OERs On Campus: Selecting and Creating Instructional Resources for All

Students

Presented by Skip Stahl and Rhianon E. Gutierrez

UDL On CampusCAST, Inc.

August 25, 2014

Objectives

1. Define and give an overview of the benefits and challenges of open educational resources (OERs).

2. Define accessibility and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and their application in OER creation.

3. Learn how to select and create OERs that will be accessible and consider the three principles of UDL.

OERs Defined

Open educational resources, or OERs, are “full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks,

videos, tests, software; and any other tools, materials, or techniques offered freely and

openly to educators and students to support access to knowledge.”

Benefits of OERs✦ Instructors need to plan - learning goals,

materials, assessments; increasing use of personalization in online practice

✦ Accessibility goes hand in hand with personalization

✦ Instructors need to be informed so they can be equipped with tools to select and create OER content that will enable learners to progress towards and demonstrate mastery in different ways

Challenges of OERs✦ Educational institutions have limited knowledge or the capacity to

retrofit digital materials effectively in-house

✦ Inaccessible websites block students with disabilities from accessing resources

✦ Federal education and civil rights statutes compel education institutions to provide equitable access to educational opportunities for students with disabilities including technology-mediated opportunities

✦ 2011 Hewlett Foundation/Virtual Ability Study:

✦ 60 open college textbooks reviewed using federal and international accessibility guidelines

✦ 56% of these materials were web-based

✦ 42% were downloadable PDFs

✦ 42% web-based textbooks had problems with page layout, headers, and tables; none of the PDFs reviewed were accessible

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008

Section 103(24) UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING.-- The term `universal design for learning' means a scientifically valid framework for guiding educational practice that—

    ``(A) provides flexibility in the ways information is presented, in the ways students respond or demonstrate knowledge and skills, and in the ways students are engaged; and

    ``(B) reduces barriers in instruction, provides appropriate accommodations, supports, and challenges, and maintains high achievement expectations for all students, including students with disabilities and students who are limited English proficient.''

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

✦ Learner variability is the norm, not the exception.

✦ Accessibility is the baseline for the larger idea of creating a flexible curriculum with goals, methods, materials, and assessments that support learner achievement.

✦ UDL is based on three principles: representation, action and expression, and engagement

The Neurological Foundation

RecognitionNetworks

StrategicNetworks

AffectiveNetworks

TheWHAT

of learning

TheHOW

of learning

TheWHY

of learning

Principle 1: Multiple Means of Representation

✦ Multimodal representation of materials via text, images, symbols, and audio

✦ Options for perception - captioned and transcribed content

✦ Prior knowledge influences interaction with content

✦ Meaning-making is critical

Principle 2: Multiple Means of Action and Expression

✦ Support learning processes – set goals, plan, organize, strategize, modify processes as needed

✦ Vary methods of response - digital tools offer greater flexibility for a wider range of learners

✦ Those with assistive technologies would benefit from amplification or magnification of content - not for all, but this option should exist

Principle 3: Multiple Means of Engagement

✦ Learners engage in self-assessment, critical reflection

✦ Content is contextualized to their lives

✦ Learners are motivated and seek more information on their own

Accessibility and Open Educational Resources (OERs)

http://udloncampus.cast.org/page/media_oer#.U_MPOVYfLGs

Accessibility

✦ Accessibility is the baseline✦ Section 508 compliance

✦ Accessibility Checks✦ Quick Check:

http://webaim.org/standards/508/checklist

✦ Detailed Review: http://projectone.cannect.org/

✦ WCAG 2 Technical Details: http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/quickref/

Importance of Accessibility Features in OERs

Easily available alternative file formats

Ability to customize settings

Transcript for any audio/video elements of the resource

Information about built-in accessibility considera-tions

Alternative description for any images used

Compatibility with screenreader devices

Compatibility with screen magnification software

Compatibility with voice recognition software

Keyboard-only navigation

4

4

4

4

3

3

3

3

3

Rating from 1-5, with 5 being the most important.

508 Functional Criteria

Subpart C — Functional Performance Criteria

§ 1194.31   Functional performance criteria.

At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user vision…

At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user hearing…

At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user speech…

At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require fine motor control or simultaneous actions…

Selection and Creation of Materials

1. Provide complete navigation.

2. Create meaningful structure.

3. Provide alternative access to media

content.

Provide Complete Navigation

✦ Outlines and table of contents - adding structure can auto-generate a navigable table of contents

Create Meaningful Structure✦ Document headings and graphic organizers

help connect to content and support executive functions

Provide Alternative Access to Media Content

✦ Alt text and image descriptions convey the purpose of the image based on its context

✦ Images: http://udloncampus.cast.org/page/media_image#.U_s6KEt8BVg

✦ Word 2010 Accessibility Checker: File > Info > Check for Issues > Check Accessibility.

Provide Alternative Access to Media Content

✦ Transcripts and captions provide access to visual and audio content and increase search engine optimization (SEO)

✦ Transcripts: http://udloncampus.cast.org/page/media_transcript#.U_s11Ut8BVg

✦ Captions: http://udloncampus.cast.org/page/media_caption#.U_s1wkt8BVg

✦ Audio description provides access to visual content

✦ Audio Description: http://udloncampus.cast.org/page/media_audiodescription#.U_s1zUt8BVg

Provide Alternative Access to Media Content

✦ Video: Executive Functioning in Online Learning Environments

✦ use of captions, collated transcript, and some audio description

✦ http://udloncampus.cast.org/page/teach_executive#.U_s7EUt8BVg

Flexible Multimedia

✦ Content creators should choose multimedia tools that consider learner variability and are consistent with legal requirements for accessibility

✦ UDL On Campus’ Flexible Multimedia pages address text, images, audio and video in the selection and creation of online content

✦ http://udloncampus.cast.org/page/media_overview#.U_s76Et8BVg

Conclusion

✦ Instructors need to be informed so that they can be equipped with tools to select and create meaningful OER content.

✦ Accessibility is the baseline and instructors should ensure that all of their educational content is accessible.

✦ Instructors should plan for learner variability. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that emphasizes learner variability in the design of curriculum.

✦ There are flexible multimedia tools that support the selection and creation of OER content.