Barriers and Enablers of Technology Integration in Special Education: Implications for Teacher Educators
Authors: Yerin Seung; info@ciddl.org
Technology holds enormous promise for enhancing learning opportunities for students with disabilities. In special education, technology often connects through assistive technology (AT) like text-to-speech tools or smart pens with efforts to make learning environments accessible for all learners from the beginning. More recently, the rise of artificial intelligence has accelerated these possibilities by offering personalized support and improving accessibility. Despite this potential, AT and other technologies remain underutilized, especially for students with high-incidence disabilities, who make up the majority of the special education population.
Special education (SPED) teachers’ daily responsibilities, including modifying curriculum, monitoring individualized education plans (IEPs), tracking progress, and communicating with families, align closely with technology’s strengths. Yet data show that SPED teachers actually use technology less frequently than general educators, even though many acknowledge its value for differentiation. The recent study by Starks and Reich (2023) highlights both barriers and enablers that shape how technology is used in special education, offering important insights for teacher educators.
Barriers to Technology Use
Barriers, reported by Starks and Reich (2023), emerged at the student, teacher, and structural levels that shaped daily classroom realities.
Student factors: Teachers reported challenges when students lacked digital literacy skills, such as logging into platforms, navigating tabs, or using hyperlinks independently. Inaccessible platforms and inconsistent design further exacerbated difficulties for students with diverse needs. Device and internet access also varied widely, particularly in lower-resourced schools where students relied on mobile phones or unstable hotspots for instruction.
Teacher factors: Most SPED teachers received little to no technology-related professional development. Often left out of training offered to general educators, many relied on self-teaching, informal peer networks, or online resources in their own time. This lack of training left teachers feeling unprepared to meaningfully integrate technology. In addition, SPED teachers’ already demanding workloads (e.g., balancing instruction, IEP paperwork, collaboration with general educators, coaching families) left little time to explore or experiment with new tools.
School and district factors: Schools and districts often purchased platforms without input from SPED teachers, students, or families, resulting in inconsistent and inaccessible systems. Some SPED teachers even reported that their students were deprioritized in device distribution when resources were scarce. These disparities reinforced digital divides and limited opportunities for students with disabilities to benefit from technology-enabled learning.
Enablers to Technology Use
Despite these barriers, teachers also identified enablers that point to pathways forward. Consistent school structures for professional development, particularly those that went beyond “one-time” trainings, helped teachers develop expertise with technology. Opportunities for collaborative PD, shared planning time, and supportive school cultures encouraged experimentation and integration. When SPED teachers were included in decision-making processes, they were able to advocate for more accessible platforms, consistent communication apps with translation features, and co-teaching models that supported all learners. Likewise, strong home-school communication structures, such as texting, translation-enabled apps, and family liaisons, proved especially important during remote learning and helped maintain engagement for marginalized families. Taken together, these enabling factors suggest that when structures are designed for all, teachers and students in special education can thrive with technology.
Implications for Teacher Educators
Teacher educators play a pivotal role in preparing both preservice and in-service teachers to navigate these challenges. One implication is to prepare future teachers to advocate for consistent and practical resource allocation, ensuring that SPED teachers and students have fair access to devices, the internet, and software. Another is the importance of fostering collaboration between general and special educators, with teacher preparation programs emphasizing co-teaching strategies and shared responsibility for making curricula accessible from the start. Specialized technology training should also be prioritized, with professional development that includes SPED teachers and paraprofessionals as central participants who bring expertise in accessibility. At the same time, teacher educators should integrate strategies for teaching digital literacy and citizenship, equipping teachers to scaffold these essential skills for all learners. Finally, preparation programs should emphasize building strong home-school partnerships, such as using mobile apps and translation tools that make it easier for families to stay connected. Taken together, these areas of focus can better prepare teachers to leverage technology in ways that are practical, collaborative, and responsive to the diverse needs of students with disabilities.
Final Thought
Technology can reduce barriers, personalize learning, and expand opportunities for students with disabilities, but only if special educators are equipped, included, and supported. For teacher educators, this means preparing future teachers to not only integrate technology in their classrooms but also to advocate for systemic structures that ensure opportunities for all learners. Starks and Reich’s (2023) findings remind us that while technology has transformative potential, its promise will remain unrealized unless special education is at the center of integration efforts.
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