Chapter 10: Using Technology To Educate Multicultural Learners with Special Needs

Multicultural education has been described as “equal educational opportunities” afforded students from diverse racial, ethnic, social class, and cultural groups (Banks, 1997). Considerable variation in the values, preferences, and learning styles of students from such groups, particularly those with disabilities, has been reported (Kalyanpur & Harry, 1999; Parette, 1998; Parette, Huer, & Peterson-Karlan, 2008). Based on a continually evolving understanding of these students, multicultural educational practices have also been described to provide guidance to education professionals (Banks & Banks, 2001; Grant & Ray, 2010; Obiakor, 2007; Trumbull, Rothstein-Fisch, Greenfield, & Quiroz, 2001). These practices should create opportunities for active, interactive, and engaging learning, and emphasize critical and creative thinking, learning skills, and social awareness as well as facts and figures (Gorski, 2001).