본 연구는 특수교사들의 보조공학 활용실태와 인식을 조사하여 효과적인 보조공학 활용을 위한 지원방안을 밝히고자 하였다. 이를 위하여 전국 특수학교(급) 및 특수교육지원센터에 근무하는 특수교사 703명을 대상으로 온라인 설문조사를 실시하였다. 수집된 자료는 빈도분석, 독립표본 t 검정, 일원배치분산분석 등을 사용하여 분석하였다. 연구 결과, 특수교사들은 보조공학 활용의 효과성에 대해 인식하고 있었지만, 활용도는 보통 이하로 낮은 편이었다. 보조공학 활용을 저해하는 주요 요인들은 진단 및 평가-기기 보급-활용의 실제적 절차 미비, 행정가의 보조공학 관련 지식 및 정보 부족, 교사의 보조공학 활용 역량 부족 등이었고, 시급한 지원으로는 보조공학기기 확보와 교사의 보조공학 관련 인식 개선 및 활용역량 강화였다. 또한 특수교사의 배경변인에 따라 분석해본 결과, 감각 및 지체장애 학생 지도교사가 발달장애 학생 지도교사보다 보조공학 관련 정보 접근의 용이성, 보조공학기기 지원 수준 및 활용도가 높다고 인식하고 있었다. 이러한 결과를 바탕으로 성공적인 보조공학 활용을 위한 특수교육 현장 지원방안에 대해 제언하고자 하였다.
The purpose of this study was to investigate special education teachers’ usage status and perspectives regarding assistive technology for students with disabilities and recommend support plans for the successful use of assistive technology. For this, an online survey was conducted for 703 special education teachers working at special schools, self-contained classrooms in general education schools, and special education support centers across the country. The collected data were analyzed using frequency analysis, independent sample t-tests, and one-way ANOVA analysis. The results found that special education teachers were aware of the effectiveness of using assistive technology, but their usage level was low. The main barriers to using assistive technology included a lack of systematic procedures of assistive technology evaluation-device dissemination-utilization, the administrators’ lack of knowledge and information regarding assistive technology, and special education teachers’ lack of assistive technology competency. Urgent support is needed, including securing assistive technology devices, improving special education teachers’ awareness and competency regarding assistive technology. Also, as a result of the analysis according to the background variables of special education teachers, it was found that teachers teaching students with sensory or physical disabilities had higher accessibility to assistive technology information, thus the level of support for assistive technology and their utilization was higher than that of teachers teaching students with developmental disabilities. Based on the results, we would suggest support plans for successful assistive technology usage in the special education field.