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Students with Disabilities in the Digital Society: Opportunities and Challenges for Inclusive Education

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Identity in a Hyperconnected Society

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Abstract

This chapter focuses on access to the educational system for students with special educational needs derived from disability and the role ICT can play in facilitating educational inclusion. ICT could become an additional factor of exclusion if the design of technological solutions is not universal. It also analyzes the impact of the implementation of distance education modalities and the generalization of ICT use in teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic on students with disabilities. It concludes that students with disabilities should be a priority objective in the digitalization plans of schools. If the future educational systems are built without an inclusive perspective, they will likely reproduce the same deficiencies of the present. Beyond responding to the crisis caused by COVID-19, the incorporation of technology and efforts to implement distance learning at all levels of education provide valuable lessons and lay the foundation for building more open, inclusive, and flexible educational systems.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Disability Observatory, Olivenza, Spain

    Antonio Jiménez-Lara

  2. University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain

    Agustín Huete-García

  3. University of Alcalá, Madrid, Spain

    Eduardo Díaz-Velázquez

Authors
  1. Antonio Jiménez-Lara
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  2. Agustín Huete-García
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  3. Eduardo Díaz-Velázquez
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Agustín Huete-García .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain

    José Manuel Muñoz-Rodríguez

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Jiménez-Lara, A., Huete-García, A., Díaz-Velázquez, E. (2021). Students with Disabilities in the Digital Society: Opportunities and Challenges for Inclusive Education. In: Muñoz-Rodríguez, J.M. (eds) Identity in a Hyperconnected Society. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85788-2_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85788-2_9

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-85788-2

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