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From: Collette O'Neill [log in to unmask]

Below is an article from today's Australian.

Collette


 Blind get in touch with e-learning
Tracy Peacock
NOVEMBER 27, 2002

 RESEARCH aimed at putting blind and vision-impaired people in closer
touch
with their computers should open e-learning opportunities for them in
information technology.

 Curtin University of Technology data communications lecturer Iain
Murray
said his team was initially modifying the Cisco Network Academy
program's
certification course, Cisco certified networking associate, for use by
people who are vision impaired.
Curtin's school of electrical and computer engineering teaches the
Cisco
e-learning programs in internet technology to undergraduates.

The research team, which includes three blind students and one who is
vision impaired, hopes to open up the IT field to the blind.

"It's the training they can't get to – when they get the training they
can
do it," Mr Murray said. The Cisco course was designed for people
wanting to
work in areas such as an IT help desk, network administrator or an
internet
service provider administrator.

The instructor-led e-learning environment was a good way for the blind
to
learn, he said, and the team was creating an instructor's manual on how
to
teach the course to blind students.

Mr Murray will outline the project, which is expected to be completed
within 12 months, at the annual Cisco Networking Academy conference in
Bangkok next month.

 This report appears on australianIT.com.au.