016). This means that currently, the provision of education to children with disabilities in Saudi Arabia is done though both mainstreaming and the use of special institutes. Special institutes are defined as “separate schools, special schools, or special education schools”, and they include learning institutions for the deaf, learning institutions for the mentally retarded and learning institutions for the blind (Al-Mousa, 2010, p. 17). 1.3 The Problem Whereas many technologies have been developed to help children living with disability overcome some of the problems that they face, these technologies have not been adopted on an equal scale in all countries. A number of factors affect the adoption of these technologies in various countries. For instance, as a developing country, Saudi Arabia is likely to have a low level of adoption of technologies that assist in learning for children with disabilities compared to developed countries such as the United States and Australia due to the economic and technological differences that exist between the developed countries and the developing countries. There are also cultural factors that cause differences in the level of adoption of such technologies in various countries (Albar & Hurst, 2012). It is also worth noting that the current literature on the use of assistive technologies in Saudi Arabia is quite limited. Only a few studies have been located which have explored the use of technology to support student learning in Saudi Arabia. These studies, which are small-scale and/or focused on one area of disability (e.g. Alkahtani, 2013; Alfaraj & Kuyini 2014; Alnahdi, 2013) have found that technology is not adequately used for various reasons. For example, Alnahdi (2013) observes that high-tech assistive devices are not regularly used in the Saudi Arabian context because in addition to the accessibility challenges (due to language barriers and high costs), most teachers are not well trained to help their students use them in a classroom setting. As well, a review of teachers’ knowledge about the use of assistive technologies conducted by Alkahtani (2013) revealed that 72.4 % of all the sampled teachers did not have the slightest knowledge on how to use assistive technologies. This revelation emphasises the need to have more training done to teachers in Saudi Arabia so that they can embrace the assistive technologies and even encourage their schools to purchase the same for students. Additionally, the use of assistive technologies in Saudi Arabia can be described as wanting. Seemingly, there are several factors that jointly disadvantage the kingdom from fully utilising the assistive technologies. However, most such challenges can be overcome, for example through working with the developers of technologies to custom-make them for the Arab speakers, or training teachers in order to make them more competent in training their students in the usage of assistive technologies. It is worth noting that despite the challenges, some schools in Saudi Arabia have embraced the use of simple, yet effective assistive technologies. Such technologies include projectors, hearing aids, and loud speakers. The foregoing situation could be interpreted to mean that there is willingness to adopt the use of assistive technologies subject to the accessibility and ease of use of such technologies. Against this background, the aim of the study was to carry out an investigation into the use of technology for children with the above-mentioned impairments in Saudi Arabia. 1.4 Purpose of the Study As noted the above, the aim of the study was to investigate how technology is used to help children with hearing impairment, visual impairment and intellectual disability in Saudi Arabia. These three disabilities were selected for the study because they are the most recognised groups and the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Education has provided more school eservices to these groups than other disability groups (Al-hano, 2006; Miller & Kiani, 2008), hence it was deemed important to study the disabilities together. 1.5 Objectives of the Study The specific objectives of the study were as follows: i. To probe how technology is used towards enhancing learning for children with hearing impairment, visual impairment and intellectual disability in Saudi Arabia. ii. To examine the challenges faced by schools in the implementation and/or use of technology for the learning of children with the aforementioned disabilities in Saudi Arabia. iii. To examine the perceptions that Saudi Arabian teachers have in relation to the use of technology while educating children with the said disabilities. 1.6 Research Questions The study was guided by the following questions: 1. What types of technological tools are used in schools for children with disability (hearing impairment, visual impairment and intellectual disability) in Saudi Arabia? 2. How does variable such as age and gender affect the educators’ perceptions about the use of technology to support learning of students with disabilities? 3. What experiences do educators have about the use of technology to support the learning of students with disabilities? 4. What challenges do educators face while using different assistive technologies while teaching children living with any of the three types of disabilities (hearing impairment, visual impairment and intellectual disability) in Saudi Arabia? 5. What can be done to improve the use of technology to support the education of students with these disabilities in Saudi Arabia? 1.7 Significance of the Research The study will help fill a gap in knowledge regarding the use of assistive technologies in learning among Saudi Arabian schools. Based on the information provided by Alfaraj and Kuyini (2014), it is evident that children with disabilities are not always the same consideration as their colleagues who do not have disabilities with respect to the use of technology in learning, despite the Saudi Arabian government’s efforts to ensure equality. In addition, as argued by Alnahdi (2014), it is not clear whether the provision of services to help individuals with disabilities attain their educational needs has improved or changed despite the increase in the level of attention that the Saudi Arabian government gives to special education. Through the findings of the proposed research, policy makers can determine which of the suggested issues needs urgent action. For example, the literature review section identified that language barrier hinders usage of some assistive technologies since most such technologies are designed and developed for English and Spanish users. The findings of the proposed study can therefore inform policymakers that language barrier is actually a challenge. It will therefore be upon the policymakers to decide whether to work with established assistive technology developers or try homemade solutions that can develop assistive technologies in the Arabic language. Arguably, current literature on the use of assistive technologies in Saudi Arabia (Chapter 2) is not fully comprehensive. For example, it is hard to find out the exact types of assistive technologies that are in use and their efficacy. Therefore, the study findings will considerably help in sealing the gap in existing knowledge. Overall, the study findings constitute a comprehensive document that details the existing assistive technologies that are in use in Saudi Arabian schools, the skills needed in order for students to effectively use particular assistive technologies, educators’ perceptions about existing and other assistive technologies, the challenges faced in the usage of assistive technologies and the improvements needed in order to enhance the use and efficacy of assistive technologies in schools across Saudi Arabia. The comprehensive nature of the study acts as a major resource for educators, policymakers in the education sector, and other stakeholders who include parents of students living with hearing impairments, visual impairments and intellectual disabilities. 1.8 Structure of the Thesis The thesis has different sections which are organised as follows. The first chapter, which is this section, is the introduction and provides background information about the topic of the study. The introduction chapter also identifies the research problem, the setting of the study, and the aims of the study. It also presents the significance of the research. The second chapter is the literature review section. This chapter reviews existing literature in regard to various types of disabilities (hearing impairment, intеllесtuаl disability and visuаl impairment) and how they affect individuals, as well as features of the learning problems associated with the disabilities. The literature review also discusses the situation in Saudi Arabia as pertains to the three kinds of disabilities, whereby the various types of assistive technologies used in helping individual affected by the disabilities are discussed. In the third chapter, the research methodology that was used in the study is discussed. This includes the research paradigm, research design, the study’s participants, the data collection instruments that were used, how data was collected, and how the data was analyzed. Chapter 4 is the results section and presents the data that was collected in regard to demographic characteristics, quantitative results and qualitative results. The fifth chapter presents a discussion of the findings in terms of relevance and implications of the findings. This section also outlines the limitations of the study and provides recommendations based on the implications of the study’s findings. References Aldabas, R. A. (2015). 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