Lecture Notes
Quote from student:
"Last year I struggled with hearing the content in lectures as they are in very large rooms with bad acoustics... Learning materials that are needed do not just extend to lecture slides. Valuable materials include podcasts, PowerPoint's, the use of blackboard, discussion boards and many more. The fact that the majority of people under the age of 25 are computer literate shows exactly why lecturers should be taking full advantage of this ability most of us possess."
As Dr Jane Seale has written in our final report to be published on the website once it has been completed.
The majority of students who enter higher education are required to use online learning resources or activities (e-learning) to support their formal or informal learning in some way e.g. virtual learning environments, discussion lists, e-mail, pod-casts, or library information databases. Within the higher education and e-learning fields there is a growing level of interest in exploring and understanding the e-learning skills and experiences of students in higher education. Initial work by Prensky (2001) and Oblinger (2003) argued that the students of today were sophisticated "digital natives" of the "net generation" who would expect sophisticated uses of technology as an integral part of their university learning experience. Oblinger (2003) argues that this would require institutions to ask how well they know and understand the needs and requirements of these "new" students. Attempts at a UK level to further such understanding have been led by the JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) funded "Learner Experiences of e-Learning" research projects. In Phase One of the research programme, studies revealed that: effective e-learners are flexible, resourceful, self-aware and highly motivated (JISC, 2007). What was not clear from these studies is whether the conclusions are true for all learners, particularly those with disabilities who may need to use assistive technologies to enable them to access learning materials and experiences that are provided digitally or online. In a review of learner experience studies, Sharpe et al. (2006) reviewed the impact of individual differences and noted that a disability can dominate the e-learning experience for the individual, along with prior experience and ‘attitude towards using computers within learning'. Disabled learners may therefore have different e-learning experiences to non-disabled learners in a similar learning situation.
What little information there is about disabled students experiences of e-learning comes from three main sources:
Case studies developed from publicly funded learning and teaching projects and other non-academic organisations
Research studies that have explored the general learning experiences of disabled students
Research studies that have explored the specific e-learning experiences of disabled students
Personal accounts and case studies
In a review of disabled students experiences of accessibility, Seale (2006) concluded that the majority of personal accounts that exist in the academic domain are usually in the form of case examples or case studies, produced by publicly funded teaching and learning developments (e.g. ALERT , DART , Skills for Access ). Seale argued that these accounts are highly edited and de-contextualised so they vary in the extent to which they are written in the voice of the student and the extent to which personal issues such as feelings, thoughts and attitudes concerning a particular experience are addressed. Seale noted however, that some personal accounts of disabled students' experiences of learning are available in non-academic domains such as websites owned by public service organisations (e.g. SKILL, BBC OUCH ). Seale suggests that these accounts are less mediated or edited and tend to focus on student life in general. Although e-learning is not a central focus of these accounts, they can give a useful insight into how computing and technology integrates and impacts on everyday student life:
"Then in the afternoon, I had a surprise awaiting me in the computing lab. Unfortunately, it wasn't all that pleasant. It seems that today's practical isn't programming, but involves running an electronic circuit simulation. This particular software turned out to be inaccessible to any kind of screen reading software I cared to try with it, and so I missed out on that. However, the underlying learning objective is merely to become familiar with the construction of truth tables (kind of like logic construction diagrams), so I'm going to try and suss it out through looking at the PowerPoint slides the lecturer has given me." (Darren, BBC Ouch Diary Entry)
Research studies that have explored the general learning experiences of disabled students
A small number of studies have explored the general learning experiences of disabled students in higher education and their results provide some support for the argument that disabled learners may have different e-learning experiences. Results reveal that disabled students are using general and specialised technologies to support their learning (Mortimore & Crozier, 2006) but that there are difficulties including: barriers to using publicly available (general) information technology facilities such as location and lack of specialised software on PC's (Fuller et al. 2004); frustrations with the bureaucracy and speed of the funding and assessment procedures for obtaining assistive technology (Shevlin et al. 2004; Goode, 2007) and lack of support or training to enable disabled learners to become "fluent users" of assistive technologies (Shevlin et al. 2004).
Quote from student in Shevlin et al. study:
"I did try the voice-activated software but it is too slow. Your style of writing goes out the window when you are dictating. It is very difficult to keep your train of thought when dictating. I always do very badly in my exams whereas in my ordinary essays I
reach a higher standard. "(Frances, UN)
Quotes from two students from the Fuller et al. study:
"Myself and my helper have 11 sets of doors to go through to get to the computer labs which are very heavy and a disabled student with no helper would really struggle." (Student 4, business, wheelchair user/mobility difficulty)
Computers: "I do not understand what is on the screen, so I panic which only makes it worse. When I am given help it is shown too quickly and I get confused and upset." (Student 47, art, dyslexia)
Research studies that have explored the specific e-learning experiences of disabled students
Results from a small number of studies in the UK that have specifically explored the technology experiences of disabled learners support these findings. For example, Draffan et al. (2007) in a survey of the use of and satisfaction with assistive technology by students with dyslexia in UK post-secondary education found that technology provision was variable. Cobham et al. (2001) conducted two UK surveys of students who were supplied with equipment under the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) and concluded that training levels for using assistive technologies were unsatisfactory. Whilst there are frustrations for disabled learners in terms of access, provision and support; when they are able to obtain and use assistive technologies to support their learning, they generally report high levels of satisfaction (Draffan et al. 2007; Fidler, 2002). What none of these studies do however is explore in any great detail the potentially complex interaction between assistive technologies and e-learning ; the e-learning skills and experience of disabled learners and the extent to which they too could also be described as "digital natives" or effective e-learners. There is therefore a need to explore in more detail the e-learning experiences of disabled learners although the LexDis project has shown that disabled students can be digitally agile but often have to make complex digital decisions relating to cost benefit, time and skills.
Digital Agility.
Customising computers to suit preferences;
Swapping and changing from a range of technologies;
Being well-informed about the strengths and weaknesses of particular technologies in relation to design, usability, accessibility and impact on learning;
Developing a range of sophisticated and tailored strategies for using technology to support their learning;
Using technology with confidence;
Feeling comfortable with technology so that it holds no fears;
Being extremely familiar with technology;
Being aware of what help and support is available.
Digital Decisions
The wide range of factors that appear to influence participants' decisions suggest that these decisions can be complex and may require students to adopt a cost-benefit analysis when making decisions.
Time seemed to be an incredibly important factor particularly in relation to decisions made regarding use of assistive technologies and social networking applications.
Participants are aware of the benefits or pleasures that use of these technologies might bring them, but are having to making a decision about whether the benefits (learning or social) outweigh the costs in terms of time, where time is predominantly mentioned in relation to taking time away from study.
