Using Mobile Technologies to Enhance Accessibility and Inclusion in Field-Based Learning

The relevance of field education in the geosciences has been subject to increasing scrutiny, in part due to the exclusionary nature of traditional field practices that require independent work and physical agility. As an alternative, this article presents strategies for increasing accessibility and inclusion in collaborative field-based education through the use of mobile technologies. We present a series of examples to show how the use of mobile technologies in the field can enable collaborative observation, data collection, data sharing, and interpretation. The strategies developed in these examples provide equitable access to instruction, peer engagement, and participation in every field exercise. We suggest that technological approaches to accessibility and inclusion in the field can facilitate opportunities for all students to gain field experiences that are an important component of geoscience education

Exploring pedagogical culture for accessibility education in Computing Science

This paper identifies some of the challenges of teaching and learning accessibility through the lens of pedagogy (which deals with the theory and practice of education). We argue that accessibility education in computing science presents a set of unique and challenging characteristics for those engaged in accessibility capacity building. Significant moves are being made to embed accessibility within academic curricula and professional domains. However, through a qualitative thematic review of the accessibility pedagogic literature, we find that the field lacks the pedagogic culture necessary to support widespread excellence in teaching and learning. Nonetheless, our review identifies aspects of this small but important literature that indicate how a pedagogic culture for accessibility can be stimulated through research, debate and discussion, to promote a more pedagogically-grounded approach to the field as a whole

Towards a pedagogy of accessibility: The need for critical learning spaces in media accessibility education and training

Until now, the debate on education and training in accessibility has largely ignored the core competences of the accessibility expert, as it has tended to focus exclusively on context- and field-related skills. Looking at the case of media accessibility through the critical lens of accessibility studies, the article calls for the development of a theoretical reflection on education and training. Such reflection could then solidly support extensive investigation of the specific skills of accessibility researchers, professionals and policy-makers, frame analyses of current programmes, and strengthen proposals for new curricula and professional profiles. The article contributes to such a reflection by advancing and discussing the inclusion of critical learning spaces within vocation- and research-oriented courses. Using the critical lens of accessibility studies, the article also investigates whether education and training in audiovisual translation and media accessibility have been mostly dominated by some discriminatory normative frameworks, such as the medical model of disability, and how this is influenced by and in turn influences practices. The article suggests that this problem requires a (re)design of education (and practices) using the tools that constitute the critical apparatus of accessibility studies, such as the human variation paradigm, the social model of accessibility, the universalist account of access, the poietic model of agency, and proactive and user-centred approaches. Ultimately, the article outlines the very first traits of a pedagogy of accessibility, that is, a systematic approach to the practice(s) of teaching and learning accessibilit

Training experts in inclusive practices for an equity on access to culture in Europe

Access to cultural content should be offered by several services available by default. If access services are thought, and budgeted, in the production phase, they are better integrated, and cultural content can be enjoyed by all patrons. How to integrate access services in the production of any cultural good relays on education. Until accessibility enters the syllabus in primary and secondary education curricula, and also in higher education, much work needs to be done. Until such a time when accessibility is normalized as a must-carry requirement, the work of experts in media accessibility will be needed to add accessibility in postproduction stages. The main focus of the chapter is training in postproduction accessibility. The enterprise is looked from many angles, but in all cases putting the end user at the center to understand their needs and expectations. To illustrate our approach to the subject, three European projects funded under the Erasmus + scheme will be used as examples: ACT (Accessible Culture and Training), ADLAB PRO (field of audio description), and ILSA (Interlingual Live Subtitling for Access

Professional development needs in nutrition and dietetics

Background. Continuing education has long played a role in the maintenance of professional competence of nutrition and dietetics professionals. Due to the lack of published continuing education research in nutrition over the last 15 years, very little is known about the adequacy of continuing education resources for today’s nutrition and dietetics professionals. Objective. To examine the continuing education needs of nutrition and dietetics professionals. Design and Methods. A cross-sectional survey study of nutrition and dietetics professionals who graduated from the University of Texas at Austin Didactic Program in Dietetics and/or Coordinated Program in Dietetics. A survey was constructed and content-validated to assess continuing education needs in specific areas of nutrition. Descriptive statistics was used to report the results. Measures. Demographics, areas of focus in continuing education, continuing education activity preferences, targeted levels of competence in continuing education, and learning needs. Results. 54 surveys were returned. Of those 54, 41 were able to be used for analysis. Most of the participants worked in clinical nutrition (64.7%) and/or in nutrition education (38.2%). 75.6% of participants chose continuing education activities based on convenience and accessibility in their areas of interest. 63.4% of participants reported that their continuing education learning needs were not being met in at least one of their areas of focus in continuing education. Conclusion. Despite the emphasis on continuing education in the nutrition field, most of the participants reported unmet learning needs in some capacity. Further investigation into the adequacy of continuing education resources in nutrition is needed.Nutritional Science

Credit Accessibility, Risk Attitude, and Social Learning: Investment Decisions of Aquaculture in Rural Indonesia

This study examines the factors that influenced poor Indonesian farmers to invest in floating net aquaculture after being relocated due to a reservoir construction project. To compare three primary decision factors, credit accessibility, risk attitudes, and social learning, (i.e., learning effects from others experience), we analyze 16 years of socio-economic retrospective data collected in the field interviews exclusively for this study. Our analysis reveals that credit accessibility and risk attitudes are the most important factors that influence the rate of aquaculture investment. Social learning as well as household education also influences the investment decision significantly. Our results suggest that developmen t projects that involve voluntary investments by a poor populace will be more successful if complementary services to promote credit and insurance accessibility and/or local information sharing are made available, either by the government or the private sector. Also, such support should not cease at the launch of the project but rather continue and in fact evolve to address the changing factors at the different stages of the project.Household investment decision, credit constraints, risk attitudes, social learning, panel data, Farm Management, D1, D8, D12, Q22,

Distance Learning and How Access to Education Can Be Improved

Throughout history, access to quality education has been an issue for many individuals. There are a variety of reasons which may have contributed to the accessibility issues including race, economic status, health conditions, and the general geographic region where a person lives. These barriers have historically prevented many people from receiving equal educational opportunities. With advances in technology, distance education is emerging as a formidable opponent and could potentially even the playing field in terms of educational access. In order to determine the viability of this method of delivering education, a historical evolution of distance learning (DL) was explored. This extensive literature review provided an introspective analysis of the types and components of distance learning. It also revealed the strengths and weaknesses, as well as the factors associated with considering distance learning as a means to increase the accessibility to education

Equal Access to Higher Education Institutions: An Analysis of Big East Universities\u27 Web Accessibility

More than 26% of the United States nation\u27s population lives with a disability that inhibits the way they navigate and interact with the world. Some impairments may limit the accessibility of information, especially when it comes to viewing websites, applications, and online documents, but modern web accessibility standards aim to eliminate those barriers. The accessibility of information for those with disabilities is especially pertinent when it comes to colleges and universities. While a few researchers have delved into the realm of accessibility for higher education institutions, the current study questions whether small to mid-sized, private, liberal arts university websites are accessible to those with disabilities using the ten schools enrolled in the Big East Athletic Conference. Each evaluation was conducted based on the top five most frequently visited pages and through the automated accessibility checker, WAVE. This study ranks the sites, recognizes prominent accessibility shortcomings, suggests improvements on bettering both the institutions\u27 websites and the national standards of web accessibility, and develops additional research ideas for others to advance the field, helping those with disabilities have equal access to higher education institutions and create a more inclusive web for all

Gender Accessibility and Equality in Education: The Implication to Manpower Development in Nigeria

There seem to be a global progress made regarding equity between men and women in the field of education. In spite of this, the educational gap between both sexes has not been bridged in Nigeria. Even with the universal declaration of Human Rights in 1948, article 26 for instance, estimates reveal that more than half a billion adult women aged 15 and above were illiterate in 1990, which is 63 percent of all illiterates in the world. It is in recognition of this that the UNICEF strongly raised the issue of removing constraints and disparities that will place the girl child education at a disadvantaged position. This paper appraises the gender differences in education accessibility and equality of Nigerians. It equally assessed some of the constraints to gender equality in education and concludes that gender imbalance in education accessibility and equality if not addressed will have an adverse effect to manpower development in Nigeria

Evaluating the Accessibility of Three Open-Source Learning Content Management Systems: A Comparative Study

Learning content management systems (LCMSs) have become increasingly popular in the educational field over the past few years. However, problems in system design can create difficulties in the interactions between LCMSs and an important sector of the user population. The assessment and monitoring of LCMS accessibility are vital for the guarantee of universal accessibility in education. This article presents a comparative study of the accessibility of three web-based, open-source LCMSs: Moodle, ATutor, and Sakai. Results of the study indicate that barriers to accessibility are present in each of the three systems evaluated. A primary aim of the study is to help detect and correct these barriers such that the goal of universal access in educational environments may one day be achieved.This study was partially funded by the Research Network MA2VICMR (S2009/TIC-1542) and by GEMMA (TSI-020302-2010-141) and SAGAS (TSI-020100-2010-184) research projects