Transforming Technologies: Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age

Session 5:Assistive Technology

Learning outcomes• To consider issues of inclusivity and accessibility in

relation to technology and the incorporating of technology in curriculum design.

• To consider perspectives from the field of enabling technology, gaining a sense of social, political and other factors associated with it.

• To identify practical ways in which your use of technology/resources can become more enabling.

• To experiment with some enabling technologies to gain experience of how they work for some individuals.

What is accessibility?• Accessibility is a general term used to describe the degree to

which a product, device, service, or environment is available to as many people as possible. Accessibility can be viewed as the "ability to access" and benefit from some system or entity.

• Accessibility is strongly related to universal design when the approach involves "direct access". This is about making things accessible to all people (whether they have a disability or not).

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility

PrinciplesAccessible and inclusive learning is....• Accounting for a range of individual learning styles and

preferences and offering a choice.• Using tools and approaches which are enabling and

compatible with learners’ specific needs and/or equipment.• Using readily available resources and materials.• Building flexibility into curriculum design and delivery.• A strong relationship between the learning outcomes and the

tools/methods used.

Models of disability

http://www.slideshare.net/unicefceecis/expert-presentation-by-ms-gerison-lansdown-international-expert-on-child-rights

Re-framing curriculum

“There is a world of difference between, on the one hand, offering courses of education and training and then giving some students who have learning difficulties some additional human or physical aids to gain access to those courses, and, on the other hand, redesigning the very process of learning, assessment and organisation so as to fit the objectives and learning styles of the students.”

Tomlinson, Inclusive Learning, FEFC, 1996

Models of accessible learning

Accessible contentDoes it support

me?

Accessible interface

Can I work it?

Cultural capital

Do I value it?

Accessible task

Does it engage me?

Format choice• Making materials available in a number of formats

(e.g. printable handout, podcast, slideshow).• Offering a choice of method to achieve the same

learning outcome (e.g. video recording, electronic mind map etc).

• Using formats which are accessible and promote readability (e.g. font choice and size, screen definition etc).

• Ensuring materials work with other accessibility tools (e.g. screenreaders).

Electronic alternatives

Screen shot from Freemind (free mindmap software)http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Accessible Text

The Accessibility toolbar for Word – ‘DAISY’ function

Audio, visual and mobile alternatives

JISC TechDis

• Excellence in Inclusivity: http://inclusivity.rsc-yh.ac.uk/

Critical questions

• How accessible is your provision, your resources,