Are chats and forums accessible in e-learning systems?: a heuristic evaluation comparing four learning content management systems

[Poster] 18th ACM conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education (ITiCSE'13), 1-3, July 2013, Canterbury (England)This paper presents a heuristic evaluation of accessibility of the Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) tools: chat and forums in four Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS): Moodle, ATutor, dotLRN and Claroline. Moreover, some recommendations are offered in order to improve the accessibility of the toolsThis study has been partially funded by the MA2VICMR (S2009/TIC-1542) research projectPublicad

Accessibility evaluation of chats and forums in e-learning environments

Proceedings of: 2013 International Conference on Frontiers in Education: Computer Science & Computer Engineering (FECS'13): WORLDCOMP'13, July 22-25, 2013, Las Vegas, Nevada (USA)Collaborative learning is useful for students in their learning process. Nowadays, most e-learning systems include Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) tools like chats and forums; however, are they accessible for everybody? This paper presents a heuristic evaluation of accessibility of two CSCL tools (chat and forum) in four web-based, open-source Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS): Moodle, ATutor, dotLRN and Claroline. The evaluation results show that the CSCL tools evaluated present accessibility barriers which are a handicap for many students who want to use the LCMSs Moreover, some recommendations are offered in order to improve the accessibility of the evaluated tools. Considering these recommendations in the development of the evaluated tools, all students could participate actively in the collaborative tasks proposed by teachersThis research work has been supported by the Regional Government of Madrid under the Research Network MA2VICMR (S2009/TIC-1542) and by the Spanish Ministry of Economy under the project MULTIMEDICA (TIN2010-20644-C03-01)Publicad

Designing and Evaluating Accessible E-Learning for Students with Visual Impairments in K-12 Computing Education

This dissertation explores the pathways for making K-12 computing education more accessible for blind or visually impaired (BVI) learners. As computer science (CS) expands into K-12 education, more concerted efforts are required to ensure all students have equitable access to opportunities to pursue a career in computing. To determine their viability with BVI learners, I conducted three studies to assess current accessibility in CS curricula, materials, and learning environments. Study one was interviews with visually impaired developers; study two was interviews with K-12 teachers of visually impaired students; study three was a remote observation within a computer science course. My exploration revealed that most of CS education lacks the necessary accommodations for BVI students to learn at an equitable pace with sighted students. However, electronic learning (e-learning) was a theme that showed to provide the most accessible learning experience for BVI students, although even there, usability and accessibility challenges were present in online learning platforms. My dissertation engaged in a human-centered approach across three studies towards designing, developing, and evaluating an online learning management system (LMS) with the critical design elements to improve navigation and interaction with BVI users. Study one was a survey exploring the perception of readiness for taking online courses between sighted and visually impaired students. The findings from the survey fueled study two, which employed participatory design with storytelling with K-12 teachers and BVI students to learn more about their experiences using LMSs and how they imagine such systems to be more accessible. The findings led to developing the accessible learning content management system (ALCMS), a web-based platform for managing courses, course content, and course roster, evaluated in study three with high school students, both sighted and visually impaired, to determine its usability and accessibility. This research contributes with recommendations for including features and design elements to improve accessibility in existing LMSs and building new ones

Preparation of assessment, learning and teaching materials for dyslexic students that benefit all students: presentation of results from an empirical study

The purpose of this paper is to present results from empirical research with dyslexic students in Higher Education that focuses on the impact of dyslexia on the study of computing. HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency) statistics suggest that Computer Science is one of the subjects to which dyslexic students are attracted. This study was motivated by the question as to whether there might be anything particular about the discipline of computer programming that makes it either beneficial or problematic for dyslexic students. In addition, we were also interested in dyslexic students' general experience of assessment, learning and teaching, as well as their views of proposed accessibility guidelines. The Greek word 'dyslexia' means 'difficulty with words'. The British Dyslexia Association (2007) describes dyslexia as “a combination of abilities and difficulties that affect the learning process in one or more of reading, spelling and writing”. Dyslexic students are a substantial and growing proportion of the overall student population, for whom learning materials should be made accessible. It is argued that good practice in approaches in assessment learning and teaching for disabled students is generally good practice for all students (Brown, Adams, 2006). Many of the adjustments, such as well prepared handouts, instructions given in writing as well as verbally, notes put on-line, and variety and flexibility in forms of assessment, are simply good teaching and learning practices from which all students can benefit

Supporting Teachers to Automatically Build Accessible Pedagogical Resources: The APEINTA Project

Proceedings of: First International Conference, TECH-EDUCATION 2010, Athens, Greece, May 19-21, 2010Most of the universities in Europe have started their process of adaptation towards a common educational space according to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The social dimension of the Bologna Process is a constituent part of the EHEA and it is a necessary condition for the attractiveness and competitiveness of the EHEA. Two of the main features of the social dimension are the equal access for all the students and the lifelong learning. One of the main problems of the adaptation process to the EHEA is that the teachers have no previous references and models to develop new pedagogical experiences accessible to all the students, nevertheless of their abilities, capabilities or accessibility characteristics. The APEINTA project presented in this paper can be used as a helpful tool for teachers in order to cope with the teaching demands of EHEA, helping the teachers to automatically build accessible pedagogical resources even when the teachers are not accessibility experts. This educational project has been successfully used in 2009 in two different degrees at the Carlos III University of Madrid: Computer Science and Library and Information Science

Investigating K-12 Computing Education in Four African Countries (Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda)

As K-12 computing education becomes more established throughout the world, there is an increasing focus on accessibility for all, whether in a particular country or setting or in areas of the world that may not yet have computing established. This is primarily articulated as an equity issue. The recently developed capacity for, access to, participation in, and experience of computer science education (CAPE) Framework is one way of demonstrating stages and dependencies and understanding relative equity, taking into consideration the disparities between sub-populations. While there is existing research that covers the state of computing education and equity issues, it is mostly in high-income countries; there is minimal research in the context of low-middle-income countries like the sub-Saharan African countries

The remote experimentation as the practical-oriented basis of inclusive engineering education

The challenges and solutions for inclusive engineering education are discussed in this paper. We propose remote experimentation as the practical-oriented basis to train engineers with disabilities in the fields of Computer Science and Information Technologies. The structure and the functionality of international GOLDi network that unites partner universities from Germany, Australia, Ukraine, Armenia and Georgia is given. The possibilities of REIoT complex for studying the features of embedded systems design and Internet of Things technologies as well as an overview of ISRT laboratory for embedded software development and testing are given. The presented Remote Laboratories are successfully used to improve educational services quality and accessibility as well as to strengthen the practical component of the learning process

Equity, accessibility and action: supporting diverse learners in K-12 computer science education

Computer science impacts our lives every day in a multitude of ways. Despite its ubiquity and power to shape the world, the computer science education community continues to struggle with issues of equity. Problems of access, opportunity, influence and achievement are pervasive and while a handful of scholars have investigated specific approaches to improving equity in computer science education, little research has been done to study the beliefs and practices of teachers in the field across all grade levels and from varied locales. Using a basic qualitative approach, this study examined how 10 teachers selected for an equity-oriented fellowship conceptualized equity in computer science education and used a wide assortment of strategies to create equitable access and outcomes for diverse learners both within and beyond their classrooms. To achieve a deeper understanding, fellowship data was analyzed and compared across all fellows and multiple data types for similarities and differences. Implications for research, and practice are discussed

New communication technologies for inclusive education in and outside the classroom

This chapter explores new communication technologies and methods for avoiding accessibility and communication barriers in the educational environment. It is focused on providing real-time captions so students with hearing disabilities and foreign students, among others, could participate in an inclusive way in and outside the classroom. The inclusive proposals are based on the APEINTA educational project, which aims for accessible education for all. The research work proposes the use of mobile devices for teacher and students in order to provide more flexibility using the APEINTA real-time captioning service. This allows using this service from anywhere and at anytime, not only in the classroom.APEINTA is the result of collaboration among the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Electronic Technology, Universidad Carlos III, and the Spanish Centre of Captioning and Audiodescription (CESyA)1. This project was initially supported by the Ministry of Science and Innovation (2007 I+D projects - EA2008-0312) within the program of Studies and Analyses - Actions to Improve the Quality of Higher Education and the Activity of University Professors. Currently, the research presented in this chapter is being partially supported by France Telecom España S.A. and the MA2VICMR (S2009/TIC-1542), GEMMA (TSI-020302-2010-141) and SAGAS (TSI-020100-2010-184) research projects.Publicad