Sunday 25 December 2011

Laura's Interesting Links (weekly)

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Sunday 18 December 2011

Laura's Interesting Links (weekly)

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Sunday 11 December 2011

Laura's Interesting Links (weekly)

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Monday 5 December 2011

Digital Inclusion

I read this morning "Listening With a Different Ear: Understanding Disabled Students' Relationship With Technologies" by Seale and Bishop from the book "Rethinking Learning for Digital Age" as I am currently working on assessing how accessible Turnitin and GradeMark are.

Here are some of the key things that I got from the chapter:

Previous research has found that disabled students commonly experience several barriers when accessing technologies which support their learning.
  • Access to publically available IT facilities (no specialist software on these)
  • Funding takes too much time
  • Accessing support and training for these technologies
It has also found that a common problem is access to online resources, especially through VLE's which are notoriously hard to access and navigate in. The focus has been on ensuring that learners have equal access to technology and are able to participate in meaningful learning activies.

LEXDIS project
LEXDIS is a JISC funded project looking at the experience of disabled students use of technology for learning at Southampton University. There were 6 key findings from this research:

  1. e-learning applications do not interact well with assistive technology.
  2. Navigation of library website was difficult
  3. Navigability and usability of Blackboard was a problem
  4. Problems opening and manipulating PDF
  5. Learning environments influences if the student can access their preferred assistive technology
  6. Difficulties scanning non-standard symbols or text

There were two key behaviours which were identified by the research.

Digital Agility
Disabled students are familiar with using both general and specialised technologies. They have also developed a wide range of strategies to using technology for learning and display high levels of confidence in their own ability to use technology. As with most students, disabled students, have customised technology to suit their needs.

At least 31 different strategies were developed. These were often related to adapting to the restrictions on access to computers and information as well as coping with written work. In order to learn effectively disabled students have to be prepared to adapt activities, environments and technology to suit their own circumstances. However it should be noted that not all disabled learners are as digitally agile as others and may need further advice and guidance on developing these strategies.

Digital Decision Making
Disabled students frequently have to make strategic decisions about the technologies that they use. This may include the decision not to use a specific technology. Decisions are often complex and contextual, based around the task being undertaken and the strengths and weaknesses of a technology to help complete this task. This can also be course related where some technologies are not fit to support learning within a particular subject area. This is often like a cost-benefit analysis making sure they choose the appropriate tool for the job.

One of the key factors when deciding to use a technology, or which technology to use, is time. Does the student have the time to learn how to use a technology for that purpose, either through training or trial and error? If not then this often results in the student using methods they already have because they do not have time to learn something new which in the long run could be more efficient. They are diveritng time away from studying in order to learn how to use the technology. When a student does not use a technology it is important to understand why rather than assuming that they are having trouble accessing it. This decision making has also been referred to by Parker and Banerjee (2007) as "Strategic Fluency".

Recommendations
The paper provides 5 recommendations for future practice.

  1. Increase the level of provision for online materials.
  2. Raise awareness and understanding of accessibility issues particularly within VLE's (inconsistency of structure and organisation across courses can be problematic).
  3. Increase awareness of alternative formats which offer similar learning outcomes.
  4. Recognition of digital literacy skills of disabled students.
  5. Design and develop learning opportunities and support systems that recognise the significant factors influencing student use of technology.

References
Parker, D.R. & Banerjee, M. (2007). Leveling the digital playing field. Assessment for Effective Intervention, 33(1): 5-14.

Seale, J. & Bishop, N. (2010). Listening With a Different Ear: Understanding Disabled Students' Relationship With Technologies. In Sharpe, R., Beetham, H. & De Freitas, S. (Eds.) Rethinking Learning for a Digital Age. (pp.128-141) London: Routledge.
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Sunday 4 December 2011

Laura's Interesting Links (weekly)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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