Las TIC en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje entre los estudiantes universitarios con diversidad funcional

Abstract

Introduction. In recent years, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are living a period of great interest and relevance within the learning curriculum ofUniversity Education and, in consequence, it is essential to carry out an analysis on the importance that students give to these technologies in the framework of education; to know their skills and attitudes related to ICT and thedegree of significance with which ICT are considered by education, the difficulties and obstacles they find to put them into practice in everyday classes and the uses for do in their learning process. This isuseful for students in general, can be much more fruitful for students with functional diversity. There is a widespread discourse extolling the benefits of technologies for students with functional diversity.The objective of this work examines the use that university students with functional diversity make of ICT to help them in their studies. This is analyzed according to age and sex. Similarly, they areexamined and prepared to study online. Finally, it examines if the students with disabilities prefer to study the online mode more than the classroom. Method. The sample was composed by students with functional diversity of the University of Alicante. For the study, a Likert scale questionnaire has been designed (1 = nothing agree to 5 = strongly agree). The questionnaire was composed of two sections. One with sociodmographic data (age, sex and type of functional diversity). In the second section students should indicate the use, type of technological tool used, predisposition, predilection and preparation to study higher education online. Results. Comparisons between groups according to sex and age indicate that there are no statistically significant differences between them in the predisposition to study with ICTs. The majority of students quite willing to study with ICTs. In the same way, they indicate that they are quite preparedto use the current technological resources. Also affirm that it would be advantageous for them to be able to follow their university studies through the online way When attending the preparation to study through the network, differences between sexes are observed,indicating that men are more prepared. Likewise, the results are statistically significant as a function of age, observing that the group of older students indicated that they prefer to follow theirstudies in a virtual way. Discussion. This suggests that, in the future, the role of new technologies will become more relevant for students with functional diversity to pursue their studies. This will contribute to the universities of this country, expand the offer of degrees that can be taken through the network. The students with functional diversity, who have historically had to face all kinds of barriers to participate equally in society, and more specifically in the educational context, find in the technologies a new means to overcome many of these obstacles.