CIDDL Research and Practice Briefs is a series of brief reports on research and practice regarding the innovative use of technology in special education, early childhood, related services personnel preparation and leadership personnel preparation programs as well as K-12 educational settings. For each brief, experts or practitioners in the field will be invited to discuss their research and practice on innovative use of technology. In addition, experts and practitioners will share their insights into opportunities and challenges about transferring and applying research and practice into teacher or leadership preparation programs. This series aims to spark conversations and provides an avenue for enhancing professional networking among experts and emergent scholars in the field.
This brief explores how automated writing evaluation and feedback tools can support SWDs, particularly by enabling universal screening and targeted interventions. Dr. Wilson shares his research on how automated feedback can improve the writing products of SWDs through productive revision.
Teacher preparation programs face significant challenges in ensuring educators receive high-quality professional development. Traditional methods have challenges, such as limited information from the field of view or constraints on what can be observed by the person holding the camera (Gold & Windscheid, 2020). As a result, opportunities for meaningful feedback and self-reflection are often limited, leading to potential stagnation in instructional growth. The introduction of 360 cameras and VR headsets offers a transformative way to support teachers by enhancing their ability to self-reflect, receive feedback, and engage in professional learning communities (PLCs) without constant administrative oversight (McLeod, 2019).
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has great potential to facilitate individualized learning, provide immediate feedback, and reduce workload. However, the rapid evolution of AI technology and the lack of frameworks that focus on leveraging GenAI in education settings leave many educators unprepared. Dr. Park addressed the importance of developing a prompt engineering framework that guides educators to use GenAI effectively.
This interview highlights how to support multilingual students at risk for learning disabilities. Dr. Day notes that K-12 multilingual students often struggle with academic language, especially speaking and writing, even after receiving English language services for years. To help, she incorporates technology-based interventions into her teacher preparation program, using tools like Pear Deck to enhance language skills through opportunities to respond. Dr. Day stresses the importance of providing teachers with the time and support to use these strategies effectively, combining insights from special education and bilingual education. Her work shows how technology can tailor instruction and improve academic and linguistic outcomes for these K-12 students.
Integrating AI to reduce teacher workload has continually intrigued researchers and educators. However, researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers are concerned about the challenges of generative AI systems such as ChatGPT and Gemini. These involve hallucinations, bias, and weakness in task specificity.
The following are key insights shared by Dr. Ling Zhang on this research. The interview focused on six questions about multi-agent systems for IEP development in teacher preparation and recommendations for teacher educators to incorporate these ideas.
This brief highlights how an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, known as LUDIA, can support teachers and teacher educators with implementing the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework in their classrooms.
In this Brief, Dr. Rowland shares information regarding the importance of aligning evidence-based practices for writing with research-based technology. Additionally, it discusses the importance of progress monitoring for writing and why tools, such as the WRITE PM, are so helpful for future educators.
This brief focuses on the use of technology-based graphic organizers (TBGOs) with struggling writers. Writing is a complex task with which students with and without disabilities struggle (Graham et al., 2017). One practice to help struggling writers is teaching them to use graphic organizers. Graphic organizers support students through visual and spatial displays and can improve comprehension and quality of writing when used during pre-writing activities (Hughes et al., 2019).
Teaching social skills in an authentic yet safe environment is a struggle. However, through the use of VR, educators are able to create a virtual environment that resembles the school community and allows for students with and without disabilities to practice needed skills.
Researchers with Disabilities, Accessibility, and UDL in Developing Countries with Nicholas Hoekstra
This brief highlights the importance of creating and designing more accessible research, be it in the field or in the works we publish to ensure access to all.
Dr. Basham shares the exciting innovations on the horizon of education, including personalized learning, design thinking, UDL, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). He shares how to bring these concepts into personnel preparation programs and how teaching future educators and related service personnel to think in this way will lead to supporting all students, with or without disabilities.
This brief focuses on personalized learning and how teachers and teacher educators need to leverage the unique strengths of students and pre-service educators in order to create a creative, curious, and collaborative future. Dr. Zhao encourages teacher preparation programs to embrace personalized learning as a way to leverage entrepreneurship. As technology is rapidly changing, especially with the rise of AI, focusing on what makes humans unique is one way to structure education in a meaningful way.
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