Teachers’ and students’ perspectives on the extent to which assistive technologies maximises independence

This study was conducted in an English, special-mainstream partnership further education college. Four students and five teaching staff members were interviewed, alongside five classroom observations of each staff member interviewed. The findings revealed largely positive views surrounding ATs potential for students with VI. The extent to which the students benefit from these advantages is dependent on the individual. The students focused much of their attention on their personal feelings towards using technology, whereas the teachers elaborated on their feelings and went into detail about particular students’ successes and pitfalls when using ATs.