Examination of User Experiences and Needs for the Web Page and Learning Environment Used by Students with Special Needs in Open and Distance Learning: The Case of Anadolu University

Abstract

E-learning systems with its flexible structure offer learning environments independent of time and place for students with special needs. The effectiveness of these environments for students with special needs depends on the creation of designs that consider their individual needs. The aim of this research is to reveal the needs, difficulties, and solution suggestions by determining the user experiences for the "e-Campus" system as the web page of the Anadolu University Open Education System "Barrier-Free Open Education Faculty (OEF)", which provides services to most university students with special needs in Turkey, and the online learning environment. For this purpose, a case study design, in which qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques are used together, was used. A total of 9533 students, including 9513 students with special needs and 20 visually impaired students, participated in the quantitative stage of the study. According to the findings of the research, students with special needs reported that the web page and e-Campus system they use are easy to use, they can easily find the content they are looking for, they can access other services from the web page and offer useful content. On the other hand, difficulties in using the mobile application login screen, accessing the call center, and accessing some content on the e-Campus were mentioned among the issues encountered. The visually impaired participants requested support for facilitating access to live lectures, enlarging the texts in online exams, and giving additional time, adding voice prompts to the entry page, and increasing audio narrations. In line with these supports required by the participants and the literature, solution suggestions to overcome the difficulties were discusse