| dc.description.abstract | This study sought to establish the effectiveness of assistive technology on academic performance of students with visual impairment in Kisumu County, Kenya. The study had four objectives namely: (i) To determine the role of Assistive Technology(AT) on academic performance of students with visual impairments (ii) To establish the perceptions of the special education teachers towards the use of assistive technology in teaching students with visual impairment. (iii) To examine challenges encountered by visually impaired students while using assistive technology and (iv) Determine opportunities that the use of AT presents to visually impaired students. The study was informed by a critical theory approach. A critical theory approach to research pays attention to the marginalised in the society. The study employed a mixed methods research approach. The target population constituted 743 students, l I principals, l l deputy principals, and 19 Special Needs teachers making a total of 784 respondents. Purposive sampling was used to select 11 principals, 11 deputy principals, l 9 SNE teachers and 120 students with visual impairments yielding a total sample size of 161 respondents from secondary schools in Kisumu County. An observation checklist was designed to contain most of the indicators of strategies used by SNE teachers to assist students with VI to undertake their studies in the classroom setting. The main research instruments were questionnaires for students and principals and interview guidelines for SNE teachers. Piloting was conducted to determine the validity of research instruments. Reliability tests using equivalent forms method yielded correlation coefficients of .89 and .81 for SNE teachers' and school managers' questionnaires, respectively. Quantitative data and qualitative data were collected in conformity with the chosen mixed methods research approach. Quantitative data from questionnaires were analyzed with the assistance of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Computer programme version 20. The SPSS generated descriptive and inferential statistics such as frequency distributions, the chi-square and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The qualitative data from interview and observation checklists were analyzed thematically and represented in direct quotes and narratives in line with the study objectives. The study revealed that most of the students with visual impairments were taught by SNE teachers who were highly qualified with long teaching experience. The majority of the students with VI largely relied on the use of obsolete assistive technologies such as the Braille and mirror magnifiers. The modern technologies had not penetrated into the study location and as a result most students with visual impairments hardly benefited from the advantages inherent in these technologies. Nearly all SNE teachers interviewed concurred that the use of modern assistive technologies by students with VI was a very critical requirement for enhancing learning, independent study and active learner-teacher interaction that was a prerequisite for enhanced academic performance. The school managers and SNE teachers revealed that learners with VI were experiencing myriad and intertwined challenges top on the list being Jack of pre-and in-service training for SNE teachers, VI students inadequate access to these technologies due to high cost of the devices as well as poor infrastructure such as fluctuating electric power supply and poor internet connectivity. It was established that opportunities to use these assistive technologies existed since most SNE teachers and students with VI had positive attitude towards the use of the technologies and were willing and ready to embrace the technology. The overall conclusion was that use of modern ATs by SNE teachers and students with VI was quite low. The study has recommended that: the Ministry of Education should give priority to learners with various disabilities by increasing budgetary allocation for the purchase of modern ATs particularly for learners with VI as well as in-service training of SNE teachers. | en_US |