Treating Diversity through ICT Tools in the English Subject in Secondary Education

Abstract

[eng] ICT tools have become essential regarding the learning of a second language, specifically in the teaching of English as a foreign language. These tools offer teachers the possibility to adapt to 21st century students, who are digital natives. In fact, the Spanish curriculum puts special emphasis on the introduction of ICT tools into the classroom. Furthermore, the use of technology in the English classroom could result particularly beneficial for students with special educational needs (SEN). According to the Ley Orgánica 8/2013, de 9 de noviembre para la mejora de la calidad educativa, schools must ensure and provide special educational needs students with the appropriate resources during schooling. Even though there are a variety of studies which analyse the specific features of the most common cases of students with SEN or which analyse the benefits of ICT for ESL students, they lack a didactic proposal considering the reasons why these activities could help certain students. Therefore, the present work aims at serving as a guide for teachers whose interest is focused on ICT. Moreover, it focuses on examining in which ways Edublogs, Flipgrid, StoryJumper, Funny Movie Maker, VoiceThread, and Instagram help students with and without SEN, which include students with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs), among others, to improve their writing and speaking skills.