The Israeli Athena Foundation shared details of their June 18 attendance at the United Nations conference on disability rights with The Jerusalem Post, a news site based in Israel. According to the article, the Israeli Athena Foundation delivers digital “toolboxes” to 9,000 special education teachers, utilized in the classroom by 72,000 students with disabilities around Israel. They contain educational tools including laptops or iPads, classroom projectors, wireless Internet for classrooms, a printer, and 120 hours of professional training for teachers. 

The article states that the foundation’s president, Uri Ben-Ari, and associates of the Athena Foundation hosted an event about special education technology during the conference. The Athena Foundation tells The Jerusalem Post that their distribution of toolboxes aim to support teacher-student interactions and accommodations for students with disabilities, especially during online learning. They were supported by a background on Israeli special education from Yaffa Ben-David, Secretary-General of Israel’s Teachers’ Union. The foundation has been operating since 2006 and continued its services during COVID. 

Adina Shamir, Director of Bar-Ilan University’s Center for Technology for Students with Special Needs, attested to the impact of the Foundation’s efforts by sharing the results of a study on special education teachers’ use of digital toolboxes during the pandemic. She concluded, “special education teachers testified to a much higher percentage of the importance of getting a laptop or iPad for experience and familiarity with technological tools”[1].

Source and Citation:

Jerusalem Post Staff, “Israeli foundation to host panel at UN convention on disability rights”. The Jerusalem Post, 15 June 2021. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/israeli-foundation-to-host-panel-at-un-convention-on-disability-rights-671047 

Photo Credit: Thomas Park on Unsplash.

Summarized by: Sasha Leys, Intern