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Reply To: | * EASI: Equal Access to Software & Information |
Date: | Sat, 18 Jan 2003 19:37:02 -0800 |
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EASI's Online Course: Barrier-free E-learning Starts Feb. 3 for a Month.
Registration and a syllabus are at: http://easi.cc/workshops/bfel.htm
There is also a link to a lesson sample.
Course Instructor
Norman Coombs, Ph.D.
CEO EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information)
The course is taught over the Internet using both e-mail and the Web. All
lessons are asynchronous meaning no one has to be connected at any specific
time. Learn from anywhere and at any time.
Everyone who completes the course will receive an EASI certificate of
completion. Those requesting it will receive 3 continuing education units
for doing the course work.. Finally, this course is an optional course for
those working for the EASI/USM Certificate In accessible Information
Technology.
Course Description
University, business and public schools all are adopting one or more forms
of distance learning type technologies for delivering education and
training. Sometimes this actual distance learning and sometimes it is part
of campus courses. It is simultaneously praised and roundly condemned. In
any case, it is sweeping across America and into other countries. One of
the results of the rapidity of this explosive growth is that little
attention has been paid to making these technologies accessible to people
with various disabilities. Modern adaptive computer technology has the
potential to make these technologies more accessible to such students than
any previous form of education. However, the wrong technology choices mayy
erect new and needless barriers to the full inclusion of these students in
their ability to use of e-learning systems.
The information in Barrier-free E-learning will be useful for
administrators, instructional technology staff, instructional design staff
and for any faculty who post content for their courses whether those are
distance learning courses or merely online components of tradtional campus
classes. Every participant will complete a course project that will have
practical use at their institution. This will be a PowerPoint presentation
aimed at some relevant group on their campus who could benefit from some
portion of this course content. Participants will leave the course with a
practical tool to assist them in influencing the accessibility of
e-learning where they work. They will also receive a comprehensive
handbook on accessible e-learning that they can share with colleagues.
This month-long course will be taught by Professor Norman Coombs, a leader
in e-learning for more than a decade, winner of Zenith's Master of
Innovation award and New York State's CASE Teacher of the Year award in
1990 both for his work in the use of this technology in innovative ways to
provide an inclusive educational setting. Coombs estimates that he has
taught some 4,000 students in more than 40 countries.
The course includes new material on the accessibility features of
courseware systems including WebCT, E-College and Blackboard.
Course lessons and Assignments
Lesson 1 Introduction
Part 1 Types of E-learning technologies
Part 2 Advantages and disadvantages of e-learning for students with
disabilities
Part 3 Disability-related legislation and e-learning
Lesson 2 Adaptive technology interfaces
Part 1 Alternative output technologies
Part 2 Alternative input technologies
Part 3 Interfacing adaptive technology and courseware
Lesson 3 accessible web design
Part 1 Web Access Initiative guidelines
Part 2 Section 508 standards
Part 3 Good web design is half of accessible design
Lesson 4 Guest presenters share experiences and information
Part 1 Presentations from several e-learning programs
Part 2 Presentations by developers of existing e-learning guidelines
Part 3 Presentations by designers of e-learning systems
Lesson 5 Tips for faculty and content providers
Part 1 Coombs ten tips for e-learning
Part 2 Designing content to increase accessibility for all
Part 3 Good teaching and clear communication is half of accessibility
Lesson 6 accessible Internet Multimedia (audio, video, PowerPoint and
more)
Part 1 Using media redundantly
Part 2 SMIL! you're on the Internet (providing captions)
Part 3 When to outsource captioning and transcribing activities
Lesson 7 Beyond the online delivery of e-learning
Part 1 Access for blind users to drawings, diagrams and charts
Part 2 Access for blind users to technical texts
Part 3 When to outsource technical text and graphic production
Lesson 8 System-wide planning and designing for access
Part 1 Campus-wide responsibility
Part 2 Writing a campus accessibility policy
Part 3 Developing a systematic funding plan
Part 4 Networking on and off campus
EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information) is a non-profit
organization, and our mission is to make information technologies more
accessible to users with disabilities.
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EASI February Courses:
Barrier -free E-learning
Accessible Internet Multimedia
http://easi.cc/workshop.htm
Norman Coombs, Ph.D.
CEO EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information)
http://www.rit.edu/~easi
http://easi-elearn.org
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