In lesson two, we'll look at how virtual schools and programs are responsible to provide equity in access. First we'll consider how the typical virtual student has changed from being one set of highly motivated students. To really a wide range of students that includes anyone. Then we'll look at some of the laws in the United States that affect online instructions accessibility and how we can make online learning more accessible. Again, I'll start you out with providing a resource from [INAUDIBLE] for you to download and view regarding equity and access. The document is not an instructional manual in equity and access but aims to show the importance of addressing equity and access in the online environment. So you can read the PDF document first and then continue with this video. So pause here and go navigate to the course resource page for week four lesson two, and download and view access equity and online classes in virtual schools before continuing. I hope you enjoyed reading that document or looking over it. Online learning is an increasingly popular approach to providing education options for students. As online learning becomes more widely recognized, and the success stories spread, more and more students are taking advantage of the opportunity, making the online student population more diverse. It is increasingly important for, that virtual school programs, public, private, K-12 and higher education, to consider equity and access of the varying students to the program. Because it is the right thing to do, and there are federal laws requiring it. Virtual school programs were originally known for their appeal to gifted students or highly motivated, high achieving students. Virtual programs provided access to AP courses and for actors and athletes who needed more flexibility and to rural areas offering classes that were not offered previously. Now that the student body of virtual courses is expanding, the student population is becoming more diverse. Students with special needs are taking virtual courses, benefitting from the ability to work at their own pace and own environment. Online programs are available to students at any ability, any age, any location, any economic status any la, language background, any learning style etc. The term exceptional student refers to students who have specific and special learning needs. Exceptional students include students with cognitive and physical or sensitive sensory disabilities. English language learners, ELL and gifted learners. Many students have characteristics that inhibit access to information presented via the web and prevent success in courses provided over the internet. Exceptional students can benefit from online learning environments, but their individual differences influence the extent to which these environments are affected for learning. The Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA. Defines an individual with a disability as quote, a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. A person who has a history or record of such an impairment. Or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment. And that's according to the U.S. Department of Justice in 2002. The U.S. Department of Education recognizes these types of disabilities. Specific learning disabilities, speech and language impairments, mental retardation also referred to as developmentally delayed, emotional disturbance also called behavior disorders. Orthopedic impairments, visual impairments, and hearing impairments. The number of students receiving special education services under the individuals with disabilities education act are section 504 of the vocational rehabilitation act is 13.8% of the total student population. And 42.7% of this is students with learning disabilities. Students with learning disabilities are clearly a substantial segment of the nations student body, and therefore a part of the virtual student body. In addition to students with disabilities, students with other academic needs should be considered in providing equity and access in educational options. 6.3% of the US student population is academically gifted. And an increasingly large number of students have limited English proficiency as cited by the National Center for Education Statistics. The needs of diverse learners are different whether receiving instruction in the classroom or through online courses. In addition to considering the varying abilities and special needs students have internally. Virtual students also vary in regards to their external factors. Students may live in rural areas that do not have access to high speed internet. And the latest high tech components. Not all students have their own computers or reliable access to one. When planning to provide equitable access to virtual learning options, teachers and schools must consider the differences in the students they need to accommodate. Schools have an ethical and legal responsibility to provide equitable access not equal or the same, but what is reasonable for each individual according to his or her needs to the virtual learning content and courses. In 1986, Section 508 was added as an amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. To eliminate barriers in information technology, to allow new opportunities for people with disabilities, and encourage development of technologies that work towards this. Access must be provided to the technology for persons with disabilities. That is comparable to the access available to others. Federal legislation such as the Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1990, mandates that exceptional learners with disabilities have access to curricular and learning opportunities equivalent to to those available to students who are not disabled. Which includes environments and courses for online learning. For other learners with exceptionalities, there may not be a federal mandate, but access to online environments is still the right thing to do. Students who are blind or have limited reading skills will need an alternate means of accessing and interacting with the text. They would benefit from having the text read aloud and images described. Students who are still learning to speak English may need unfamiliar words defined, translated or illustrated. Students who are easily distracted may benefit from an interface that is highly structured and keeps stimulating detail to a minimum. In addition to the issues of equity, there can be instructional advantages to learning in online environments. Online learning can provide alternative ways to accomplish academic tasks. For example, a student with cerebral palsy may have trouble speaking intelligibly but can engage in a class discussion through online chat or instant messaging. A student in a hospital, in hospital isolation can use video conferencing to practice French with a classmate. Online environments can also reduce the visibility of students' exceptionalities. To meet the needs of various learners, online courses should be accessible and supportive. To ensure that a course is accessible means exceptional learners can be, can physically access the information and learning resources as effectively as students not identified as exceptional. Virtual programs can design online courses in ways that make the content and navigation accessible to exceptional learners. A website is accessible when all potential users can navigate between and among its pages successfully and benefit from the information contained in its text, images, tables, forms, and various sorts of multimedia. Federal legislation and web development experts have been working to specify criteria and standards for accessible websites. And, to a lesser extent, guidelines for accessible online courses. A website from an industry group working to gain full accessibility for individuals with disabilities can be found at www.w3.org/WAI. I've included this on the course resource page. Some overall recommendations that ensure that website are accessible by avoiding certain features, for example tables that cannot be read by screen readers, or flicker rates that might induce seizures. Alternative approaches to presenting content, for example text descriptions to accompany visual cues and content such as images and video. And presenting information in its most readable form. Online courses are not just websites though. Although distributed to students via the web, electronic learning environments comprising of materials to be read, videos to watch. Activities to do, assignments to complete, discussions to join, tests to take and more. For an online course to be accessible, all of the online learning activities must be accessible. A variety of projects and organizations focus on accessibility issues related to specific aspects of electronic learning environments. The National Center for Accessible Media, NCAM unveiled its Access for All standard, an international technical standard design to increase access to online learning tools and content for all learners, particularly those with disabilities. Unique to the Access for All standard is the creation of learner profiles that enables teachers and students to tailor their interface with the web and locate material specific to each student's needs. Another initiative is developed, is a development by the National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials coordinated by Cast. And I provided this link on our course resource page. This federally funded initiative is working to develop standards for electronic versions of all published reading materials, so that they are accessible to students with disabilities. The NIMA Standard provides textbook publishers with the guidelines they need to meet federal mandates for providing reading materials in electronic formats. That can be read aloud by screen readers or turned into braille. These accessible reading materials can then be integrated into online courses to improve the accessibility of the courses reading materials. It is much simpler to determine a websites accessibility to individuals with disabilities than it is for online courses. Is much simpler to determine a web sites accessibility to individuals with disabilities than it is for online courses. Web site developers who have complied with W3C or Section 508 standards will post a statement or symbol that signifies that the webpages have been designed and tested for accessibility. Developers may also provide a description of what has been done to make the website accessible, or they may post instructions informing users with disabilities how to best navigate within the website. For examples, visit the websites of CAST or NCAN. It is also possible to test any web page for accessibility by inserting its URL into online tools such as Web ac, Exact and Wave. And we'll give you all of those links on our course resource page. The accessibility of online courses is more difficult to determine, in part because courses are more complex, and in part because they are more interactive. And in part because they are often hidden until one registers for credit. Indicators of accessible online courses, according to Burgstaller, 2006 and the DO-IT Project at the University of Washington. Include but are not limited to an accessible homepage, a statement indicating a commitment to accessibility, a statement informing potential students how they can request accommodations, a statement about how to obtain print materials in alternate formats. And the use of accessible materials online. In addition to making the content and technical components of a website or online course accessible, we must also consider students' access to the technology requirements. While many students have access to technology, some that have technology available do not have high speed processors or high speed internet. VIrtual school programs need to consider how to provide students access to the courses and curriculum. Either with the technology the students have, or, have a way to get the students, more advanced technology to use. Differentiated instruction has become a popular approach to teaching and learning, that takes in to consideration the diversity of students in, in school today. Thomasin and Allen 2000 describe differentiation as, quote, simply attending to the learning needs, of a particular student or small group of students. Rather than the more typical pattern of teaching the class as though all individuals in it are basically alike. The goal of a differentiated classroom is maximum student growth and individual success. This is accomplished by instructional and management strategies that allow for students to work at different levels and achieve varying levels of mastery. Examples include teaching to multiple intelligences. Individualized questioning strategies, alternative grouping methods, and supplemental materials based on student needs and interests. According to Cavanaugh Bluemeyer one way to incorporate differentiated instruction into virtual instruction is to adopt the principles of Universal Design for Learning, UDL. A concept introduced by CAST, which I mentioned earlier, but it is the center for applied special technology. UDL recommends educators design learning environments characterized by three types of flexibility and alternatives, multiple ways in which content is presented. Multiple way, multiple modes for student expression. And multiple means for engaging student interest. The goal of UDL is to create learning opportunities that provide the greatest possible accommodation to the greatest number of students. So again, that's multiple ways of content presentation. Multiple modes for student expression and multiple means for engaging student interest. These are the three components of the Universal Design for Learning, UDL. Most existing online courses are designed for students who are competent readers and proficient at working independently, but many learners fall outside competency and proficiency levels. One way to support exceptional learners is to design courses online that match their specific learning profiles and maximize their opportunities for success. Students with learning disabilities need learning options that are not dependent on reading skills to accommodate students who do not read well. Audio files can be included with the digitized readings of all text contained on each page. Short, narrated video clips can provide overviews of lessons, illustrate steps for strategies and remind students how to perform required skills. All audio and video files for any given page can be available as options to be accessed, paused, replayed, enlarged and otherwise controlled by the learner as needed. Many features that work for students with learning disabilities would work for anyone, like clarity, simplicity, concreteness, choices, self-pacing, explicit expectations, multi-modal presentations. Showing rather than telling, and a consistent structure for every lesson. Virtual teachers can design a course that can be customized to meet the needs of all learners, in alignment with the principles of UDL, both accessible to and supportive of any learner. The ideal UDL online course. Would maximally accessible to, and maximally supportive of all learners. The design would meet the needs of a wide range of student abilities, instructional preferences and learning styles. Multiple features are presented as options from which students or their teachers may choose. This makes the course customizable for an individual learner, or for a group of learners with the same learning profile. The following three slides contain examples of how the three dimensions of UDL can be applied in an online course, provided by Cavanaugh Bluemeyer 2007. So for multiple means of representation, content could be presented in video, audio, slide show, reading materials at multiple difficulty levels, reading materials with supportive resources, presentations at variable complexity levels, on-demand translation for non-native speakers. Graphic representations such as concept maps and graphic organizers, illustrative representations such as diagrams and simulations. Multiple means of expression, alternate forms of text input: text, speech-to-text, switches, touch pads. Media based assignments: drawings, maps, diagrams, videos, slideshows, web pages. Reduced text assignments: outlines, concept maps, tables, graphs, hands-on activities. Supportive tools: spelling and grammar checkers, drawing programs outliners. Social networking options like blogs, wikis, online chat and instant messaging. And shared writing and peer editing. Multiple means of engagement. Interview experts, role-playing, threaded discussions, brainstorming activities. Team inquiry projects, online experiments, game playing, community activism. Lot's of great techniques on those last three sides. Although multiple representations of content may help one population of learners, it may hinder others. For example, adding supporting graphics to a web page may assist a student with a reading problem. But be distracting for a student with vision impairment or over-stimulating for a student with attention deficit disorder. However, some initial research suggests that student taking, students taking courses designed by UDL principles appreciate having multiple options available. In choosing those that match their learning preferences. There are recognizable relationships between students learning styles and the choices they make in online courses with respect to assignments and motivational activities. Standards, guidelines, checklists, policies, and legislation designed to increase access to, improve participation in and ensure successive on-line environments exist for successional, exceptional learners. There is a need for websites to meet section 508 standards for accessibility. And for online courses to provide differentiated instruction to assist in meeting the needs of diverse student populations. Providing equal access to on-line learning for exceptional learners. Is an ethically correct, [COUGH] legally mandated and an educationally approached pre it endeavor. It is also in accordance with International Society for Technology and education's National Education Technology Standards for students, teachers and administrators. All levels of the standards note that critical importance of addressing social, ethical and human issues by ensuring equitable access in promoting positive attitudes toward technology for all learners. [BLANK_AUDIO]
