(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2021-06-30)
Satterfield, Richard (Ben); Walker, Bruce N.; Milchus, Karen
This report describes the development of a survey tool used to measure and assess “mastery of assistive technology”. A Delphi Panel comprised of experts in the area of Assistive Technology (AT) was gathered to explore the question of “What is mastery of AT?” For the purposes of this study, mastery was defined as becoming a “power user” of AT. Panelists were asked to identify what characteristics are associated with being a power user of AT. The panel gave these characteristics Likert Scale rankings as to their applicability as a predictor of becoming a power user and as an indicator of having become a power user. The rankings were compared, and the panel was asked to revisit the rankings in order to identify the most important factors. The panel identified 12 predictors and 14 indicators that they felt were highly predictive of becoming a power user or indicative of being one. These factors were analyzed and found to coalesce around four constructs or areas of mastery: (1) Experience (Usage) with AT; (2) Proficiency with AT; (3) Knowledge of AT; and (4) Personal Connection with AT. An online survey-based tool for measuring AT mastery was developed based on these constructs and presented to the panel for feedback and critique.