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Accessibility in Online Learning: Reconnaissance Brief
Type of Presentation
Shared
Session Abstract
This session will focus on strategies instructors can use to meet the needs of students with polytrauma and multisensory loss. These strategies are based on the first-hand experiences of an instructor and her student veteran using Web conferencing, Skype, and a course management system. This session will discuss the challenges related to multisensory loss, learner barriers to participation in the online course, and creative strategies for increasing engagement and participation.
Target Audience
Adult educators, instructional designers, administrators, online instructors, online students, veterans
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this session, participants will be able to:
1. Explain how polytrauma can affect student participation in online environments.
2. Identify student challenges related to multisensory loss.
3. List learner barriers to engagement in online environments.
4. Identify creative strategies for increasing engagement and participation in the online course.
Session Description
In 2010 there were over 6 million (31%) students in public, private, and for-profit institutions in the United States taking at least one online course (Allen & Seaman, 2011). Evidence shows that online courses have grown to a rate of 358% since 2003. This growth is due to increased demands for flexible learning. However, this exponential growth brings concerns for online student support, mainly military and student veterans who are returning from duty and enrolling in online programs.
Our session will review our experiences and lessons learned from a recent graduate course that used synchronous and asynchronous online technologies. Engagement and participation difficulties were brought to the attention of the instructor by a student veteran in the course. The student has Polytrauma and sensory impairments from injuries sustained in the military. This course required resourceful and flexible adaptations by the instructor, student, and classmates. The course required Web conferencing, Skype, and a course management system that were used to create a presentation, a plan for a web conference, and involved students in decision-making and group work. The instructor and other students adjusted course strategies to meet student’s needs.
Polytrauma is a Department of Defense and Veterans Administration medical term to describe injuries to multiple body parts and organs. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) frequently occurs in Polytrauma in combination with other disabling conditions, such as amputation, auditory and visual impairments, spinal cord injury (SCI), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other medical conditions. Therefore, there is a need in higher education to give attention to instructional and institutional support for accessing information, seeking technical help, and problem solving learning challenges
During this session, we will demonstrate the tools we used: Dragon Speak [speech to text software], a screen reader, and closed captioning. We will review and explain the strategies we used to allow the student veteran to engage and participate in the online course: speak slow, use of transcripts for audio presentations, use of email, strategic organization of course management system, etc.
Many schools have seen a dramatic increase in enrollment of student veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and the number will continue to rise. Many returning student veterans will have a wide range of medical, emotional, and psychological issues that will impact their living, learning, working, and relationships. Accessibility for online and distance learning courses will be an important consideration for institutions of higher education.
In 2008, a Rand Corporation predicted that as many as a quarter of the post 9/11 student veterans will have both hidden and visible wounds from war. When injured student veterans arrive on campus, they will be very new to their injuries and may be unaware of their future challenges and needs. Student veterans are often reluctant to seek out resources, support, or services on campus. They are even less likely to do so when the need is related to a disability or injury.
Medical advancements, improved equipment, and rapid evacuation from the battlefield all contribute to the improved survival rate of our combat troops. In 2007, the DOD released statistics that of the estimated 50,000 GWOT injuries, 20% involved the spinal cord or brain, and 18% experienced serious wounds or burns. The number of amputations (roughly 6%) already exceeded the number from the Vietnam War. Many soldiers have diagnoses of Polytrauma or co-morbid diagnoses.
Student Veterans will likely view their needs and challenges from a very different lens than many of the traditional aged students who are in need of accessibility adaptations, resources, and services. It will be important to note that verbiage is powerful and has much influence in shaping how institutional culture frames student veterans with disabilities.
Efforts are made to try to schedule sessions on the day preferred by the Primary Presenter, though this cannot be guaranteed. Please check your preference.
Wednesday November 6
Primary Presenter
Lia Coryell, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Work Title
Graduate Student
Additional Presenters: Enters In Order.
Simone C Conceição, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
Work Title
Associate Professor