Middle Level Education Aims for Equity and Inclusion, but Do Our School Websites Meet ADA Compliance?

An often-overlooked component of a middle school website is the necessity for that website to be accessible to those with disabilities, while following the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 508 of the Workforce Rehabilitation Act. In support of the belief that support the belief that inclusive education and respect for diversity should be integrated throughout the school, this study investigated the accessibility of middle school websites in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio by selecting a random sample of 150 schools and analyzing their homepages using WAVE (Web Accessibility Versatile Evaluator), which reports accessibility violations by annotating a copy of the page that was evaluated and presenting embedded icons and indicators to disclose breaches with ADA. Out of 150 districts, 54% had errors that need immediate attention and all 150 schools had alerts of likely violations that ranged from alt-text omissions and empty or confusing links to issues with color contrast and keyboard-only navigation. The article proceeds to give practical suggestions for eliminating many of the errors, even for those shareholders with less than sophisticated technological expertise

Using Constructivist Teaching to Shift the Paradigm for Pre-Service Philosophy of Education Statements

This article examines what the author perceives as a need to fortify the quality of philosophy of education statements submitted by pre-service teaching candidates. Because the educational philosophy is frequently viewed as “artificial,” it fails to provide a systematic, meaningful, and articulate guideline for new teachers whose underlying beliefs ultimately dominate and shape their instructional practices. Paramount is a return to the underlying premise that a teacher’s philosophy of education is, foremost, personal and reflective. Candidates must share in the decision-making process and be engaged in their own construction of a philosophy of education. Otherwise, teachers in training find it challenging to discriminate theory and practice in authentic classroom settings. By focusing their attention on direct, cogent elements of the philosophy statement and by actively participating in the formal educational philosophies, candidates can discover a congruency between what they envision as their role in the classroom and how that role will impact what they teach, how they teach it, and how they assess

The Attitudes of University Faculty toward Humor as a Pedagogical Tool: Can We Take a Joke?

Faculty members in a College of Education responded to a mixed methods questionnaire regarding their attitudes toward the use of humor as a pedagogical tool. Quantitative data and coding of open response questions revealed that instructors overall considered humor to be an integral part of their teaching plan and that humor relaxes students, contributes to a more enjoyable classroom climate, and helps students make content connections, in both traditional and web based classes. Despite general acceptance, the feedback suggested instructors could benefit from targeted training in how to effectively and consistently use humor as a teaching strategy, particularly in their online courses

Okay, Our Courses Are Online, But Are They ADA Compliant? An Investigation of Faculty Awareness of Accessibility at a Midwestern University

The purpose of this study was to investigate the current extent of our faculty’s familiarity with the rights, responsibilities, and resources pertaining to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 508 of the Workforce Rehabilitation Act insofar as compliance and accommodations for online courses. Through the collection of data we sought to heighten awareness and encourage faculty members to look at and think about how their online programs and courses are consistent with accessible design, thereby providing a real opportunity for continuous improvement in both course design and implementation. An electronic researcher-created survey instrument revealed that accessibility compliance for sensory disabilities within online courses has not been achieved and a lack of familiarity with the requisite expectations is also very much in evidence. Faculty raised topics such as when courses should be designed to be accessible and who bears ultimate responsibility for compliance. We discuss several initiatives we have brought to our university to facilitate expediency on this matter as well as cultivate a more “humanized” instructor presence within online classes

The Perceptions of Students toward Online Learning at a Midwestern University: What are Students Telling Us and What Are We Doing About It?

This action research explored attitudes and perceptions of students at a Midwestern university enrolled in at least one fully online course during fall 2012. Our objective was to initiate a study that gathered comprehensive information about the diversity of the online phenomenon at our university so that we could seek improvement as online designers and professors and subsequently share our findings with other instructors on campus who teach students within the targeted population. The study focused on student perspectives toward web-based instruction and student expectations and experiences in the areas of course format; technological support; interaction with faculty and peers; course flexibility and pace; assessment and feedback; and overall communication.An electronic survey blended a quantitative component in the form of 23 fixed response items with a qualitative element accomplished through two narrative response questions. For such responses, content analysis was employed to compress many words of text into fewer content categories based on explicit rules of coding. A total of 1,085 participated, with numbers varying for individual survey items. The critical themes that emerged spoke to the necessity for clear instructions, timely responses, instructor availability, and an overall course design that integrates appropriate, yet not overpowering, technology

A Study of Kentucky School District Websites: They’re Colorful and Informative….but Are They ADA Compliant?

An often-overlooked component of a school district website is the necessity for that website to be accessible to those with disabilities, while following the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 508 of the Workforce Rehabilitation Act. This study investigated the accessibility of school district websites in Kentucky by selecting a random sample of 50 school districts and analyzing their home pages using WAVE (Web Accessibility Versatile Evaluator), which reports accessibility violations by annotating a copy of the page that was evaluated and presenting embedded icons and indicators to disclose breaches with ADA. Out of 50 districts, 35 had errors that need immediate attention and all 50 districts had alerts of likely violations that ranged from alt-text omissions and empty links to issues with color contrast and font sizes. The article proceeds to give practical suggestions for eradicating many of the errors, even for those shareholders with less than sophisticated technological expertise

Faculty Expectations toward Their Online Courses: Are They on the Same Screen with Their Students?

This action research study explored attitudes and expectations of faculty at a Midwestern university who taught at least one fully online course during 2014. The study focused on instructor perceptions toward and experiences with web-based instruction, particularly in the critical areas of assessment and feedback; course organization; interaction with students; course flexibility; and overall communication. Findings were then compared to student responses from the authors’ previous study. A mixed-methods electronic survey blended a quantitative component in the form of 21 fixed response items with a qualitative element accomplished through two narrative response questions where content analysis was used to compress many words of text into content categories based on explicit rules of coding. A total of 134 faculty members participated, and findings revealed that instructors are becoming more deliberate about their actions as they seek to develop “teaching presence” that extends beyond the managerial and technical aspects of their interactions with students. There was growing agreement between faculty and student expectations, with room for further improvement, as both faculty and students adjust to this new delivery system and the need for clarity, timeliness, and course designs that integrate the best of technological possibilities with the preferred “human” qualities of the traditional classroom

A Case Study of Online Instructors and Their Quest for Greater Interactivity in Their Courses: Overcoming the Distance in Distance Education

The purpose of this study was to explore the attitudes and experiences of seven online instructors in Teacher Education (three from the United States, four from Israel) pertaining to the deliberate efforts they make to build interaction into their web-based classes to support learning. In the tradition of cooperative inquiry, the use of purposive sampling and a semi-structured interview protocol provided the best opportunity to describe, rather than explain, the perspectives of these instructors who are currently teaching online and developing within the medium. Participants expressed the need to establish quality interactions throughout their distance courses, yet acknowledged barriers they perceive in attaining desired levels of human relationship. They also discussed the importance of collaboration, caring, and context when creating and teaching courses in an online environment