Digital technologies have become an indispensable part of the inclusive discourse, in terms of their unexploited potential for improving education for all students (Panesi et al., 2020). The use of digital technologies in formal educational processes can indeed contribute toward increasing learning and participation possibilities for all students and especially for the ones at-risk of exclusion and underachievement (UN, 2020).

The recent experience of the COVID-19 pandemic shed light on several barriers related to distance learning and digital technology use, which resulted in a lowering of education quality and in the exacerbation of pre-existing inequalities for some learners, specifically the ones with disabilities and the ones coming from sociocultural disadvantaged backgrounds (Bešić & Holzinger, 2020; UN, 2020). A reason for this is also that this period of forced distance learning was characterized by the mere transposition of traditional teaching into digital environments, which constituted a substantial obstacle to the learning and participation in class activities for students with disabilities (Ianes & Bellacicco, 2020). 

A research project emerged out of the described situation, aiming to strengthen teachers’ profiles in four different European countries (Austria, Italy, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina) by professionalizing them in the field of inclusive digital education. Its main objective is to enable teachers to create inclusive settings able to enhance, through digital technologies use, learning and participation opportunities for all students (with and without disabilities/SEN).

The symposium will discuss the outcomes of the project focusing specifically on the national perspectives of the four countries involved according to three main research questions:

1. How is digital and inclusive education addressed and systematized in the four different national education systems?
2. What are school principals, teachers, and students’ views on digital technologies use for teaching, learning, and assessment practices in inclusive schools?
3. What digital practices do teachers perceive as effective for inclusive purposes (i.e., to foster learning and participation for students with and without SEN) in their classrooms?

For the first research question we refer to a literature review conducted as a preliminary stage of the project for each project country about current definitions and level of implementation of digital and inclusive education within the different school systems at a normative level. Questions (2) and (3) refer to two different phases of the project, respectively the data collected within an online survey and the collection of lesson examples. 

The quantitative data was collected by using an online survey tool developed by the European Commission (Castaño Muñoz et al., 2021). This tool enables schools – specifically school leaders, teachers, and students – to self-evaluate their strengths and weaknesses in digital technologies use and inclusive practices. Overall, 19 inclusive schools (primary and lower secondary school level) from the four countries took part in the study, for a total of 68 school principals, 588 teachers, and 3907 students (including students with disabilities/SEN).

The collection of good practice examples, instead, involved 23 teachers, who were asked to describe successful practices on the use of digital technologies to foster inclusive processes in their classrooms. In total 20 examples were created (five per each country), obtained either by means of face-to-face interviews or written descriptions based on specific guidelines developed by the research team. 

The project results allow comparisons between the outcomes of the research carried out in the different national contexts to stimulate a scientifically-supported reflection on how inclusive digital education needs to be designed and implemented both at the policy and practice level.

Bešić, E. & Holzinger, A. (2020). Fernunterricht für Schüler*innen mit Behinderungen: Perspektiven von Lehrpersonen. Zeitschrift für Inklusion, (3). https://www.inklusion-online.net/index.php/inklusion-online/article/view/580 Castaño Muñoz, J., Weikert Garcia, L. & Herrero Rámila, C. (2021). Analysing the digital capacity of Spanish schools using SELFIE. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. doi:10.2760/947402 Ianes, D., & Bellacicco, R. (2020). Distance teaching under lockdown: Teachers’ perceived impact on the inclusion of students with disabilities. L’integrazione Scolastica e Sociale, 19(3), 25-47. Panesi. S., Bocconi, S., & Ferlino, L. (2020). Promoting Students’ Well-Being and Inclusion in Schools Through Digital Technologies: Perceptions of Students, Teachers, and School Leaders in Italy Expressed Through SELFIE Piloting Activities. Frontiers in Psychology, 11(1563). doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01563 United Nations (2020). UN Research Roadmap for the COVID-19 Recovery. Geneva: UN.