AI and Inclusive Learning

For disabled and neurodivergent students, accessing and learning facts delivered verbally or visually in the classroom or online can be challenging. Consequently, thay can struggle to keep up with their peers.

In the UK, if a student declares a disability, their higher education institution has a legal obligation to make reasonable adjustments.yet, only 34 per cent of disabled students have had support both agreed and entirely implemented, according to the recent Disabled Students UK Access insights Report. Despite their needs being recognised, and the good intentions of staff, the provision of tailored, individualised adjustments can be costly both in time and money.

New ways of teaching and learning that use generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) offer an chance to move towards inclusive teaching and learning, by generating learning materials adjusted to the individual needs of all learners, not only those with disabilities.

To take advantage of the potential of personalised learning opportunities, we need to avoid the bottom-up piecemeal application of educational technology, where adoption is often based on the specific preferences of individual staff. Instead, implementation should be guided by a top-down approach that uses GenAI to meet clear educational goals and learning outcomes in a personalised manner.

For example, the worldwide Design for Learning (UDL) framework offers guidance for designing multiple ways of engagement, representation, action and expression. This makes teaching and learning environments more inclusive and supports the embedding of AI-generated personalised learning support, placing the student at the center of the process.

Remember that learning doesn’t just involve engaging with accessible resources. It’s a complex process involving a range of cognitive and socio-emotional processes such as memory, attention, executive function, metacognition, motivation and self-esteem. Effective learning, especially reflective and critical thinking, does not occur in a vacuum – it occurs in an interactive way, within a complex educational ecosystem.

The increased use of online learning and AI is rapidly changing the traditional nature of this ecosystem, and it is indeed essential that students have the appropriate psychological skill set to enable them to engage successfully with it. Students with disabilities often struggle in online environments – partly because of cognitive constraints that influence their ability to process information, and partly owing to social-emotional constraints such as poor self-esteem, low motivation and anxiety, which can limit their willingness to share ideas and opinions, and affect their acceptance of feedback.