The Landscape of Technology Research in Special Education: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

This study analyzes information accumulated in WoS databases on special education and technology with bibliometric methods. Bibliometric analyses, seen as an alternative to systematic literature reviews, meta-analysis, and meta-synthesis, contribute to determining essential actors in the field by analyzing the publication and citation trends, the stage of the research topic, and trends in the volume of publications. Furthermore, bibliometric analysis can reveal the collaboration structure between institutions and authors and identify the most frequently studied topics, top-producing authors, institutions, and journals in a field. In the study, we analyzed 4493 articles published in Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Social Sciences Index Expanded (SCI-Expanded), and Arts & Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) databases using the co-authorship and co-occurrence analysis method. Also, we used frequency analysis in publications and citations related to special education and technology research to determine the situation. The main findings of the research are that the literature on the use of technology in special education: (a) has grown steadily over the years, particularly since 2003; (b) research topic foci have changed over the years; (c) articles are published in different journals, particularly special education journals; (d) produced by authors from a wide variety of countries; and (e) published by research groups with limited contact with other research groups.

Expanding the special education professional toolbox: A case study of a digitalised special education practice in Sweden

“…In contrast to these examples, the majority of research combining digital technologies and special education has focused on examples of implementation or interventions using a specific technology, and the learning outcomes of students categorised into specific disability groups (Istenic Starcic & Bagon, 2014;Olakanmi et al, 2020). Less is known about special educators' experiences during their everyday practice in digitalised schools, and research on what enables and/or constrains special educators' technology use is described as a small but growing field (Inci & Köse, 2023;Starks & Reich, 2023).…”