COMPATIBILITY OF ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISPOSITIONS AMONG LEARNERS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NAIROBI METROPOLITAN

Abstract

The need to tailor teaching strategies in formal education to accommodate and fulfil the needs of the learners with visual impairment is key to inclusive and quality education. While assistive technology helps such learners to be included in the curriculum, various psychological challenges related with the technology emerge. The current study sought to investigate compatibility of assistive technology and psychological dispositions among learners with visual impairment in secondary schools in Nairobi Metropolitan, Kenya. The study was guided by a number of objectives, including; to identify the type of assistive technology used by learners with visual impairments in Secondary schools within Nairobi metropolitan, to establish the influence of accessibility to Assistive technology on their psychological dispositions; to establish the effect of awareness about Assistive Technology in educational instruction on psychological dispositions and identify intervention measures for compatibility of assistive technology and psychological dispositions. The study used a mixed-method convergent parallel research design. The study was carried out in Nairobi metropolitan. The target population was 390 learners with visual impairments and 51 staff members from the 3 secondary schools for learners with visual impairment in the metropolitan. Slovin’s formula (1960) was used to determine a sample size of 252 respondents who were sampled using clustered and stratified random techniques to give 2 principals, 27 teachers and 223 learners. Data collection entailed questionnaires, interviews and focus group discussions which were piloted in one secondary school for learners with visual impairment in Meru County. Validity of the research instruments was determined using expert judgment while reliability was examined using split half reliability. Therefore, a value of correlated reliability = 0.8483 was established. A correlation coefficient threshold of 0.7 for consistency was used to assess the reliability. The study found that a variety of assistive technologies (AT) were used among learners with visual impairment in secondary schools in the Nairobi metropolitan. Among the most used AT were the positioning and seating purpose of AT including book stands, page holders, and slant boards and the mobility-purposed AT including canes that were used almost every time. The study established that accessibility to AT exists through varied forms. The AT type accessibility positively influenced psychological dispositions among the learners with the portable reading devices (r=.102), tactile images (r=.223) and text-to-speech types (.217) being significant. Awareness about Assistive Technology in educational instruction affects psychological dispositions while significant intervention measures for AT use include professional support for use based on current need and affordability and accompaniment of the user manual. The study recommends the gradual introduction of AT among the learners with visual impairment to be adopted by the schools’ administrators. The administrators may also design programs for the development of self confidence that creates a sense of defeating anxiety towards AT among learners with visual impairment.