Trends in Instructional Technology Researches for the Disabled Individuals in Turkey

The following study has been conducted in order to provide a survey of the research being done into disability and education in the Turkish context. The purpose of this study is to investigate the trends in the researches related to the educational environment of the disabled individuals from various aspects by analyzing the content of the scientific research articles in the field of instructional technology. It is hoped that the findings can help more disabled people in Turkey benefit from the opportunities information and communication technologies now provide. For this purpose, 72 studies conducted by Turkish scientists between 2007-2017 found in national and international databases were scanned and analyzed. These articles were analyzed via deductive content analysis and the "Article Classification Form". As a result of the analysis it was found that the preferred language used in publications is English, studies are evenly distributed according to disability type, experimental research design is used more often than another design and instructional environments and design development with technology were preferred subjects of study. As data collection tools, observation and interview methods were most commonly used, Purposeful sampling was used, and quantitative analysis methods most commonly adopted. It is expected that the results obtained will shed a light on future studies and have a positive impact on the experience of people with disabilities in the education system in Turkey