Tag Archives: accessibility

Assessing Web 2.0 Tools

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For the first major project of OLTD 507, I created an excel based tool for assessing web 2.0 tools. If you want to take a look at my template and a selection of tools I assessed, just click this link:

Blank Template and Survey of Cloud Tools Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

I’ve taken a page from my previous OLTD courses, and have given this tool a creative commons license. I’m sure someone could take this idea and make it so much better, and I want them to share alike when they do!

My tool focuses first on the three universal design for learning (UDL) principles, giving some guiding questions for teachers to use to rate the tool. Then, my tool has a series of questions to assess the ease of use of the tool. Finally, there are a series of guiding questions around privacy concerns for a tool, and a prompt to consider alternatives. My tool will allow teachers to answer the guiding questions using numbers (with being 0 strongly disagree to 3 being strongly agree), and will automatically give the tool a percentage rating in each segment of the assessment, as well as an overall rating.

My goal is not for the percentages ratings to lead teachers away from a tool, but to make it easier to see where more investigation may be needed, or where trying to use the tool may require careful lesson design.

Based on my survey of a few different cloud tools, I have chosen my top 3 tools for teachers and for students. I’ve created a summary of those tools using another cloud tool called MindMeister, a mind mapping tool. Click the image below to check out the mindmap online:Clickable image of mindmapYou should be able to zoom in and out of areas you are interested in, or run through the pieces as “slides” as I have set up “presentation view” as well.

Of course, nothing is created in a vacuum, so I have added a list of references to a separate sheet in the excel tool (linked above), and to the bottom of this post.

References

bbovard. (2011, April 7). Web 2.0 selection criteria: Save time choosing an appropriate tool. Retrieved from: http://olc.onlinelearningconsortium.org/Web_2.0_Selection_Criteria_Save_Time_Choosing_an_Appropriate_Tool

CAST. (2011). UDL guidelines – version 2.0: Principle I. Provide multiple means of representation. Retrieved from: http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines/principle1

CAST. (2011). UDL guidelines – version 2.0: Principle II. Provide multiple means of action and expression. Retrieved from: http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines/principle2

CAST. (2011). UDL guidelines – version 2.0: Principle III. Provide multiple means of engagement. Retrieved from: http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines/principle3

Hengstler, J. (2014). Social media technology use: Planning & tool risk assessment worksheet. [Microsoft Word Document]. Retrieved from: https://d2l.viu.ca/content/enforced/56545-EDUC_OLTD506_W70_F2014/tool_risk_assessment_worksheet.docx?_&d2lSessionVal=dlegyWag5rPZkj2KPKTBwTKle&ou=56545

Hodges, C. (2011, November 2). Evaluating Web 2.0 Tools for Education.[Slideshare Presentation]. Retrieved from: http://www.slideshare.net/hodgesc/evaluating-web-20-tools-for-education

lctaylor. (n.d.). iRubric: Evaluation of web 2.0 tools rubric. Retrieved from: https://www.rcampus.com/rubricshowc.cfm?sp=yes&code=N5XA4A&

Reflection 1.4 – OLTD 506

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I have had the opportunity to take coursework specifically examining the sociology of education and the assumptions educators may have. That course looked critically at the politics of teaching and has stayed with me over the years. My research for that course focused on ability grouping, students with disabilities and socio-economic status (SES) effects; though I would not claim to have a deep knowledge of those subjects.

When we accept that teaching is political by nature and begin to examine privilege and the hidden curriculum, the digital divide should come as no surprise. Consistently disadvantaged groups, like low SES students, will continue to face barriers to technology use (Hicks & Turner, 2013). I also believe using connectivity as a measure of the digital divide does not recognize the complex relationships learners, educators and communities have with technology utilization (Digital divide, n.d.; J. Hengstler, personal communication, September 18, 2014).

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1990 Computer Lab Sign by JD Hancock. Retrieved from https://flic.kr/p/68UvgF. CC BY 2.0.

I have had the opportunity to work with students who are taking blended or online courses for the first time, many of whom are nervous about their lack of comfort using technology. Occasionally my department will help walk a student through copying and pasting from a word processing program to another document, or give one-on-one tailored orientations to the learning management system. It is for those reasons I realize that connectivity is one thing, but effective use is completely different. I also realize for the handful of students we see, there are many, many others we do not see who need support using technology.

I believe that the digital divide in the context of Aboriginal perspectives and Indigenous ways of knowing is particularly challenging. I would not want to embark on a social media project with Aboriginal students without first seeking support from someone with a greater understanding of the culture and language, in order to be as respectful as possible to their context.

References

Digital divide. (n.d.). Retrieved September 16, 2014 from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_divide

Hicks, T., & Turner, K. H. (2013). No longer a luxury: Digital literacy can’t wait. English Journal, 102(6). Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/EJ/1026-jul2013/EJ1026Longer.pdf

Global Accessibility Awareness Day – May 15th

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"web accessibility word cloud" by Jil Wright.

“web accessibility word cloud” by Jil Wright. Size changed to fit screen. (CC BY 2.0)

May 15th was Global Accessibility Awareness Day. As someone who spends a lot of time in online courses personally and professionally, I decided to take advantage of a free webinar entitled “Web Accessibility Tools in Action: Awesome Tools to Build The Web For All” offered by Desire2Learn. Sean Yo (@seanyo or seanyo.ca for more information on him) presented the webinar, as was a very engaging speaker.

Although I expected the webinar to focus more specifically on accessibility in Desire2Learn, Sean spoke more generally about accessible design. There was a discussion about how to think about accessibility that I really enjoyed. Nothing is ever 100% accessible, and you should expect to make continual improvements to the accessibility of your material, the same way you would refresh your content year after year. I feel that thinking of accessibility that way puts up less of a barrier to tackling accessible design – you don’t have to be perfect, you just need to be willing to continually improve.

The presentation was geared towards tools and resources, many of which are new to me. I collected most of the resources and tools mentioned in the webinar into a Diigo list here: https://www.diigo.com/user/boychuks/accessibility?type=all&sort=updated if you are interested in reviewing it. There are tools that emulate screen readers, tools to check the readability of your text and tools to review your webpages for accessibility. There are also a couple of suggested books.

Sean also wrote a blog post about Global Accessibility Awareness Day here: http://www.desire2learn.com/blog/make-global-accessibility-awareness-day/. The biggest take-away from both his presentation and blog, I think, is empathy. It is easy to forget how challenging accessing the online world can be for people with disabilities.

My breakthrough moment came later last year when a student who uses a screen reader came into the Centre for Innovation and Excellence in Learning (CIEL) office for support. They were experiencing a complicated issue, further complicated by having to scroll through their own system and the online course using a screen reader. This experience really opened my eyes (so to speak) to how the web “looks” for people with visual impairments.

Using some of the tools presented at the webinar, I have gone back and looked over some of the things I have created personally and as a member of the CIEL team. There is plenty of room for improvement, and I will be doing my best to adapt and change my work, now and in the future.