| Abstract [eng] |
In this Master’s thesis Lithuanian and foreign scientific literature on the possibilities provided and risks caused by information and communication technologies and on the application thereof in the education is analysed and structured and laws on the provision of information in the virtual space are reviewed. A research, based on the observation, questionnaire and interview methods, the aim of which is to analyse what information and communication technologies are used by students with mild intellectual disorders was carried out. A statistical data analysis was carried out. 91 students with mild intellectual disorders, 76 parents of such students and 110 teachers from Kaunas, Marijampolė, Panevėžys, Šiauliai and Vilnius counties participated in the questionnaire. The observation and semi-structured interview methods were chosen to collect more data about the use of information and communication technologies of students with mild intellectual disorders. 4 students with mild intellectual disorders from Vilnius X special school, who were interviewed in the fifth and seventh grade, participated in a qualitative research. Major conclusions are as follows: 1. The analysis of the literature sources revealed that children spend a great amount of their time using information and communication technologies (ICT) which provide them with new full development possibilities. Moreover, it should be noted that different international studies show that the use of ICT in special education helps students with special learning needs to better understand the educational material. Although the virtual space contains various useful information, there are also many different threats that have a negative impact on children’s physical, mental and emotional health. 2. Almost all 10-19-year-old students with mild intellectual disorders use modern technologies both at home and school and spend their time in front of a computer alone or with someone close to them. 2.1. The students use the virtual space for playing computer games, listening to music and watching various videos and movies. More than half of the students claim that they use social networks: the majority of them are active users, slightly less – passive users. 2.2. The students usually play sports, shooting, action and racing computer games, which enable them to have fun and learn something new and teach them how to solve problems, fight and win as well as allow them to live in the action and educate them: improve students’ computer skills, memory, hand coordination, imagination, empathy, observation and reaction. 2.3. The majority of the students prefer real people and in rare cases book characters as characters of computer games, movies and animation movies. The heroes have positive features related to their appearance, character, manner, intellectuality and physical features. 2.4. Parents and teachers believe that computers help children with special learning needs to improve their computer skills, facilitate the learning process, broaden children’s horizon and expand their vocabulary, enrich their language, increase their self-confidence, help to find friends and develop social skills as well as reduce social exclusion. 3. The research revealed that teachers often use information and communication technologies and educational computer programmes in the educational process. 4. The personal experience of using information and communication technologies of the students with mild intellectual disorders showed that the students spend the majority of their free time playing computer games and that their main heroes are characters of animation movies or computer games and sportsmen. It must be stated that the types of computer games played by children did not change during the two years of the research but the number of games played increased and a circle of heroes widened. |
