Embracing accessible learning for SEN pupils - A ‘Q and A’ for educators
This week, Global Accessibility Awareness Day will strike an especially deep chord for many involved in SEN education. During months of challenges induced by the pandemic, many SEN learners across the country were confronted with extra layers of accessibility issues, facing disruption to the stable, supported and often specialist environment offered to them. In our work with schools, SEN educators and families, we’ve been inspired by the dedication to ‘surviving’ this period and finding new ways for learning to ‘thrive’.
Global responses to lockdown have highlighted the potential – and capacity – for technology to support flexible learning both in and out of the classroom; something that, until now, has not always been available to the UK’s SEN pupils.1
The rise of digital learning has the potential to become one of education’s great levellers, promising large-scale access to diverse resources, educators and interactive lessons; classrooms that come to pupils, rather than the opposite; the removal of boundaries and borders to aid connections; plus programmes that can be tailor-made for every child’s specific needs, pacing and styles. Pearson’s recent survey of over 6,800 educators highlighted that digital skills among teachers and students in the UK have soared during the pandemic (81% and 64% respectively). Learn more about our #digitalclassroomsurvey
At the same time, the pandemic has ultimately exposed a ‘digital divide’, showing how a whole-community approach is needed to support online learning. This is especially true where supplementary SEN-focused devices, software and support are integral to the learning process – but unavailable to pupils due to broader socio-economic factors.
In this blog, Emma Crampton, Product Content Accessibility Manger at Pearson and Isla Billet, the Intervention Transformation Lead for Pearson’s UK Schools business, reflect on their work with the SEN education community in recent months, lessons we’ve learned and how we can use this awareness to improve accessibility in the long-term for all pupils.
To learn more about how we can support you visit: go.pearson.com/digitallearning
1 https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/emergency-flexibility-online-learning-what-disabled-pupils-have-been-seeking