Support Students with Disabilities' Independence with Mobile Devices
Dr. Olivia Hester
About the Authors
Dr. Olivia Hester is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Special Education at The University of Alabama. Her research focuses on transition services for youth with and at risk for disabilities, particularly in areas related to community participation, postsecondary education, employment, and alternative education settings. Her research involves the integration of transition services into daily programming (e.g., literacy instruction, tiered transition supports) and identifying evidence-based practices in transition/reentry (e.g., person-centered planning, self-directed IEPs).
Lori Cooney, M.Ed., is a Senior Program Manager in Community and Executive Education at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She develops and manages non-credit, microcredential, continuing education, and professional development programs in collaboration with faculty, instructors, subject matter experts, and university partners. Her work focuses on creating learner-centered, workforce-aligned, and universally designed learning opportunities that are accessible to diverse learners.
The problem highlighted in this brief
Students with intellectual disabilities are increasingly participating in inclusive postsecondary education programs at colleges and universities, but navigating an unfamiliar campus can present substantial challenges. Students must locate classrooms, dining halls, residence halls, workplaces, campus services, and extracurricular activity locations, and difficulty reaching these destinations independently can affect their confidence, social connections, campus participation, and long-term independence. Dr. Hester and her colleagues address this challenge by exploring how mobile devices and customizable navigation tools, particularly Google My Maps, can help students with intellectual disabilities access college campuses and surrounding communities more independently.
Why does this topic matter to teacher preparation?
Mobile devices are often viewed primarily as classroom distractions, but they can also function as powerful assistive technology tools for students with disabilities. They may support navigation, communication, executive functioning, academic participation, employment, and access to community resources. Teacher candidates therefore need practical opportunities to explore accessibility features, customize applications, evaluate students’ individual needs, and teach students how to use mobile devices purposefully. Preparing teachers to select, implement, and reassess both high- and low-technology supports can help ensure that technology is used to promote meaningful access and independence rather than being adopted simply because it is available.
About This Brief
This brief examines how mobile devices can support the independence of students with intellectual disabilities as they navigate college campuses and community settings. Drawing on Dr. Hester’s discussion of her collaborative work with Lori Cooney and Dr. Don McMahon, it explains how Google My Maps can be customized according to individual students’ destinations, preferences, support needs, and person-centered plans. The brief also considers how mobile technology can be incorporated into teacher preparation, how educators can develop more balanced perceptions of mobile devices, and what future research is needed to strengthen technology-supported transition and inclusive postsecondary education practices.
Research and Practice Context
Mobile Devices in Teacher Preparation
Dr. Hester and her colleagues examine how Google My Maps can help students with intellectual disabilities navigate college campuses and community settings. Educators can create individualized maps that include frequently visited locations, routes, reminders, documents, and other supports connected to each student’s needs and goals. By turning a commonly available mobile application into a personalized assistive technology tool, this approach can promote greater independence, confidence, self-determination, and participation in academic, employment, residential, and social experiences.
The following sections present key insights shared by Dr. Olivia Hester during the interview. The conversation included seven questions addressing mobile devices, student independence, teacher preparation, future research, and recommended resources.
Conversation with Dr. Olivia Hester
Q1: What Issues Are You Trying to Address Through Your Work With Students With Disabilities’ Independence and Mobile Devices?
Dr. Hester and her colleagues emphasize that independent campus navigation can remain challenging for students with intellectual disabilities, even as more students enroll in inclusive postsecondary education programs. These challenges may limit access to classes, dining halls, workplaces, and social activities while also affecting students’ confidence, social connections, campus engagement, and long-term independence. Their work highlights how mobile assistive technologies can promote more active and independent participation in campus and community life.
Dr. Hester: “Navigation is one of those things that many people take for granted. But it can be a challenge, especially for students with intellectual disabilities, to independently get to class, to the dining hall, to work, to attend those social activities.”
Q2: How Does Your Work Support Students With Disabilities and Pre-Service Teachers?
They provide preservice teachers, K–12 special education teachers, and inclusive postsecondary education program staff with practical guidance for using Google My Maps. Their research-to-practice article includes a step-by-step process for creating a base map with frequently visited locations and then customizing it according to each student’s destinations, preferences, and support needs. They also explain that educators can add notes, links, documents, and person-centered planning materials to the map. Through this approach, Google My Maps can support students not only on college campuses but also as they learn to navigate workplaces, stores, and other community locations.
Dr. Hester: “One way they could do this is through using something like Google My Maps with their students. In this article that we wrote together, it provides a step-by-step guide on how to set up Google My Maps that teachers can use.”
Q3: How could we integrate Students with Disabilities’ Independence and Mobile Device into teacher preparation programs?
Dr. Hester emphasizes that teacher preparation programs should provide preservice teachers with direct, hands-on experiences using mobile devices and assistive technology. She explains that future educators should learn about the accessibility features and applications available on their own devices and consider how those tools can support students across academic, employment, communication, navigation, and community settings. Rather than learning about assistive technology only in theory, preservice teachers should leave their programs with a practical toolbox of high- and low-tech supports that they are prepared to use with students.
Dr. Hester: “Pre-service teachers should graduate from teacher preparation programs with a toolbox of practical experiences, using assistive technology tools, both high and low tech, that support independence, communication, navigation, academics, employment, community participation.”
Q4: How can we support educators in building a stronger, appropriate perception of mobile devices?
Dr. Hester acknowledges that mobile devices can sometimes be viewed as distractions or barriers to classroom learning. However, she emphasizes that they can also function as purposeful learning tools and essential assistive technology devices. When students are taught to use them appropriately, mobile devices can support executive functioning, navigation, communication, information access, and participation in the community. She therefore encourages teacher preparation programs to help educators understand both the potential challenges of mobile devices and the opportunities they provide for improving accessibility, independence, and participation.
Dr. Hester: “When we think about the ways that technology can open so many doors, especially for people with disabilities, we need to make sure that we’re tapping into that.”
Q5: What gaps and opportunities do you see for future research, and what questions might we ask?
Dr. Hester and her colleagues identify several areas in which additional research is needed. They recommend quantitative and single-case studies to examine whether Google My Maps improves independent campus navigation for students with intellectual disabilities. They also call for qualitative research that explores how students perceive and experience using the tool. Beyond Google My Maps, Dr. Hester emphasizes the need to study emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, accessibility tools, smart watches, and smart glasses. She also notes that researchers need to produce more research-to-practice resources that help educators translate findings about these rapidly developing technologies into classroom and community practices.
Dr. Hester: “A lot of research is needed as these new technologies are coming out and at a really rapid pace….And so research on our end really needs to catch up and make sure that we're staying up to date on the new technologies coming.”
Q6: What else should teacher preparation programs consider moving forward?
Dr. Hester emphasizes that assistive technology should be embedded throughout teacher preparation rather than addressed as a separate or one-time topic. Preservice teachers need opportunities to assess students’ needs, select and implement appropriate high- and low-tech tools, and continually reassess whether those tools are working effectively. She also explains that teacher preparation programs must stay current with rapidly changing applications, devices, and accessibility features. At the center of this work is the belief that students with intellectual disabilities deserve the same opportunities for independence, belonging, self-determination, and active community participation as other college students.
Resources and References
- Google My Maps
This flexible mapping platform enables educators to develop tailored navigation aids, integrating essential destinations with routes, annotations, hyperlinks, and person-centered planning documentation. - ThinkCollege.net
ThinkCollege.net provides extensive information and data about inclusive postsecondary education programs. It also offers resources for students with intellectual disabilities, families, educators, and program staff preparing for and participating in college-based programs. - National Technical Assistance Center on Transition
This center provides free, research-based resources and practices related to secondary transition. Its materials can support educators and program staff working with students as they prepare for postsecondary education, employment, and community participation. - LifeCourse Nexus
LifeCourse Nexus offers foundational tools and templates for person-centered planning. These resources can help high school and college-aged students identify their goals, support needs, and plans for the future. Dr. Hester also suggests embedding these materials into Google My Maps so students can access their plans alongside relevant locations and navigation information.
If you want to learn more about their research-to-practice article on mobile devices for students with disabilities’ independence, please read the publication.
Suggested Citation
Kim, T., Hester, O. R., Cooney, L. E., & the CIDDL Team. (2026). Support students with disabilities’ independence with mobile devices. The Center for Innovation, Design, and Digital Learning.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.