آموزش افراد با ناتوانی ذهنی برای ارسال ایمیل در سراسر سیستم عامل دستگاه های متعدد

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of email by people with intellectual disability across multiple technological devices or platforms. Four individuals with intellectual disability participated in this study. Participants were taught how to access and send an email on a Windows desktop computer, laptop, and an iPad tablet device. Results indicated a functional relation. All participants acquired and generalized sending and receiving an email from multiple platforms. Conclusions are discussed about the importance of empowering people with intellectual disability by providing multiple means of expression, including the ability to communicate effectively using a variety of devices.

Basic digital literacy skills are now critical for one to function in today's rapidly changing, yet increasingly technologically oriented, society. Transforming every aspect of daily life, technology is intertwined with everything from work and educational settings to domestic and recreational settings. Routine tasks, once involving lengthy and complicated processes, are now easiest completed electronically, with the idea of boosting the productivity and convenience for the users. As more daily interactions (communication, purchasing, and applications) are converted to digital tasks, digital skills are becoming increasingly critical for their completion. Therefore, technology has the power to separate and exclude both socially and economically those individuals who lack the skills (Clark, 2004). According to Carruthers (2009), technology allows people to think differently, to experience life in ways they never have before, and to do things better and more easily. For people with intellectual disability (ID), acquiring and maintaining essential digital literacy skills facilitates greater independence in school, at home, in the community, and at work. In the interest of improving employment, independence, and overall quality of life, functional digital literacy skills should be specifically addressed as part of the educational programming for students with ID. This study examined one aspect of digital literacy, the use of email across multiple technological platforms.