THE STATUS AND ROLE OF ICT IN THE EDUCATION OF STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS: A RESEARCH FROM BIHOR COUNTY, ROMANIA

ICT plays a very important role in education, as, on the one hand, it improves the educational attainment of students and, on the other hand, it contributes to a better communication between the education agents, while also speeding up students' personal development. By using educational software adjusted to the specific nature of different types of disabilities, the benefits of ICT can be very well exploited in special education too. The impact can be a significant one, both in the therapeutic process and in the educational one, and the literature in the area has recorded several examples of successes achieved by students with disabilities assisted by ICT. In Romania, however, few studies have been conducted so far to assess the way ICT is used by teachers in their work with students having different types of disabilities. For that reason, the main aim of the present research was to identify to what extent pre-university teachers are open and prepared to use ICT applications in special education. The sample consisted of 105 pre-university teachers from Bihor, Romania. The instrument used was a questionnaire having 76 multiple choice items, and the implementation period was January-March 2016. The results show that even though they are aware of the importance and have a positive attitude towards using ICT in special education, the majority of the teachers included in the study feel that they are ill-prepared and want to deepen their knowledge in this field during their continued professional training.