JISC

Informing Policy, Improving Practice: making the student experience more

inclusive through technology

Supporting Staff in Teaching InclusivelyUsing TechnologyTo directly support lecturersand tutors, in 2008 theJISC/Higher Education AcademyCollaboration Initiative providedfunding for JISC TechDis to workwith partners in the HigherEducation Academy SubjectCentres and JISC RegionalSupport Centres to develop asuite of learning objects oninclusive use of technology inteaching. These objects weretailored to, and therefore moreuseful for, a variety of disciplineor role areas.

Teaching Inclusively UsingTechnology has five modules:

w Preparing Your Learning;

w Delivering Learning(Lecture/Classroom);

w Delivering Learning(Practical/Fieldwork/ Work-based Learning/Placement);

w Delivering Learning (Online);

The increasing diversity of the higher education student body means that staff involved inteaching and supporting learning are having to develop a growing repertoire of techniques toensure their practice is as inclusive as possible. JISC TechDis provides advice and guidance forteaching practitioners, library staff, staff developers and more, to raise the level of inclusivity inmainstream practice, as well as working with senior managers and policy makers to ensure thatnational and institutional systems support inclusive approaches. This leaflet introduces some ofthe resources currently provided by JISC TechDis in pursuit of these aims.

w Assessing Learning.

Each of these five modules isa 10-20 minute tutorial foranyone involved in teachinghigher or further education,work-based learning, adultcommunity learning, etc.There are several differentversions of these sets of 5modules, themedappropriately for differentaudiences: a Generic set, plussets focussing on Economics;Art Design & Media;Information and ComputerSciences; Physical Sciencesand HE in FE.

www.techdis.ac.uk/getteachinginclusively

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Contents

Supporting Staff in TeachingInclusively Using Technology

Inclusive Practice in Action

Evaluating Web2.0Technologies for Accessibility

Get the basics right

Getting started in InclusiveMobile Learning

How do Assistive Technologiesfit into mainstream activities?

Guidance for senior managers:12 Steps towards embeddinginclusive use of technology asa whole institution culture

No-cost solutions: making themost of free and Open Sourcesoftware

Supporting students who needalternative formats of texts

Creating accessible learningobjects with free software

Enabling the learner voice onaccessibility

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www.techdis.ac.uk/getheatscheme

Students using the iPod Touch with wifi capability atMacDonalds, Leicester

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Inclusive Practice in ActionThe HEAT Scheme

To demonstrate practical,achievable examples ofinclusive practice, the HEATscheme invited staff in HigherEducation to bid for specificitems of technology to runsmall projects, using theminnovatively to develop oruncover an aspect of inclusivepractice – sometimes explicitlyto benefit students or staffwith particular impairments,sometimes implicitly indeveloping a use oftechnology which is by naturemore inclusive than theprevious, often non-technological methods.Projects have been undertakenin all disciplines in teaching, aswell as staff development,libraries, careers services,support services and more. Thescheme has so far funded over80 projects and has beenfunded by JISC TechDis, theHigher Education Academyand JISC. Highlights include:

w Developing interactive largegroup teaching sessions.

w Producing alternativeversions of mathsdocuments for blindstudents.

w Using video to teachchemistry to first yearbioscience students.

w Evaluating the accessibilitybenefits and barriers ofUltra Mobile PCs.

w Digitising slides andcreating audio recordings oflectures as tools forengaging students.

w Using a microscope cameraand remote screen displaysto bring close-updemonstrations to largergroups of students.

w Using mobile phones andmediascapes to enhancelearning about the urbanenvironment.

w Use of Personal DigitalAssistants to enhanceclinical learning and CPD .

w Using mentoring avatars toaddress recruitment,retention, wideningparticipation and flexibilityof learning.

w Development of anInteractive MultimediaMobile Classroom todemonstrate technologiesto staff in their own

Charts showing student satisfaction with the availability ofaudio recordings of lectures. Of those who made use of therecordings, 96% found them helpful.

The Urban Education Tour running on a Windows® MobileDevice (left), and students using the devices to take themobile tour (right)

teaching environments.

w Using iPods andmicroblogging to learnabout students’ use of thephysical campusenvironment for learning.

w Creating an AssistiveTechnology staffdevelopment resource forCPD.

w Development of a studentusability testing suite.

w Evaluation of e-bookreaders for use in markingof student assignments.

w Podcasting danceperformance for feedback.

w Using iPod touch fordelivering interactive fieldvisits to places of worship,benefitting learners with arange of learning styles.

w Evaluating alternativeforms of assessment foraccessibility, academicvalidity and professionalbody approval, feeding intoinstitutional policy.

w Use of memory sticks todeliver CPD to associatelecturers.

w Supporting Deaf studentsthrough electronicmentoring.

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Informing Policy, Improving Practice: making the student experience more inclusive through technology

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Evaluating Web2.0 Technologies for AccessibilityMany staff are now investigating the use of Web2.0technologies (interactive and collaborative tools supportingactivities such as group authorship of documents or mindmaps or adding audio and video into the learning process) –the Web2Access toolkit highlights the accessibilityadvantages and disadvantages of a variety of Web2.0applications and includes a 14-point testing procedure thatcan be applied to any Web2.0 application.

The toolkit: w Aims to assist both users and developers in their

understanding of an approach to reviewing theaccessibility of particular applications.

w Includes generic advice to enable the process to befollowed as applications will come and go but diversity ofneed will grow.

w Attempts to categorise Web2.0 applications according towhat tasks are to be attempted.

w Aims to give practitioners a sense of which types ofapplication are likely to produce benefits or barriers fordifferent types of learners.

www.techdis.ac.uk/getweb2access

Get the basics right

The most commondocuments in highereducation are in Microsoft®Word and Adobe® PDFformat, with Microsoft®PowerPoints also usedwidely in teaching. In orderto enable everyone inhigher education togenerate and use thesedocuments with maximum

accessibility, JISC TechDishas produced a resourceproviding the ‘accessibilityessentials’ involved in usingthese types of document (inMicrosoft® Office 2003 and2007). The four titles in theseries (all available on oneDVD and on the web) are:w Making Electronic

Documents More Readable.

w Writing AccessibleElectronic Documentswith Microsoft® Word.

w Creating AccessiblePresentations.

w Making the Most of PDFs.

www.techdis.ac.uk/accessibilityessentials

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Informing Policy, Improving Practice: making the student experience more inclusive through technology

Accessibility Essentials

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Getting started in Inclusive Mobile LearningWhich technology do almostall learners possess, that isalready adapted to theirneeds to some degree?Mobile devices provide oneof the most flexible deliverymechanisms for a variety ofinformation.

Upwardly Mobile is aimed atpractitioners - bothtechnophobes andtechnophiles. It providesteaching and lecturing staffwith information on theaccessibility pros and consof mobile learning, includingideas and approaches onusing mobile contentcreated by tutors, learners

and third parties, and tipson creating and distributingmobile content.

The guidance on UpwardlyMobile is aimed at staff whowant their teaching to bemore engaging andinclusive, but who areworking within the realitiesof limited time and budget.JISC TechDis has thereforeprioritised approaches thatblend mobile learning withface-to-face teaching, andwill enhance rather thanreplace traditionalpractices. UpwardlyMobile also focuses ontechniques that maximise

the use of familiartechnologies and softwarethat is free and user-friendly.

www.techdis.ac.uk/upwardlymobile

How do Assistive Technologies fitinto mainstream activities?Despite the efforts made bymany staff to make theiractivities as inclusive aspossible, many students willstill require assistivetechnologies in order tointeract equitably with theirpeers. In most institutionsthere is at least onemember of staff (variouslyhoused in support units,libraries, IT helpdesks,learning technology unitsand elsewhere) whose

responsibility is to workwith assistive technologiesand ensure they workeffectively with any othertools the student is likely toencounter in theireducation. To help providesupport for theseindividuals and share anddisseminate best practiceregarding assistivetechnologies, JISC TechDishas facilitated thedevelopment of a

community of practice‘ATinHE’ (AssistiveTechnologists in HigherEducation) to run alongsidethe existing Scottish ATAnetgroup. In addition to agathering in September2009 a JISCmail list hasbeen set up to facilitatediscussion, and bestpractice informationgathered by this networkwill be disseminated via theJISC TechDis website.

www.techdis.ac.uk/getATinHE

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No-cost solutions: makingthe most of free and OpenSource software

www.techdis.ac.uk/getfreesoftware

Guidance for senior managers: 12 Steps towards embedding inclusive use of technology asa whole institution cultureJISC TechDis worked withsenior staff in UK HigherEducation Institutions (andHE-delivering FE colleges) toelicit good practice in

embedding inclusive practicewith technology as a wholeinstitution culture. Eachinstitution reported thatpositive relationships between

key roles and policies underpinned thesuccessful adoption of aninclusive technology cultureacross the institution. Thegood (and poor) practice weuncovered has led directly tothe formulation of a reportdescribing 12 steps thatsenior managers can take tolead and embed inclusivepractice with technology as awhole institution culture. Weare now working with seniormanagers who havevolunteered to utilise therecommendations made in thebriefing in their owninstitution – lessons learnedfrom this process will bepublished on our website inlate 2009 /early 2010. Thefull research paper and abriefing for Senior Managersare available now from the JISC TechDis website.

www.techdis.ac.uk/getTCI

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The JISC TechDis website holdsa continually updated list ofuseful free and Open Sourcetechnology tools. Grouped intoseven task categories, manyare accompanied by tutorialsshowing how to begin usingthem. These applications canbe thought of as productivitytools which are useful forstudents who would benefitfrom planning, reading andwriting tools, and staff wishingto create multimedia learningresources.

Many of these freely availableapplications offer learners theopportunity to try out assistivetechnologies and assess theirsuitability without thefinancial outlay necessary forcommercial applications. Whilesome learners will need morefunctionality than the free

version provides, by trying thefree version they gain a cleareridea of what they want to lookfor in a commercial version, andcan make informed intelligentchoices.

Many of the applicationsshown will also run from amemory stick, removing theneed for installation ofsoftware, and also meaningthe user can take them to anyPC they wish to use.

To make the most of portablesoftware that will run from amemory stick, you can downloadonto a memory stick theAccessApps package, a singlebundle of over 50 freeportable tools that you can then access from any machine (www.techdis.ac.uk/getaccessapps)

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Running alongside the Guideto Obtaining Textbooks inAlternative Formats, thePublisher Lookup UK websiteis a collaborative facility jointlyorganised by JISC TechDis andThe Publishers Associationthat aims to enableeducationalists working withdisabled learners to get anelectronic version of publishedtexts from UK publishers asquickly as possible.

The website includes anonline database containingthe contact details of morethan 140 publishers,highlighting the appropriateperson to contact to requestan electronic version of abook, as well as best practiceguidance for both publishersand staff in educationalinstitutions.

www.publisherlookup.org.ukwww.techdis.ac.uk/getaltformat

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Supporting students whoneed alternative formatsof texts

have to provide alternativeformats in a timely manner todisabled learners. In most casesthe optimum accessibilitysolution is to obtain thetextbook in electronic format.This allows immediatepersonalisation of text size,colours and contrast. Inaddition, electronic text isusually an importantintermediate stage for theproduction of non-text formatssuch as audio or Braille.

This guidance is specificallydesigned for library staff,support staff and subjecttutors and lecturerssupporting disabled learners.It should be of use to anyone

trying to obtain digitalversions of

textbooks, to:

w Understand theprocesses involved.

w Recognise additionalin-house work that may

be required once thedigital version has been

obtained.

w Maximise the likelihood of asuccessful outcome.

w Evaluate your owninstitutional processes.

w Assess alternativeinterventions.

Written in conjunction withThe Publishers Association inthe UK, the Guide to ObtainingTextbooks in AlternativeFormats is for anyone whoneeds to source textbooks inan alternative format for areading impaired learner.Disability law protectsdisabled learners by requiringthe education institution tomake appropriate provision.Copyright law protectspublishers from inappropriate copying oftextbooks. Between these twosets of rights are the staff who

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Informing Policy, Improving Practice: making the student experience more inclusive through technology

Creating accessible learning objects with free software

www.techdis.ac.uk/getxerte

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Xerte is an Open Source toolenabling staff and studentsto easily create accessiblelearning objects. It wasdeveloped by theInformation Services teamat the University ofNottingham, and JISCTechDis worked with themto create a simple usertemplate for non-technicalteaching staff. Xerte makesit easy to create and deployinteractive materials thatare highly accessible andSCORM compliant. Theaccessibility featuresautomatically built in to anyXerte object include: w All content is controllable

and navigable by thekeyboard.

w The user can choose fromdifferent colour schemesand text sizes.

w Text-to-speech has beenimplemented for all

textual content in thelearning object (when theobjects are viewed inInternet Explorer).

Xerte can be downloadedand installed onto your ownmachine, or installed onyour own servers to enableyou to create Xerte learningobjects online. Alternativelyyou can learn to use Xerteand make your own objectsin the JISC TechDis XerteSandbox.

The JISC TechDis XerteSandbox can be found atwww.techdisplayxerte.info

– you will need to contact usfor login details. In theSandbox you will find manytrial objects made by yourpeers, as well as a fewdemonstration objects madeby JISC TechDis staff. Youcan explore those to yourheart's content or get stuckinto constructing your ownlearning objects using theinstructions available fromthe URL below.

JISC TechDis are also offeringa series of online sessions(‘Xerte Fridays’) to allow youto further explore the onlineXerte toolkits. Thesesessions will cover a numberof themes and will provideideas, guidance and trainingon using Xerte to produceeffective, engaging andaccessible resources. Thesesessions take place on thelast Friday of each month,although start times vary.

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www.techdis.ac.uk/getpassport

Enabling the learner voice on accessibility

Anyone involved in thewriting, sharing and deliveringof software or learningmaterials has a high level ofresponsibility for theaccessibility of their output,but currently there is nostandard means for them toinform others about the waythey intended the materials tobe used. This information isimportant to those who mayreuse or repurpose thematerials: Will the materialswork with users using ascreen reader? Were thematerials designed with aparticular audience in mind?Has anyone else used themwith different audiences orwith any assistivetechnologies and what were

the results? What have theusers said about thematerials?

The Accessibility Passport isan online document, similar toa wiki, that can be edited at allstages by anyone involved inthe process of specifying,designing, creating or usingsoftware or learning objects.It carries information aboutthe materials to which itrefers and is thus a form ofmetadata – but unlike muchmetadata it is delivered usingeveryday language and isaccessible to a much widerrange of stakeholders thanconventional forms ofmetadata.

The interactive Accessibility

Passport Generator promptsthe commissioner, developer,tester or user to define theaccessibility features theyhave built in or amended andprovides a series of links tofurther advice and guidanceon a variety of topics, such asthe needs of users withparticular impairments or bestpractice advice. The editable‘wiki-style’ format encouragesfeedback and incorporatessuggestions from the users.The document remains live atall times and can be added toby anyone at any time.

For further details please seewww.techdis.ac.uk/getpassport

JISCThe Higher Education

Academy BuildingInnovation Way , York Science

Park, York YO10 5BR

Tel: 01904 717580 Fax: 01904 717505

www.techdis.ac.ukhelpdesk@techdis.ac.uk

Informing Policy, Improving Practice: making the student experience more inclusive through technology

The Accessibility Passport: A mechanism for user feedback on learning objects and tools

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