Using ict for children with special needs

All students, irrespective of their sex. race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability have the right to have equal opportunity in education (Klironomos et al., 2006), and to be considered as being an integral part of the learning community. This paper looks at the issue of E-Inclusion by referring to the concept of Universal Access to Education. It focuses on the strong potential Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) provide to avoid any kind of digital divide among students with special needs and its role in capitalising the opportunities offered by new technologies to support the full inclusion of all students in mainstream education systems. In this perspective, to view the Universal Access to Education as a concrete and reachable goal, teachers need to be aware of the ICT potential and they must be able to acquire the suitable knowledge and operational skills to choose and use ICT as an appropriate and promising tool promoting equity in educational opportunities helping children with special needs overcome barriers to learning, thus increasing their school achievement, together with their autonomy, willingness and self esteem.