Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Accessibility and Digital Equity
The topic of accessibility and digital equity is definitely a new topic for me. Before taking this course, I hadn't given much thought to this subject. I knew that as teachers we are required to make sure all of our students' needs are met no matter what disability they have or where they come from. Meeting our students needs sounds easier than it actually is. After reading this article "AIM For Digital Equity," by Gayle Bowser and Joy Zabala, I learned a lot more about what meeting our students needs looks like when it comes to digital equity.
One concept that I learned from this article is that the switch from textbooks and paper to more digital technology in the classroom could leave behind some learning barriers, but could also create new ones. Teachers are required to provide accessible instructional materials (AIM). These materials may be screen readers, closed captioning, or alternative text. The main point is that there are going to be students in every classroom who have an identified disability and those who have unidentified disabilities. I think it is important that teachers have to be ready to meet students needs whether they are visually impaired or hearing impaired. It seems that there are a lot of resources to help educators in this area as well.
To ensure online accessibility for all of my digital content I will include ChromVox or a tool similar to it on every computer in the classroom. I will also provide closed captioning on all of the videos I use in class so that the students can read what is being said in the videos. I will definitely add these tools to all of the digital content being used in class before the school year begins. This is important to do because even though my roster might not specify anyone with a disability, it is better to be prepared than to have to add the tools later.
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Meredith, you make a good, final point here. Your roster may not specify whether or not you have someone has a disability, but you should indeed be prepared anyway. As we discussed in class, it's not difficult to add closed captioning or to record your lectures. I believe there are even tools that allow you to submit an audio recording and the service will transcribe it for you. This would be extremely helpful for not just disabled students, but also for parents and other students who wanted to review, or who were sick and missed class. I think as educators we should take these small steps that make a huge impact in students' education.
ReplyDeleteI like how you point out that there will be students with unidentified disabilities because this is a major point. By the time I get students in high school most students will have identified any disability, but there are always some that slip through the cracks. How very sad for the student that they could struggle through school not knowing that there is something that can help them. I hope to be able to provide the kinds of accessibility tools available online so that every student can benefit from the technology. The only thing is, I can only control my class, not knowing who NEEDS the aid doesn't help outside my classroom. The student will continue to struggle in other classes unless they provide them with the unknowingly needed tool. So the answer to this problem is to promote to all colleagues and peers that this technology is essential in order to reach all students regardless if they qualify for AIM or not.
ReplyDeleteMeredith,
ReplyDeleteYou pointed out a great tool to help you accomplish
I have to agree that it is better to be safe than to be sorry, and this way if you already practice implementing these accessibility tools, your students won't feel bad for having you to go out of your way to accommodate their special needs. Student recognition is great, but we don't want them to feel bad when we recognize their disabilities. It's also good to actively practice this when making anything online because not only might your students having a learning disability, but parents might as well!
You're absolutely right about having to be prepared. I actually installed a screen reader so that I can play with it on my own, so when I have my own classroom, I will know how to work it. It's better to be prepared with the knowledge as opposed to finding out on the first day of school that one or more of your children are impaired in a way that may make your fresh new lesson...impossible for them to complete. The world keeps on changing, and we as teachers, have to keep adapting and finding new, better ways to help our students. It is a never ending project.
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