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Supporting Students With Disabilities to Use Generative AI: A Classroom-Based Taxonomy of Educator Scaffolding Practices
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Supporting Students With Disabilities to Use Generative AI: A Classroom-Based Taxonomy of Educator Scaffolding Practices

Kok-Sing Tang, Natasha Anne Rappa, Karen Nonis and Khansa Ilyas
Journal of special education technology
2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/01626434261448832
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Published2.27 MBDownloadView
Open Access CC BY-NC V4.0

Abstract

dialogic learning generative AI inclusive education scaffolding students with disabilities
This study examines how educators scaffold students with disabilities to interact meaningfully with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools, specifically ChatGPT, in an inclusive science classroom. While GenAI is gaining traction in education, research on its use among students and educators in inclusive education remains underexplored. Addressing this gap is critical as effective GenAI use among students with disabilities demands cognitive and linguistic engagement that are challenging for them without appropriate scaffolding. This study adopted a collaborative action research approach to explore how educators supported students with disabilities in engaging with ChatGPT in the classroom. Drawing on video-based analysis of classroom interactions, the analysis resulted in an emergent taxonomy of educator support across four domains: instructional, literacy, emotional-behavioural, and technological. The findings illustrate the utility of the taxonomy that frames how established domains of support for students with disabilities are enacted, combined, and intensified in the context of student-GenAI interaction. They also highlight how real-time and adaptive scaffolding enabled students with disabilities to access, interpret, and respond to GenAI. This study reframes GenAI not merely as a tool, but as a mediated dialogic partner whose educational value depends on how it is supported by educators. Implications are discussed for inclusive pedagogy, GenAI design, and teacher professional learning.

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