Special educators’ work with digital technology before the Gen-AI turn: a scoping review

Background The anticipation of a prosperous relationship between students in special needs and educational technologies has been set out in international school policies, and a growing body of research has investigated the effects and outcomes of such initiatives. What is less examined, however, are the perspectives of the professionals dedicated to ensuring special educational support within schools: the special educators. To foreground these professional perspectives, this scoping review examines research on in-service special educators' work with and use of technologies in special education practices. Methods A scoping review methodology was employed to explore the extent and characteristics of the literature, summarize the evidence, and inform future research. The review is delimited to studies published between 2013 and 2023 to set a pre-Generative AI baseline, i.e., capture established, practice-based experiences of how digital technologies have been used and experienced by special educators, prior to the rapid expansion of AI-centered educational research. In total, 52 empirical studies met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Results Research in this field was found to be geographically widespread but lacks depth, with a few national exceptions. A content analysis identified commonly studied phenomena and indicates that although technology is widely seen as promising, its contributions depend on contextual conditions, e.g., training, organizational structures, and alignment with special educators' work practices. Discussion Research on in-service special educators' experiences of using technology are largely limited to their teaching functions, while other occupational work tasks – such as coordination, consultation, assessment, and school-wide development – receive little attention. This narrow focus overlooks how technology use is shaped differently across different role configurations identified in literature. Strengths and shortcomings are discussed, and future directions are proposed.