Traditionally when we focus on inclusion the language has traditionally being focused on a deficit culture e.g. learning difficulties, disabilities etc. There is a lack of recognition diverse populations are an untapped resource and a strength to be leveraged (Houdek, 2022). Creativity and innovation are key a strength of neurodivergent and diverse populations. Ridley, 2015 highlighted that neurodiversity is key to innovation and economic evolution, drawing comparisons between biodiversity and neurodiversity. Many of these individuals break the boundaries of traditional thinking, are creative and problem solvers and so struggle in traditional educational systems. This results in many marginalised learners having low self-efficacy and self-esteem due to a high failure rate in traditional academia (McQuillan and Gavigan, 2022; Cook et al., 2014; Wilmshurst et al., 2011). However, many thrive in the workplace or third level when project work,creativity, inquiry and problem solving become a key facet of their daily life. Educators must look at the barriers to entry, participation, engagement and recognition of learning for diverse and marginalised groups and question why is it difficult for some students to engage with our current educational system, why their often exhaustive efforts are not recognised in the traditional academic systems and is our educational system future fit?
Digital technologies have long been identified as a means of supporting inclusive education. It is becoming more evident that inclusive digital education must be specifically addressed to guide iterative improvement in the design and development of access and resources as well as emerging technologies at this critical time. Now more than ever, there is a specific need to prioritise measures to address digital equity, and the inclusion of quality education across the continuum. However there is a concern that without criticality digital education has the propensity to exclude some learners and teachers.
Therefore we need to adopt critical approaches when considering inclusive digital education.
We need to work with learners to explore their learning needs and how we can support them to learn best. Co-creating with those from diverse groups provides potential for innovation and cater for a variety of stakeholders and audiences and gives them a voice in designing their educational future. (Roberson et al., 2021). This special issue aims at exploring digital inclusion through a critical lens, challenging the current perception of digital inclusion in terms of language, practice and our current educational environment and how we can ensure it is fit for future purpose
We define inclusive digital education as catering for Special Education Needs (SEN), English as an Additional Language (EAL), as well as inclusive and catering for diverse cultural and learner needs.
This Special Issue welcomes contributions which address empirical, methodological and theoretical aspects related to inclusive digital education. Any manuscript submitted should be original and not have been previously published or currently be under review elsewhere.
Papers are invited that address areas and topics outlined below:
- Papers that challenge traditional discourse around digital inclusion particularly in the context of access, disability and inclusion as a deficit model
- Consider the role of the teacher and student within the context of digital inclusion and critically consider approaches in terms of how to empower students and include multiple voices within education.
- Contemplate where learning takes place in a digital context and how inclusive education can integrate a variety of learning environments.
- Showcase ground-breaking research on digital education from around the globe as well as teacher educators’ and student teachers’ experiences and outcomes in these varied educational contexts;
- Illustrate several points of access into classroom research and pedagogy and will add insight into the complexity of designing, developing, deploying and evaluating digital education concerns, practices for a variety of purposes and in varying models of pedagogy and education;
- Disseminate information about inclusive digital education best practices;
- Identify important implications for future research in the field linked to inclusive digital education;
- Provide a forum for international exchange on digital education in a wide range of education contexts.
