The use of personal video conferencing with special needs pupils from three schools serving rural areas: a case of successful adoption of new technology

Abstract

This article will focus on the use of desktop (or personal) video conferencing to link groups of special needs children from three secondary schools in a rural area of Wales. The collaboration developed out of a Superhighways project which introduced video conferencing to a network of schools and which was aimed mainly at supporting geography teaching through the use of satellite images of the Earth. The link was used with the special needs pupils to develop communication and social skills and to overcome their relative isolation from other pupils with similar needs. The article will examine how the technology was used and identify factors that might have influenced its adoption amongst the teachers involved. (N.B. Throughout this article, the terms ‘desktop’ and ‘personal’ video conferencing refer to the same thing, i.e. a system consisting of a small video camera mounted on a desktop computer.)