From Assistive Technologies to Metaverse - Technologies in Inclusive Higher Education for Students with Specific Learning Difficulties: A Review

The development of new technologies and their expanding use in a wide range of educational environments are driving the transformation of higher education. Assistive technologies are cutting-edge technologies that can help students learn more effectively and make education accessible to everyone. Assistive technologies can enhance, maintain, or improve the capacities of students with learning difficulties. Students with learning difficulties will be greatly benefited from the use of assistive technologies. If these technologies are used effectively, students with learning difficulties can compete with their peers and complete their academic tasks. The aim of this review is to better understand the role of assistive technologies in providing inclusive higher education for students with learning difficulties. The review begins with the introduction of learning difficulties and their causes; inclusive education and the need for assistive technologies; the motivation behind this review; and a summary of related reviews on assistive technologies for students with learning difficulties in inclusive higher education. Then, we discuss the preliminaries of the types of learning difficulties and assistive technologies. Later, we discuss the effects of assistive technologies on inclusive higher education for students with learning difficulties. Additionally, we discuss supporting tools and related projects available in inclusive higher education for students with learning difficulties. We also explore the challenges and potential solutions related to using assistive technologies in higher education to provide inclusive education for students with learning difficulties. We conclude the review with a discussion on promising future directions.