ORSEN: Online Resources for Special Education Needs
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ORSEN is an exciting new project, funded under the European Lifelong Learning Programme which focusses on the provision of innovative learning practices for special needs students from rural areas. Over the next two years we will collaborate on designing and delivering online resources aimed at giving SEN students, their parents and their teachers a fighting chance in an increasingly challenging education system.
Special education needs and inclusion is an area which is both complex and diverse. Some pupils need additional help at school because they have learning difficulties which significantly affect their access to the curriculum. They are described as having special educational needs (SEN). Inclusion is about meeting the needs and interests of learners who, under normal arrangements, make less or slower progress than many of their peers.
Over the last few decades, the development of inclusion has become central to international education policy and has forced the major changes in national legislation in many countries regarding how we deliver our teaching and learning in schools. The first step toward delivering an inclusive curriculum is taking into account student learning needs and development, with an awareness of appropriate teaching and learning methods, as well as the application of appropriate tools and equipment. An inclusive curriculum means one curriculum for all students rather than a separate curriculum for students without SEN and another for students with SEN. An inclusive curriculum, recognises the need that schools need to be organised, with the individual differences of students in mind and allow for scope and flexibility to enable all students to achieve their goals.
Aims and Objectives
The Aims of ORSEN are:
1. To develop an appropriate technology infrastructure for in-school provision of SEN curricula.
2. To develop 4 curricula to assist in the inclusion of children with SEN in the classroom.
3. To develop and implement in-service training to support the continuous professional development of teachers.
4. To provide supports for parents of SENs to enable them interact with the new learning environment.
5. To support managers in education to work with multi-site education provision through online environments.
Some features of the ORSEN project
To develop and pilot an open access SEN virtual classroom providing:
1. ORSEN supports the concept of inclusive education.
2. ORSEN will be ‘rural proofed’; it will meet the needs the needs of SEN living in more remote areas.
3. ORSEN will target resources to benefit children in the 12-16 years age range, who have mild SEN.