How Open Is The Digital Environment For Disabled Students In Higher Education?Jennie Augustyniak, MAODE student, The Open UniversityWednesday February 17th 2016 09:00 – 11:45

Answer:

It’s complex and complicated

(and needs investigation)

Increasingly students in higher education (HE) study in a digital environment, using a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)

In open education, most learning materials, teaching, and library services are delivered online

Many students use assistive technologies to support their access and engagement with study

‘Digital’ and ‘Open’

are used interchangeably and considered widely as inherently enabling

Weller, M (2015) ‘1.3 Digital and open’, Unit 1: Overview of H818 [Online]. Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=736598&section=3(Last accessed 5 January 2016).

‘Access’ and ‘Accessibility’are substituted often and there is general expectation they lead to effective outcomes

One perspective:

Digital is enabling

Another perspective:

Digital is a barrier

The situation for many disabled students is not simple:the pathway to ‘open’ (inclusion) is not necessarily digital, and a digital environment canbe a barrier

No well-defined causal link between ‘access’ and ‘use’ for disabled students and assistive technologies

Seale, J., Georgeson, J., Mamas, C., Swain, J. (2015) ‘Not the right kind of ‘digital capital’? An examination of the complex relationship

between disabled students, their technologies and higher education institutions’, Computers & Education, vol. 82, pp. 118-128 [Online].

Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/science/article/pii/S0360131514002541 (Last accessed 11 January 2016).

The interaction of disabled students with digital learning and teaching raises unexpected complexities

A Case Study – implementation of a VLE

https://sway.com/10efPsxdZSGjHQOX

Disabled students had difficulties with the increase in screen-time required

Jan-Dec

Students with adjustments

Students registered

Notes

2010 37 11,089 VLE introduced

2011 77 12,155

2012 82 15,856 VLE fully implemented

2013 139 17,720

2014 274 18,970 Unexpected rise

2015 731 *Not yet available

As above!!

Table 1: Number of disabled students requesting and then receiving individual reasonable adjustments to reduce their amount of screen-time

* Approximately 20,000

Why?

The extent and variety of the difficulties was not expected

(and needed investigation)

The most frequently requested adjustment was for printedversions of the VLE

Again, why?

And how can the University meet this new demand?

And should we?

• Is print an effective solution

for students?

• Is it a sustainable solution

for the University?

• Are we perpetuating a

‘separate but unequal online

environment’ for disabled

students (Wentz et al., 2011)?

EXPLORING WHY ‘DIGITAL’ IS NOT NECESSARILY ‘OPEN’ AND LOOKING FOR EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS

A Learning Activity and Workshop

The issues to be addressed are complex with several dimensions, and many stakeholders

A Tale of:

Two Students

2# student:

• Female, registered blind, middle-aged, employed in disability advice; additional support funded by the University and Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs)

• Sole access to computer with broadband, document scanner, portable magnifier; uses equipment and Daisy talking books in day-to-day life and for work; receives accessible PDFs of all printed materials

• Requested adjustment of large print versions of all materials – 20pt font with colour-coding and ring-binding – large quantities of print generated; now struggling with organisation of materials

1# student:

• Female, hearing and sight impaired, medication-related fatigue, elderly, retired; additional support funded by the University

• Limited access to a computer and broadband (shares facilities and need assistance to operate); uses Daisy talking books for leisure

• Requested adjustment of large print versions of all materials – 36pt font on A3 paper – very bulky and heavy; now needs only very limited use of a computer and carries out very little online activity

Seven specific issues were identified for the workshop to address

1. Are the adjustment requests well informed?

2. Does the adjustment enable access to online

learning?

3. Does the adjustment enable disabled students make

the most effective use of online learning?

4. Do disabled students miss out on the rich experience

of the VLE?

5. Are disabled students hindered in the opportunity to

become ‘digital scholars’?

6. Do disabled students value the adjustment made

(does it meet their expectations)?

7. Are disabled students empowered in their use and

adoption of technologies?

Preparation for the workshop

A learning activity to ‘educate’ participants in the background before the workshop

• Data analysis of the adjustment requests made – to look for patterns across student disabilities, qualification, subject of study, location etc.

• Student consultation – to learn more about the reasons they made their request and to check on how useful it has been

• Other stakeholder engagement – to learn more about the situation in faculties, materials production, and student support, including the provision of information, advice, and guidance (IAG)

• Current practice – preparing overviews of the ‘as is’ process

• Facilitation – securing an independent facilitator • Arrangements – room booking, conferencing facilities

for a remote access option, sending invitations to participate

• Pre-workshop participation via the learning activity

Six outcomes were identified for the workshop to achieve

1. At conclusion: A documented student consultation on individual

reasonable adjustments (responses to the seven specific issues

and any further comments and feedback)

2. At conclusion: An improved view of what disabled students need

to gain access to and make effective use of online learning.

3. At conclusion: An improved view of how disabled students use

and adopt technology and of ways support to enable this can best

be provided (by the University and others).

4. Short term: Updated University process for making and handling

responsive adjustments.

5. Medium term: Better informed operational practice in supporting

disabled students.

6. Longer term: Assistive technologies and adjustments used as

exemplars and made available for all students to support learning

styles and preferences, and students who are not permitted to

study online e.g., due to religious beliefs or because they are in

prison.

LET ME TELL YOU

Findings so far…

Jennie Augustyniak, MAODE student, The Open University

How Open Is The Digital Environment For Disabled Students In Higher Education?

ANY QUESTIONS?