Connecting Families and Schools of Students with Deafness: Describing the ICT and Internet use in Education

The use of ICT, namely of internet-based solutions, on de education of students with deafness promotes their access to a wide variety of information and experiences, by decreasing the communication barriers implied in those special needs individuals. In this study was used a self-administered questionnaire, with closed-set questions, validated through the contribution of a team of experts and a prior pilot study. Then, the families and professionals that take part of the educational community of these students were asked to share their knowledge about their ideas concerning ICT and internet roles in the education of students with deafness. Results show that these subjects have access and frequently use a wide range of technologies and web services, being more frequently used the ones concerned with online search, productivity tools and e-mail. The need for more training in this area is referred by most of the subjects. Although acknowledging the positive influence that the internet can have in both the academic achievement and future career of the students with deafness, the subjects also express that these individuals are also in need of more training to make a critical use of the internet.