A Review of the Impact of Assistive Technologies in Education for Students with special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) (con_5315)

The Department for Education's Education Technology Strategy, Realising the potential for technology in education (published April 2019), announced 10 EdTech Challenges designed to catalyse activity in specific areas of the EdTech sector in ways that are aligned to the needs of teachers and students. One of these challenges focuses on needing to identify the best technology that helps level the playing field for learners with Special Educational Needs and Difficulties (SEND). The first step in meeting this objective is to understand the current landscape of assistive technology (AT) used in education and what impact they have on outcomes. This will help to identify the most promising assistive technologies that we could target for further investigation and evaluation. Drawing on these findings, we can build awareness of what works to help teachers better meet the needs of their students and to improve student outcomes. This will help ensure we target the right areas of need.

The Contractor shall use all reasonable endeavours to achieve the following aims: Conduct a rapid review of the literature on assistive technology (AT) in education in order to understand the use and impact of AT use on students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).