RECEPTIVE CLASSROOM: THE ROLE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY IN THE INCLUSIVE EDUCATION OF STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

Abstract

By historically examining the exclusion of students with disabilities, this article aims to reflect on how a classroom can become more welcoming and inclusive for students with disabilities through the use of digital technology in a pedagogical, technological, and accessibility context. A receptive classroom is one in which students are the protagonists of their own learning, including students with disabilities, and educational digital technology plays a key role in this process. However, to promote the digital inclusion of students with disabilities, some obstacles need to be overcome, such as technological infrastructure, ongoing training for teachers, the development of public policies, and the production of adapted digital teaching materials. By overcoming these challenges, the classroom can become very attractive and, consequently, inclusive for students with disabilities, especially if it is associated with pedagogical strategies such as the use of adapted educational games, digital platforms, adapted media, the use of collaborative digital laboratories, the creation of virtual spaces with instant information exchange, the use of artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and videos with subtitles, sign language, and audio description.