Transcript AT/IT & Distance Learning

AT/IT & Distance Learning
ADA Symposium 2002
May 8, 2002
David Klein & David Dawson
Law, Health Policy & Disability Center
Overview
 Distance
learning concepts and principles
 Web-based distance learning
 Design of distance learning
 Employment Services Training project
 Our findings
Design of Web-based distance learning
 Designing for people with disabilities

Definition of distance learning
 Students
separated from instructor by
distance
 Technology used to bridge the gap
Principles of Learning

Learning is an active process


Learning takes effort


Student has to DO something
More effort makes better learning
Learning comes about by interaction with a
community or environment


Learning requires external guidance
Remember that the focus is people, not technology
Distance learning vs.
standup/classroom learning
 Similarities
Learning can be active
 Learning takes effort
 Students interact with an environment that
includes a knowledge community

Distance learning vs.
standup/classroom learning
 Differences

Asynchronous learning common

Students and instructor are not working at the same
time
Technologies
 Examples




Independent/guided study
E-mail
Bulletin boards
Distance learning Media
 Paper
 Audio/Videotape
 CD-ROM
 Web
 Broadcast/Fiber optic
television (ICN)
 Electronic media are potentially the most
accessible
Distance learning for people with
disabilities
 Technology can
be a mitigating factor to
reduce dependence on one sensory modality
(e.g., hearing)
 Asynchronous learning can help those who
might communicate slowly or with effort
 Mobility can be less of an issue
Distance Learning
 Web-based distance
learning
 Tools for Web-based distance learning
 The design of Web-based distance learning
 Employment Services Training Project
 ES Services – What we learned
 DL and people with disabilities
 ES Services – Student comments
Types of Web-based distance
learning

Static Web pages (mostly linear)


Hyperlinked Web pages (nonlinear)


How do you provide good feedback?
Instructor-led


Will students read every page?
Activities


Like reading a book
How does an instructor interact with students?
Autonomous

Difficult and expensive to develop
Tools for Web-based distance
learning activities
 E-mail!
 Telephone
(that’s right)
 Bulletin board/Listserv
 Chat/Instant messaging
 Calendar
 Whiteboard
 Audio/Video (live or archived)
Accommodations tools for distance
learning – Software

Screen readers




Talking Web browsers



JAWS
Windows Eyes
outSPOKEN
Home Page Reader
WeMedia Browser
Voice recognition


Dragon Naturally Speaking (Dragon Dictate)
ViaVoice
Accommodations tools for distance
learning – System Tools

Windows: Control Panel->Accessories->
Accessibility
 Macintosh: Control Panels (Mouse, Monitors)
 Keyboard shortcuts



Microsoft:http://www.microsoft.com/enable/products/ke
yboard/keyboardsearch.asp
Netscape:http://www.netscape.com/browsers/using/ieus
ers/browsing/shortcuts.html
StickyKeys
 BounceKeys
 SlowKeys
Accommodations tools for distance
learning – System Tools
 Mouse
Slow mouse movement
 Double-click speed or single click
 Change the size of mouse arrow/animations

 Monitor
screen
Screen density
 Colors – black & white, high contrast

 Magnifier
Accommodations tools for distance
learning – Devices
 Trackball
 Ergonomic keyboard
 Braille
reader
Instructional design for distance
learning
 Design
 Develop
Design
 Evaluate
 Deploy
Deploy
Develop
Evaluate
Why design?

Start with effective instruction
 Lack of immediate access to a live instructor, so
problems can escalate quickly
 Can get the delivery system out of the way and put
the content to the front
 Can address the widest audience under the widest
conditions (human factors)
 Not a guarantee for success, but increases the
chances for it
Instructional design – Design
 Needs
analysis
 Audience/Resources analysis
 Content analysis
 Task analysis
 Results – parameters defined
Instructional Design
Instructional design – Development

Write content
 Produce text materials (Web pages)
 Develop dynamic components





Quizzes
Evaluations
Hypertext links
Interface
Produce graphics and other multimedia
components
 Integrate
 Develop instructor tools
Instructional Design
Instructional design – Evaluation

Formative evaluations






Evaluate analyses in design phase
Evaluate content – subject matter experts
Evaluate interactive/dynamic components –
instructional designers
Evaluate interface elements – designers
Evaluate for accessibility – people with disabilities
Evaluate the integrated instruction – instructors,
students

Pilot
 Summative evaluation
Instructional Design
Instructional design – Evaluation for
people with disabilities
 Text-based browser
(Lynx)
 Turn off frames, images, stylesheets, sounds
 Use keyboard only
 Use accommodations tools
 Include people with disabilities in
evaluations
Instructional design – Deployment

Pilot
 Develop student packet





Login and site use instructions
Minimum requirements (hardware, software)
Contact information
Calendar
E-mail, paper, CD

First course
 Modifications
Instructional Design
Employment Services Training Project
(Region VII CRP-RCEP)
 Demo
 Design
 Development decisions
 Features
 What
we learned
ES Training – Demo

Can view demo
 http://www.its.uiowa.edu/law/crprcep7/es/
 Click on “Already have a password”
 Type “User”
 Password “Demo”
 Click on the Help link in the sidebar (on the left)
and click on Course Tour for details about how
students interact with the Web-based instruction
ES Training
ES Training – Design
 Needs
Covers a 4-state region, in place of a 2-day
standup training in Kansas City
 Can be offered more than twice a year
 Must be accessible

ES Training
ES Training – Design

Audience/Resources






Employment counselors and job coaches who work with
people with disabilities
High school education
High turnover; probably about 9 month average
People people (prefer to work with people rather than
technology)
Technological resources relatively low; older
computers and slow Internet connections (phone lines)
Usually training during work hours
ES Training
ES Training – Design
 Content
Basic skills for employment counseling
 Basic concepts, such as values and personcentered language
 Getting to know the customer, how to support
the customer
 Problem-solving
 Customer satisfaction

ES Training
ES Training – Design
 Tasks
Periodic assessments (quizzes) and course
evaluations
 Writing projects that help trainees organize and
document their work activities

ES Training
ES Training – Development Decisions
 Web-based training
Saves traveling
 Allows for interactive instructor-student
feedback with writing projects as well as
immediate, computer feedback on quizzes
 Quick turnaround possible on feedback
 Can be instructor led (good for interpersonal
contact)

ES Training
ES Training – Development Decisions

Active Server Pages with database - Pros

Student work saved online




Students can log on






Don’t have to print work
Can work from any computer with Web access
Students can return to any page and view their last save (like a
word processor)
Work privately
Keeps track of student work
Provides instructors with student usage information
Communication can be immediate
Very flexible
Very accessible
ES Training
ES Training – Development Decisions
 Active
Server Pages - Cons
Long development time – includes time for
“debugging”
 Requires developer with knowledge of ASP (we
learned on our own)
 Puts a load on the server, which could be an
issue for a large class (e.g., hundreds of
trainees)

ES Training
ES Training – Features

Internal e-mail
 Internal bulletin board
 Guided instruction




Students click Next button to move to next page
Application keeps track of where students have left off;
students can’t skip pages
Instructors can require that students not advance until
they receive feedback on assignments
Students can skip back to any previous page at any time
ES Training
ES Training – Features
 Participants
can post personal information
(e.g., autobiographies, employment details)
 Glossary
 File Cabinet – resources and references
referred to often during training
 Instructor tools
ES Training
ES Training – Evaluations
What We Learned

Important to start with good instruction


Our writers were good trainers with a lot of experience
and the high quality of the content is reflected in the
evaluations
E-mail is vital, both internal and external

We require that students have e-mail before signing up
Bulletin board hasn’t been well used
 Tends to be time-consuming for the instructors

ES Training – Evaluations
What We Learned

Carefully crafted information that students receive
prior to training is essential




A calendar with due dates for assignments
Times when instructor will provide feedback
Detailed instructions on how access the site, log in, and
how to troubleshoot should be provided in multiple
formats (e.g., paper, e-mail, online)
Training should be done on how to use the site
before students start content (make it required)
ES Training – Evaluations
What We Learned

Instructors

Need training; mentoring with experienced instructor
works best





Using the interface
Responding to student needs
Content
Technical proficiency, such as knowing how to get on
the Internet from a hotel room or knowing how to use email
Instructor tools need to have a lot of options but also be
speedy (repeated complaint)
ES Training – Evaluations
What We Learned

Students wanted feedback from instructors
immediately
 Most students would prefer standup training, but
online was an acceptable alternative
 Testing for accessibility should be done with
accommodations tools; piloting should include
people with disabilities
 Trainees with disabilities really like it
ES Training – Results
 Number
of students registered so far: 114
 Number completed: 88
 Percentage completed: 77%
 Target percentage completed: 60%
ES Training – Exit Survey Questions
I
have learned something new about being
an Employment Specialist in this training. –
100% strongly agree or agree
 This training was satisfying. – 100%
strongly agree or agree
 I would take another distance learning
course like this one if it were offered. – 81%
agree or strongly agree, 19% not sure
ES Training – Types of Attrition
 Students
don’t complete course and no
notice to instructor
 Students leaving employment or getting
transferred/promoted
 Some supervisors take the course to view
the content and then stop when satisfied
Distance Learning that Includes
People with Disabilities

Know Web accessibility guidelines



Use technologies in electronic text format


Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines:
www.w3.org/WAI/
Bobby: www.cast.org/bobby/
HTML and text (.txt) files
Minimize multimedia
 Have a text alternative planned and available for
multimedia technologies
 Provide a fallback procedure when technology
doesn’t work
Distance Learning that Includes
People with Disabilities

Think simplicity


Navigation
Provide guidance





If instruction is designed for student exploration, consider
allowing students to take a guided path
Make directions clear and brief
Reduce decision making and student options when it
isn’t called for in the content
Minimize number of fonts, font sizes, colors, and focal
points on a page
Use plain language
Distance Learning that Includes
People with Disabilities
 Selective
redundancy
Navigation should be consistent
 Page layout should be the same or similar from
one page to the next
 Similar tasks should use similar procedures,
when possible

 Playoff
between making the instruction
“smart” versus speed and development time
Distance Learning that Includes
People with Disabilities
 Provide
opportunity for communication
(student-student-instructor)
E-mail
 Bulletin boards

 Yet
avoid distractions
Links to offsite Web pages
 Bulletin board “emoticons” :-)

Distance Learning that Includes
People with Disabilities
 If
possible, select students
Self-starters
 Motivated learners
 Independent workers

 Instructors
need as much design and
development consideration as students
ES Training – Sample student
comments

Student exit comments are overall positive.
 Most praise the instructors for the quality of the
content and the feedback they provided.
 Some note that they’d prefer standup training but
that this was a good alternative.
 Negative comments tend to focus on specifics
such as how a button works or to avoid scheduling
the course with a timeout for a conference in the
middle.
ES Training – Sample student
comments
 “From
my perspective as a person with
severe hearing impairment. This training
has been affective for me, because I'm able
to participate more. I learn more by using
technology as a delivery system, and would
be interested in learning more about your on
line accredited courses.”
ES Training – Sample student
comments

“Although this training was beneficial and I feel I
have learned something, I think I would have
gained more from interacting with others and
hearing about their experiences. The computer just
doesn't capture that.”

“I spent more than the three to four hours per
week working on lessons and not because I had
trouble managing my own time, feedback was not
happening quick enough for me.”
ES Training – Sample student
comments

“[T]his is the first on-line course I've taken. I
loved it because it was well designed for on-line
presentation and because it felt like a good use of
the time and money provided by my employer.
The only down side of the class I can think of is
that we as classmates don't really get well
acquainted.”

“Once I started this class it was hard for me to
stop.”