E-Learning as an Assistive Technology Tool
Distance Learning
Telecommunications technologies offer all learners the opportunity
for distance learning . Distance learning is defined
as instruction received by learners who are in a different physical
location than the instructor. This approach to learning includes
courses offered by educational institutions, businesses, or other
entities. Some of these courses can be accessed from home. Others
may be offered at a company's headquarters, factory meeting room,
public library, or other community site. These settings can provide
learners with the flexibility they need to be involved in the learning
process and, thus, a valuable form of accommodation.
Courses can be taken:
- through university consortium programs that include
cable television
- via telephone conference calling (interactive
telephone), where the instructor conducts class from a telephone--
the telephone lines of the students and teachers are linked through
a bridging device;
- through interactive television broadcasting
received at a learning site furnished with equipment that allows
learners at that site to see and speak with the instructor and
learners in other sites;
- through courses organized around a core of videotaped
presentations (these videocassettes can be closed-captioned
as well)
- through correspondence courses , beneficial
to learners with learning disabilities who benefit from working
in a non- threatening environment at their own pace and
- through combinations of the above technologies.
Students with learning disabilities can tape these courses and
review them later at their own pace and as many times as needed
to acquire the knowledge. Accompanying printed coursework materials
can be obtained in audiocassette for reinforcement.
Closed captioning , now a standard feature in
new television sets, allows learners to see and hear the words on
broadcast or cable television. Closedcircuit television is an effective
training tool used in many work settings, a tool that can be adapted
to the special needs of those with learning disabilities.
Growing in popularity is the use of the computer, a modem
and the internet for such things as Webcast learning. Webcast
learning is an interactive web TV, where you can watch programs,
read and download information and email questions simultaneously.
Another option involves online long distance courses offered as
a general interest course or towards a certificate at the college
level, or towards a degree at the university level. Many offer certificate
programs and courses to earn professional development credits.
Online courses are an exceptionally accessible, flexible resource
that can be accessed anytime, by choosing when and where you participate
in class. Your course is conducted according to a schedule, but
there are no "live" classes to attend. Instead, lectures,
coursework, and discussions all take place at your convenience.
You choose the place - at home, at school - wherever you have access
to a computer, modem, and an Internet Service Provider. You'll get
the same high-quality instruction and course content that you demand,
but without the day-to-day obstacles that prevent so many of us
from pursuing other goals. With online learning, commuting to campus
and paying for childcare are things of the past.
A large majority of colleges and universities across Canada now
provide the convenience of online learning programs.
( http://snow.utoronto.ca/resources/technology/techdised
)
A downfall to these online courses however, is that accessibility
standards are not uniform. Many learners with disabilities have
difficulty with online learning because of access issues resulting
from their disability, or because the environment does not suit
their preferred style of learning.
Online learning is not recommended if you are overwhelmed with
typing, have an aversion to the words ‘software download and
set up’, and if reading is a struggle. However, assistive
technology for reading and writing activities such as a voice output/text
to speech system scans and converts text into computer documents
that can be read by a speech synthesis and a speech to text allows
the user to use the computer by speech.
Research is currently being done to allow web developers and web
educators to develop online educational content to be presented
in a structured adaptable learning environment. One such tool being
developed is called ATutor. A-Tutor is a free adaptive learning
environment and Web based course-authoring tool. It allows Web developers,
and particularly Web educators, to easily develop online educational
content to be presented in a structured adaptable learning environment.
It allows online learners to arrange content in many different ways,
adapting it to their preferred style or method of learning web-based
instructional material. A-Tutor has been created to provide a learning
environment that adapts to the characteristics of the learner. Visit
the A-Tutor website to learn more about it.
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