There is a lot of pretending going on.
First, I will note that I use a lot of color in my CAD designs. But because I am aware of the common disabilities with color vision, I am careful to choose colors that are more easily distinguished. I also try to choose colors that will print in b/w with different shades of grey, and often also use line types (different kinds of dashes). Those may help some, but someone who is color blind will likely not be able to discern all the things in my drawings. But, I won’t reduce the use of color that will reduce the ability of most people to understand the drawings.
I disagree with some of the things in this course. For a minor, but clear example, we are tasked with creating content that strengthens the learning process. But, then things like "don't use color" are stated, even though the use of color has long been considered a good tool to enhance learning. So, the result is to reduce learning in the general population, to accommodate some, but pretend that it doesn’t.
It is somewhat like back when some K-12 schools started dumbing-down their education for the purpose of increasing graduation rates in the name of equity. Yes, more kids got diplomas. But those who could have benefited from the higher levels of education were made to suffer.
I really appreciated learning more about tools available to help make course content more accessible and the reminder to be proactive in building syllabi with a welcoming tone and good universal design built in rather than going back and trying to fit it later.
Use multiple methods for different types of disabilities, as well as different learning types. Videos should be transcribed, pictures should have ALT words
Captioning and transcribing can assest the online learner with disabilities. Online instructors can use multable ways to assess a learner's abilities.
In order to make a course accessible, it is recommended the instructor be proactive and plan ahead instead of retrofitting the content.
Making courses accessible and beneficial to everyone is important to all students success. Researching the many tools available is a good place to start.
At bare minimum, the instructor can record lectures and ensure that there is a text transcript for lectures available to students to ensure all knowledge is accesible for any student, no matter their disability.
It is important to have varying formats and designs for all online material to make all students, regardless of impairments/disabilities, feel welcomed and have every opportunity to succeed
I learned that we need to caption all our videos and recordings for students with disabilities.
I found the different ways to make the course accessible very interesting.
In this module I learnd about thigs to consider when designing content for courses.
I learned that the Universal Design concepts is very important in a designing course, the professor have the responsibility to meet multiple ways to teach a lessons for all students including with disabilities, he has to facilitate the instructions.
Closed Captioning CC is another great tool to assist the students with different learning needs. It is another tool to keep in mind when trying to meet the needs of all students.
At first, I was a little intimidated realizing how little I knew about making appropriate accomodations to make coursework accessbile to all. While I know there is still a lot to learn, I think what I feel better about knowing is that there are resources, and I can simply speak with my school/department/team to help assist in making sure my class is appropriate for all.
Online instructors should encourage contact between students and faculty, encourage active learning, give prompt feedback, emphasize time on task, respect diverse talents and ways of learning and communicate high expectations.
OMG, there is so much, I don't know where to begin. I do know that I have not been trained in some of the material, but I have been making use of Panopto video for my class. I just didn't know I should be including a text transcript in the videos I made.
There is a lot of technology to incorporate with little time to learn it. How do we as instructors work through this? I am not afraid of technology, just not having the time to learn it quickly enough.
Gail
Universal design helps prevent the need to overhaul courses. I also think a course designed with universal design in mind will be better for all students.
Nancy Tosh
Universal design is essential for all learners. To be provactive the tool should be flexible in use, simple and intuitive and tolerant in errors. I think Media Access Generator (MAGpie) is ideal.
There are so much information and resources available to assist educators in desigining lessons for their learners. I find that it's already a challenge authoring course work for non-disabled learners. With the added challenges of disabled learners, educators are more than ever relying special education just to learn to include all the nuances needed to accommodate these students. Being an educator today is not just about teaching subject matter, but it also include how to design and deliver your course work to ALL students.
