One of my main responsibilities as a teacher is to ensure that all students in my classes get the best learning environment possible. Therefore, usability in the context of learners with disabilities is not a matter of passing legal requirements with flying colors; it is a matter of making sure all learners can interact with the material and the classroom as effectively as they possibly can. In this blog post, I will present some of the technologies and techniques I employed or could employ in order to improve accessibility in face-to-face, flexible/blended, and online environments.
Furthermore, I define equality as simply giving all the students an equal chance of accessing educational materials and facilities. This reaches the disabled, the learning disabled, or anyone with other complications that may affect their studying. It is therefore important that we recognise inclusive technology to increase the chance of breaking barriers and enriching the learning experience for all.
Leveraging assistive technologies:
Basically, the most effective interventions are addressed through what is known as assistive technologies (AT). These tools have been developed to support educationally marginalized students to better interact with course material, such as visual aids, hearing aids, mobility ads, etc. Some of the examples are:
Speech Recognition Software
The functionalities of this innovation include voice-enabled computation through the use of voice and voice commands for facilitating control and interaction with computers and other related devices. It transcribes spoken words; for instance, those who have writing challenges will not struggle to write or express themselves. We are now able to voice type and voice navigate with officially supported products such as Dragon NaturallySpeaking.
Closed Captioning and Transcripts
The feature of closed captioning offers a written text version of spoken words in the videos for benefiting the students with hearing impairments. The description also comes in handy when used in audio and video materials to enable the students to have something to read as they listen, especially those students who have issues with processing auditory information. The combined use of cooperation and competition makes information easy to understand and easier to remember.
Audiobooks:
Audiobooks refer to recorded books you can listen to and capture the essence of the written word in the comfort of your preferable place. Gettable from sites like Audible or through the Libby app, audiobooks can be played through, or on, smart phones, tablets, and a laptop, which makes them adaptable to multitasking during car rides, exercise, and cleaning. They have enormous utility, especially to visually impaired or those with reading disorders since they act as a way of presenting content not possible using text alone. There are many genres and titles in Audiobooks, many of these consist of professional readers for the audiobooks to make the books more interesting with how they read the books.
Applying Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Universal Design for Learning is a concept that I love to use in the class as it provides a structure way to meet the diverse need of all students, so first of all, I prefer multiple representations since there are several ways one can engage with content, and I offer a variety of options that are useful for class activities, group discussion, and project work that corresponds to learners’ preferred mode of processing information. Further, I would like to incorporate multiple means of representation to provide content in one medium, another medium, and a third medium by creating videos, infographics, and demonstrations to accommodate each of the students. Finally, I promote multiple ways of doing things and showing knowledge which enables students to use resources in ways that they enjoy and believe to be most effective including through presentation, projects, writing and so on.
Exploring Emerging Technologies
New technologies are quite key in influencing the educational sector through granting new means of teaching and learning processes. AI is currently in vanguard, which through its ability to create customized learning pathways by incorporating content that addresses a student’s specific needs and through its capacity to deliver grades and feedback for students. Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) components allow students to learn at a higher level and create a realistic experience that lets them travel around the world or a particular place virtually, or perform some exercises that will enable them to learn more effectively than just following theories or listening to instructions only.
In the same way, the use of games in the teaching and learning process, absorbs interest and active participation by using the features of a game that include challenge, reward, and competition. At the same time, the technology will develop and become integrated into every aspect of teaching and learning creating a more effective and efficient environment.
This poses the question is there a way that we as educators can make our classrooms favorable for students to learn in regardless of their problems or not? Using assistive technologies and applying Universal Design for Learning, discovering promising technologies, constructing supportive infrastructures, continuous training, and involving families, we can build the educational setting for all students with differences.
I have read these resources for this blog-
https://www.cast.org/impact/universal-design-for-learning-udl
Utilizing Technologies to Improve Accessibility in the Classroom