The focus of this paper is the design of technology products and services for disabled students in higher education. It analyses the perspectives of disabled students studying in the US, the UK, Germany, Israel and Canada, regarding their experiences of using technologies to support their learning. The students shared how the functionality of the technologies supported them to study and enabled them to achieve their academic potential. Despite these positive outcomes, the students also reported difficulties associated with: i) the design of the technologies, ii) a lack of technology know-how and iii) a lack of social capital. When identifying potential solutions to these difficulties the disabled students imagined both preferable and possible futures where faculty, higher education institutions, researchers and technology companies are challenged to push the boundaries of their current design practices.

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In this preliminary investigation we examine the uses of mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops for (a) non-academic and (b) academic purposes in the post-secondary classroom, as well as for (c) academic tasks outside the class by post-secondary students with disabilities. Integration of smartphones and other mobile devices into the learning process is innovative, challenging and highly relevant for post-secondary education. Also, research shows that post-secondary students like courses where use of their personal mobile devices in class is allowed. To explore how students with disabilities use their mobile devices we held four focus groups, with six to eight participants each: two in Canada (one for students with disabilities, one for professionals who assist students with disabilities) and two in Israel. The findings show that students with disabilities use their mobile devices for all the same reasons as nondisabled students. In addition, students with disabilities use general purpose mobile device features and apps as assistive aids. Implications of the blurring of the distinction between assistive and general use mobile device features and apps for the academic inclusion of post-secondary students with disabilities is discussed. It appears that for many students with disabilities, access to their personal mobile devices for academic purposes, both in and out of the classroom, is essential to ensure their full inclusion.

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The uncertainties and risks of high-tech ventures are well known, and, despite the increasing number of start-up companies founded annually, few survive. This study examines the correlation between the entrepreneurial skills and multiple intelligences of entrepreneurs, as well as their influence on success in high-tech ventures. The theoretical foundation of the study is based on Salamzadeh and Kirby’s (2017) venture-creation model and Gardner’s (1983) multiple-intelligences theory. A convenience sample of three hundred entrepreneurs (281 men, 19 women) in different stages of their ventures was evaluated via an online Qualtrics questionnaire. The results indicate that the most successful entrepreneurs have the highest levels of logical intelligence but also the lowest levels of linguistic, intrapersonal, and interpersonal intelligences. Entrepreneurial skills were found to be related to all types of intelligences, as well as to success in entrepreneurial ventures. The study adds to the limited literature on the connection between personal characteristics and the success of entrepreneurial startup companies, and may contribute to improving entrepreneurship education programs. Future research is needed to examine other characteristics of both successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurs across a wider range of venture stages.