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Access and perceived ICT usability among students with disabilities attending higher education institutions

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Abstract

An increasing number of students with disabilities are attending higher education. These students might face various difficulties coping with academic skills and with learning methods compared to students without disabilities. Integrating information and communication technologies (ICTs) in academic studies may be effective and constructive for students with and without various disabilities, as ICTs can provide students with adaptive ways to compensate for disabilities and enable them to improve learning. The present study examined students’ knowledge of and accessibility to ICTs and it examined students’ perceptions of the ICTs used by professors teaching in a face-to-face traditional postsecondary educational institute (in Canada) and a distance/blended learning higher education institute (in Israel). The sample included 309 Canadian students and 963 Israeli students who completed questionnaires regarding ICT usage, accessibility, and perceived use by professors. Findings reveal that Israeli students reported higher use and greater accessibility of ICTs and they also reported higher use of ICTs by professors. For both groups of students – those with and without LD/ADHD - accessibility to ICTs was predicted by self-reported knowledge and use of ICTs, professors’ ICT use, gender and nationality. The study’s findings and its implications are likely to be important for promoting access to ICTs for students with and without disabilities in both the traditional higher education modality and in distance/ blended learning contexts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education and Psychology, The Open University of Israel, 1 University Road, 43107, Ranana, Israel

    Tali Heiman

  2. Department of Psychology, Dawson College, 3040 Sherbrooke West, Montreal, Quebec, H3Z 1A4, Canada

    Catherine S. Fichten

  3. Department of Education and Psychology, The Open University of Israel, 108 Ravutski Street, Raanana, Israel

    Dorit Olenik-Shemesh & Noam S. Keshet

  4. Adaptech Research Network, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Mary Jorgensen

Authors
  1. Tali Heiman
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  2. Catherine S. Fichten
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  3. Dorit Olenik-Shemesh
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  4. Noam S. Keshet
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  5. Mary Jorgensen
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Correspondence to Tali Heiman.

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Heiman, T., Fichten, C.S., Olenik-Shemesh, D. et al. Access and perceived ICT usability among students with disabilities attending higher education institutions. Educ Inf Technol 22, 2727–2740 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-017-9623-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-017-9623-0

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