Global evidence for how EdTech can support pupils with disabilities is ’thinly spread’

An 'astonishing' deficit of data about how the global boom in educational technology could help pupils with disabilities in low and middle-income countries has been highlighted in a. Despite widespread optimism that educational technology, or 'EdTech', can help to level the playing field for young people with disabilities, the study found a significant shortage of evidence about which innovations are best-positioned to help which children, and why; specifically in low-income contexts. The review also found that many teachers lack training on how to use new technology, or are reluctant to do so. The study was carried out for the EdTech Hub partnership, by researchers from the Universities of Glasgow, Cambridge and York. They conducted a detailed search for publications reporting trials or evaluations about how EdTech is being used to help primary school-age children with disabilities in low - and middle-income countries. Despite screening 20,000 documents, they found just 51 relevant papers from the past 14 years - few of which assessed any impact on children's learning outcomes. According to the Inclusive Education Initiative , as many as half of the estimated 65 million school-age children with disabilities worldwide were out of school even before the COVID-19 pandemic, and most children with disabilities in lowand middle-income countries face significant barriers to attending or participating in education. EdTech is widely seen as having the potential to reverse this trend, and numerous devices have been developed to support the education of young people with disabilities.