Course Accessibility
As an online instructor, what are some best practices you have developed to ensure your course is accessible to all students?
Actually, I am quite fortunate in this regard. My daughter is legally blind from birth. She has optic nerve glioma, with 20/800 in one eye and 20/2000 in the other eye uncorrected. I have lived with a visually impaired child all of her life. She is now 34 years old.
My best practices stem from dealing with the needs of my daughter. I cannot think of any specific thing that I do, I just know that everything that I do when I teach students, I keep my daughter in mind. I do not do anything fancyy or cute, but rather I make my presentations straightforward and simple.
I hope that this helps.
Donald L. Buresh
Amos,
Yes, good thought. Many times, we don't think about just picking up the phone and calling anymore but it is still viable.
Renee Shaffer
I have found that one of the best features that we have are the ability to use multiple modes of communication. So the students can access the course materials in many ways, no matter what access mode is the best for them.
I have incorporate more Power points slides with clip art and videos. This will enable the student to grasp the learning from the class.
Jennifer,
I just spoke to my students this morning about their biology class. They were complaining that the professor never helped them out with a study guide in outline form such as you offer. Your pictures are great. And thin about having student "act out" the glycolysis process- its brings it alive for them.
Renee Shaffer
I do several things in my course to help all learners. First, I offer PowerPoint and Word file study guides for exams. The study guides are in an outline format so that it is short and sweet. I found that this helps students know exactly what is coming up without having to read extensively for a topic they should know. Biology is quite overwhelming to some students, so narrowing it down helps them tremendously.
I also use bolded color words or phrases to help with with pneumonic devices to remember something, or to drive home a message. This helps them focus on the take home message.
I don't use a lot of pictures in my lectures/tutorials, but I do use them when discussing a process. It is difficult to "see" glycolysis in action with just words. I will step-by-step the process in words and pictures to help them better understand the concept.
Jennifer
Matthew,
The good old fashioned phone call actually is one of the best tools!
Renee Shaffer
Hi -
When it comes to ensuring my class is accessible to all my students, I have a couple best practices.
-I send out an email confirming they have access.
-If I do not hear from them, I text or call.
-Lastly, I contact technical support if their is any issues I need to be aware of.
-Matthew Schwartz
Stephanie,
In regards to students just stopping in the middle of the class and never being heard from again, my experience is that they usually have PTSD or depression so bad that they can't function. By making the contact ahead of time and throughout the semester, we may be able to deter their inability to communicate with us when they have an episode. Reach out to them!
Renee Shaffer
Dr. Christopher,
I have heard about programs that used a template for the design standards so that all of the courses have the same look and feel. Good to see that it works.
Renee Shaffer
As several others have also stated in this forum, the institution that I teach with has an indicator on the roster to let you know if someone is disabled. However, you do not know what type of disability they have. The university's policy is that you give extra time for assignments by letting them turn in assignments late and not assessing late penalties, and also they are eligible for an automatic incomplete where they get 14 extra days after the class is over to finish.
I've often wondered if it would be ok to ask what type of disability they have in order to help the student further, but was afraid I'd be crossing a line because of privacy, etc. However, I noticed one of the other participants mentions they do this. Any suggestions on this one?
I have had students suddenly stop in the middle of the class for unknown reasons. I will email them, encouraging them to continue their work and to email me to discuss any concerns or questions they have. Unfortunately, sometimes I never hear back. I also contact their advisors, so that the advisor can reach out to them, as the advisors can reach them in other ways I cannot, such as by phone.
A big take-away from this module for me has to do with the live chats we have each week during the class, where we provide an hour of instruction. They are recorded, so anyone that cannot attend can view it later. A copy of the slides are also posted in the classroom. However, of course not all the discussion is on the slides and I never considered a written transcript of the chat for anyone that is hearing impaired. Are there any tools that anyone is aware of that can automatically capture it? If there are, I would like to recommend it to the university. We currently are using Adobe Connect for our live chats/recordings.
In order to make our courses accessible we have set standards that all our courses have the same look and feel. We use prefix words like:
Homework:
Assignment:
Quiz:
Handout:
PPT:
VIDEO:
Web:
in front of all item names to make it easier for people to follow and know what to expect. We also make sure that all discussion boards are threaded and followable. I guess the one thing I should probably work on is the video aspect and web aspect. Didn't even think of how those are handled by students with multiple disabilities. I always thought the audio would suffice for visually impaired students but now I know that may not be the case.
-Chris
Jocelyn,
That is great. It is always so good to provide the learner with multiple formats of information.
Renee Shaffer
As an online instructor I strive to provide the information for the course in a variety formats, from written to audio to visual. This allows for students of all abilities to have the best opportunity to succeed.
Thanks!
Jocelyn Williamson
Kevin ,
The more diversity that you can bring to the course, the better the communication will be.
Renee Shaffer
As an online instructor I have made sure that I give multiple modes of communication available for my online students. I like to have a live chat, discussion boards, printable course material, and the ability for my students to contact me outside of class.
As an online instructor I send out friendly e-mails whenever something is due. I also post this information in the course announcements. When I do live lectures I do my best to record a lower resolution to make the text big enough that students are able to read and follow what I am doing.
Best,
Michelle
As part of the online courses I facilitate, I incorporate audio as well as visual material. The live chat sessions are recorded and archived for students to access at their convenience. In addition,the presentation material is posted in an area of the classroom for all students to access before, during, and after the live chat session.
Expectations for the course are posted and emailed to students initially with weekly followups to reinforce key ideas. Students are encouraged to email me or attend office hours if there are questions/issues that they may need assistance with. Email is checked on a daily basis for timely responses to students.
All live chats and office hours are posted and held at the same time each week. There are no changes unless there should be a "life and death" situation which limits my access to the course.
Laurie
Hello Renee,
I have created short automated PPT presentations with recorded voice over narratives. Each lesson presents a basic concept or topic in my field.
They are only ten to fifteen minutes long to ensure that students can view them at their convenience -- and to accommodate students that have difficulty concentrating for long periods.
Because these resources are recorded, students can replay them at their leisure. The bullet points, notes and narratives provide alternative ways of accessing the material.
Sincerely,
Michael Luzius
