EDC 340 - Accessibility / Online Learning

-


It is vital to provide many ways for students to receive an education, whether in person, virtual, or hybrid. The article, ADA Compliance for Online Course Design by Sheryl Burgstahler, discusses the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the meaning of accessible and accommodation, strategies and tips for making online learning accessible, and the benefits of accessible design for individuals without disabilities. The article mentions that the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 requires that IT be accessible to individuals with disabilities. This is important because all students deserve a fair and equal education, which now involves the adequate usage of technology. This article defines accessible by using the Office of Civil Rights and the U.S. Department of Education, “Means a person with a disability is afforded the opportunity to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as a person without a disability in an equally effective and equally integrated manner.” However, accommodations are defined as “Are adaptations made for specific individuals when a product or service is not accessible” (Burgstahler). Both these quotes display the comparison between accessible and accommodation.

The next thing that this article reviews is some strategies for utilizing assistive technology. The author includes a strategy where screen readers allow users to skip from link to link text in a web page and from heading to heading in a document. This is especially useful for individuals that are visually impaired. This article also lists 20 tips for teaching an accessible online course. Some of the tips are using structure headings, descriptive wording for hyperlinks, color combinations that are high contrast, presenting content in multiple ways, providing feedback, and much more. Regardless of a student’s situation, accommodations should be available for everyone. 

The website, Designing an Accessible Online Course by the University of Arkansas is a toolkit that assists campuses who decide to teach virtually. It offers multiple drop-down tabs that explain each factor necessary for a successful transition to online learning. One of the tabs is determining whether a learning management system (LMS) is accessible. It says that contacting a campus disability resource office or instructional design support is the best way to ask if there is an LMS. Other tabs include sharing accessible videos, documents, presentations, video conferencing, images, and accommodations in an online course. Another useful tab is encouraging good practices for using discussion tools. It explains that students should elaborate on their subject headings for discussion boards. This allows other students to scan for the information they may need. 

In conclusion, both of these sources offer insightful information. Both for online teaching and methods students can use to strengthen their technological abilities. When students are given fair access to technology, they can use the most of their education. 


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

EDC 230 - Chapter 10

-
Image
     The tenth chapter of The Growth Mindset Playbook by Annie Brock and Heather Hundley reviews the moonshot mindset in classrooms. The chapter starts by explaining the origin of moonshot thinking. It began when Google focused on making 10x improvements. This was used in the Space Race of the 1960s; the United States intended on being the first to put a man on the moon in just ten years. With determination and imagination, this became a reality, and as a result, this began moonshot thinking. This can be used in a classroom to inspire students that anything is possible. Limiting students by telling them they are not good enough or their aspirations cannot happen because it seems impossible displays a fixed mindset. The authors make the following statement, “You’ve staked your life’s work on helping students succeed, so saddling them - or yourself - with limits to their potential for achievement is counterintuitive to the wager you made the moment you took your first teac...
Read more

EDC 230 - Chapter 8

-
Image
       The eighth chapter of The Growth Mindset Playbook by Annie Brock and Heather Hundley reviews how to foster a happy and collaborative classroom. The main message is to structure the school environment so students can learn about themselves and their peers. The authors discuss that teachers give their attention to students who appear to be more intelligent than others in some cases. This creates a hostile environment because it encourages students to compete against one another in an unhealthy way. It could cause a fixed mindset for students since they become highly focused on their grades instead of learning the material. A factor that the authors mention that is key to fostering a growth mindset is building a sense of community in the classroom. They list some of the following strategies that teachers can use: similarities and differences, on the bus off the bus, personal inventory or daily/weekly journaling, connecting with students, team approach, and being...
Read more

EDC 340 - Assistive Technology

-
Image
     It is important for classrooms to have accessible technology for all students, especially those with exceptionalities. Students that need more help with daily functioning skills or managing behavior should have access to assistive technology. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) ensures that students with exceptionalities receive related services and a free appropriate public education. With the role of IDEA and the growing use of technology in schools, assistive technology should be readily available. The article, Using Assistive Technology to Empower Students with Disabilities by Micah Castelo discusses implementing technology that assists students of all abilities. The author starts the article by mentioning a school in Minnesota using Lenovo VR headsets and Google Expeditions for students with learning needs. This allowed students to become engaged in learning and practice their social skills.      The author uses Kara Ball’s expl...
Read more