Generative AI Implications for Special Education: Learning, Teaching, and Professional Development

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is rapidly transforming educational practice, creating new possibilities for teaching, learning, assessment, and professional development. While interest in GenAI within education continues to grow, much of the existing research has focused on mainstream learning environments, leaving important questions about its role in special and inclusive education largely unexplored. For learners with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), GenAI has the potential to support accessibility, personalization, communication, and engagement, but it also raises concerns related to equity, ethics, safeguarding, and the evolving role of educators. As schools and institutions increasingly adopt AI-powered tools, there is a growing need to understand how these technologies can be implemented in ways that are both pedagogically effective and responsive to the diverse needs of learners. Examining the opportunities and challenges of GenAI in special and inclusive education is therefore essential for ensuring that technological innovation supports meaningful, equitable, and inclusive educational outcomes. Generative AI Implications for Special Education: Learning, Teaching, and Professional Development critically examines the role of GenAI in special education and inclusive learning environments, offering theoretically grounded, empirical, and practice-oriented perspectives. Bridging research, policy, and educational practice, this book offers coherent and responsible approaches to GenAI use in special and inclusive education systems. Covering topics such as differentiated assessment tools, real-time differentiation of instructional materials, and rights-based architectures, this book is a fundamental academic resource for graduate and doctoral students, special education teachers, inclusive education practitioners, learning support specialists, school leaders, education agencies, educational technology developers, policymakers, and more.

Assimina T. Tsibidaki is an Associate Professor of Special Education with the discipline "Special education: Psychopedagogical dimensions in family and school" in the Department of Primary Education (PTDE) at the University of the Aegean (Greece). Her research interests focus on the following areas: Students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), families raising a child with SEND, home-school collaboration, social support networks, technology and inclusive education, disability in children's literature and cinema. Her published work includes two books, editing and articles in Greece and abroad, as well as various participations in Greek and international conferences.

Apostolos Kostas is Assistant Professor on "Digital Environments for Education, Training and Teachers Professional Development" at the Primary Education Department, University of the Aegean, Greece, Rhodes. Since May 2018, he serves as the elected Director of the Center for Life-Long learning, University of the Aegean, while since 2020 he has served as Tutor at the Hellenic Open University. Dr. Kostas has participated in many national and EU-funded research and development projects. His research interests include Digital Education, TPD, ITE, Communities of Practice, Web 2.0 and AI in Education. Outcomes of his research work have been presented in national and international conferences and published in journals and book chapters.