Since the 1980s, as an Occupational Therapist working in vocational rehabilitation I have witnessed how home computers and access to the internet has expanded the range of vocational and recreational options available for people who have severe disabilities, such as quadriplegia. My first exposure to the Internet was during a home visit with a lady suffering from MS. She had overcome her social isolation by being linked to the outside world via the Internet, at that stage it was only Web 1.0, supported by the email.
Schools need to be aware of the The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) which was amended in 2005 to include Educational Standards , it is a legal requirment to provide equitable access to to all students unless to do so causes unjustifiable hardship.
Teachers in metropolitan WA would normally have access to health professionals (such as Speech Pathologists, Occupational Therapists) who provide advice for students with a disability where the disabilty affects ability to write, read, or use a computer. However I am interested in investigating further and capturing my findings by deveoping a "Universal Access Resource Page" on my blog - see the top left hand corner.
It is one thing to provide access to the all students, (which may mean the student with a disabiilty uses a different input device, or has specific software installed), it is another thing to integrate this student into a collaborative on-line learning experience with his/her peers. The teacher needs to ensure that what all students write or produce is compatible to devices/software that the studentwith the disability may be using. For example:-
A person who is colour blind may have difficulty seeing reds and green , so it is best to avoid titles and text in these colours. NB there are other types of colour blindness!
A person who has low vision may need to use a page reader, and other students will need to ensure that subtitles are used to describe pictures or graphics on their blogs.
A student with a different low vision problem may be able to distinguish between black and white and be able to decipher simple graphics, but not discern a picture presented as a photograph.
To assist with having uniformity on what is an acceptable standard in web page design, accessibility guidelines have been developed by W3C (W3C is short for World Wide Web Consortium, which has a mission to make the web accessible to all).
Personally, I still find it all mind boggling - and I have had some exposure to this topic over many years, so don't be worried if this feels like another quantum leap being demanded of your thinking!
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This is a good set of links to key usability considerations.
ReplyDeleteI think this a fascinating, appealing and noble post Averil. My brother has lateral displacement disorder (a mild form of Down Syndrome) and he has struggled through his entire schooling career (he is now in year 11). He is very interested in computers and gives my grandparents tutorials on how to use the technology. Unfortunately, this has never been harnassed at school, no-one has said he should consider an ICT course and of the class work I have seen, it is all written (with assignment work being done at home). He is someone I know who would benefit from using computers at school because it is what engages him, but thus far all he sees is the home computer where he can have fun and the school computers which he can only use for specific, teacher-led (often research) purposes. It's definitely not integrated into his mindset that the computer can be a tool for his learning, if used by a skilled teacher.
ReplyDeleteAlso, some students I've been working with have been recently diagnosed with dyslexia. I was speaking with one of the parents, who has said that computer work helps the child to focus and get words down, whereas I've seen his written class work and found he is easily distracted and reluctant to write anything. I'm trying to think of strategies to integrate computer technology into this child's class so that he is engaged, it's beneficial and worthwile for the students and something is achieved because of it. I'll get back to you on how that goes.
The main point is: if the resource is there and we know that it engages those students who are often unengaged because of things out of their control, then why not use the resource, adapt the resource to give these kids the proper opportunities to succeed. This is especially important in primary school, where we still have a chance to instill the value of education so that the student continues to want to learn in high school. I feel sad for my brother, knowing the opportunities he has missed out on because he wasn't engaged at an early stage - he's made some excellent choices now, but even those were with minimal interest from the school.
Hi Mark
ReplyDeleteThank you for relaying your brother's situation.
If teachers and parents were a bit more knowledgeable on how to use the DDA to argue their case, Schools would have no choice but to abide.