Inclusion
In this section, we will be looking in particular at how you can support and encourage students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in computing, but the resources and approaches can be used to ensure all of your pupils feel included.
Every young person should have the opportunity to study computing. For students with SEND, technology provides great opportunities for accessing learning, for enabling communication and preparing them for their future lives and careers.
Resources
A collection of resources, advice and activities for teaching computing to learners with SEND.
Special Educational Needs & Disabilities – a little out of date but some useful resources and research.
Includes a collection of unplugged teaching resources for learners with SEND
An Inclusion Toolkit for use
Coming Soon!
Blogs
This series of blogs address Adapting Teach Computing Curriculum units to make them more accessible and inclusive, written by Catherine Elliot
Further Reading
SEND and Computing - Professor Miles Berry
Miles Berry offers a clear and encouraging starting point for any teacher thinking about how to make Computing more inclusive for pupils with SEND. Rather than treating accessibility as an add-on, he highlights that every child is entitled to the full Computing curriculum, and that thoughtful choices about tools, environments, and approaches can make this entirely achievable.
His emphasis on using built-in accessibility features, selecting programming tools that genuinely match learners’ needs, and balancing Computer Science with practical digital-literacy skills is both realistic and grounded in classroom practice.
Hello World Magazine
In the issues listed below, you can find useful SEND focused articles;
Issue 13: Supporting Students with SEND in Home Learning
Issue 12: The Inclusive Classroom - column on inclusive design
Issue 11 is an Inclusion and Diversity special – lots of useful articles.
Issue 7: Overview of the Computing in SEND report findings
Issue 6: Therapeutic Benefits of Digital Making
Issue 5: Coding for the Visually Impaired / Supporting SEN Children using Tangible Coding
Research
Written by C. Elliot (2018)
Written by Lechelt et al (2018)
Written by The Royal Society, November 2017
NCCE Quickreads
Linked below are a series oh short summaries created by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, several of which are relative to SEND learners
Videos and podcasts
Computing and SEN - A CAS Interview
Supporting all Students in Computing - NCCE Podcast series
Courses
Creating and Inclusive Classroom: Approaches to Supporting Learners with SEND in Computing
- This free course from the National Centre for Computing Education explores ways to make your computing lessons more inclusive for learners with special educational needs and disabilities.
Excellent teaching benefits all students, but in particular those with SEND. To learn about the latest research into computing pedagogy in Secondary you can join the course below: