International studies have shown that an increase in the equipment and application of digital technologies in schools does not automatically translate into an improvement of students’ learning processes – when not accompanied by a clear vision of their contribution for achieving the defined learning objectives and corresponding mediation by teachers (Hattie, 2009; Higgins et al., 2016). The same is true for the inclusive potential of digital technologies, that is the extent to which they can create opportunities for enhanced learning and participation for all students. As highlighted by Vivanet (2020), it is a matter of identifying the conditions – e.g., students’ needs, purposes, teaching strategies, etc. – under which digital resources can foster inclusive processes (in this sense the author talks about “effectiveness of the uses of technologies”). On these premises, this paper presents the analysis of 20 lesson examples (directly provided by the teachers who implemented them) on the use of digital tools in class from an inclusive education perspective. These were collected in four European countries (Austria, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia) to outline promising strategies and identify improvement areas to enhance inclusive teaching and learning through digital technologies. Participant selection was done via personal contacts of the research team and following a snowball procedure. The examples were obtained either by means of face-to-face interviews or written descriptions according to a shared protocol developed by the research team, which also guided the analysis. All interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. Written reports were collected per email (all necessary information for teachers were included in the template sent), followed up by individual feedback asking for integrations and/or revisions (when needed) to ensure quality. All examples were analyzed through directed qualitative content analysis (Flick, 2014). For the analysis, deductive coding was used and a coding list with explanations of the categories was created before the analysis began. The category system was based on literature addressing different aspects of inclusive and digital education (such as Puentedura, 2013) and on the dimensions included in the collection template. Firstly, each research team coded the examples for their country; the respective results were then summarized in a common matrix for cross-analysis. During the symposium, identified common patterns and divergences emerged from the collected examples for the different countries will be presented and discussed to draw useful indications and outline effective strategies for the creation of inclusive digital learning environments for students with and without disabilities/SEN.

Flick, U. (2014). An introduction to qualitative research. Oaks: Sage. Hattie, J. (2009). Visible Learning. A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. NewYork, NY: Routledge. Higgins, S. et al. (2016). The Sutton Trust-Education Endowment Foundation Teaching and Learning Toolkit. London: Education Endowment Foundation. Puentedura, R. R. (2013). SAMR: Moving from enhancement to transformation [Web log post]. Available at: http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/000095.html (last accessed 28th December 2022) Vivanet, G. (2020). Tecnologie per l’inclusione: ovvietà, evidenze e orizzonti da esplorare. In A. Calvani (Ed.), Tecnologie per l’inclusione: quando e come avvalersene (pp. 39-69). Roma: Carocci Editore.