How Online Learning Contributes to a More Inclusive Higher Education Experience

1. How Online Learning Contributes to a More Inclusive Higher Education Experience Students with special educational needs and/or disabilities are often overlooked in the grand curriculum. However, they are part of the student population, on college campuses, taking classes with their peers, mostly online these days. One thing I was excited about is that technology and online learning have really supported these students in continuing their education, even though the pandemic has disrupted many systems and processes.

2. As a teacher and executive director of the Inclusive Higher Education Certificate Program (IHECP), I can honestly say that my students have experienced a smooth transition to the online learning environment. I attribute this success to our pre-pandemic strategy: we already had a blended learning system that helped us enable distance learning. With schools and universities opening their gates again, there is great hope that there will be more face- to-face learning soon. However, I strongly believe that there will be an online learning component for every student, be it in person, distance, or blended.

3. Here are a few reasons why I think online learning improves access to higher education for students with all types of disabilities: Accessible learning environment Accessible design, both in the physical and virtual world, simply means good design. People with disabilities benefit the most, and even those who do not really need it have a better experience. For example, in an accessible online learning environment, you can add captions to all instructional videos that you present to students, including pre-recorded lectures. Hearing-impaired students can still follow your presentation by reading subtitles, which is very important when they can't see your face or read your lips. Also, non-disabled students will still find closed captioning helpful if they are in a noisy environment while studying or simply concentrate better on written than spoken words. In addition to closed captioning, the learning platform we use has other accessibility features, such as: Compatibility with various screen readers, especially useful for visually impaired students; Integration with text-to-speech software - for people with underdeveloped fine motor skills who have difficulty typing; A graphical user interface—, which anyone can fine-tune to avoid eyestrain after being on the platform for more than five minutes (and even prevent epileptic seizures). Differentiated education Every teacher knows that no two students are the same. They have different learning needs and can only reach their full potential if those needs are met. This is true for all students, but it's even more true (if you'll allow me to draw an Orwell) for students with disabilities. Differentiated education is necessary for them. In the typical school environment, this is a huge and often insurmountable challenge. Fortunately, technology allows teachers like me to differentiate between the content I provide to my students, the delivery of that content, and how I evaluate each student's learning demonstration. I make it a point to get to know my students first and then tailor as many aspects of their learning experience as possible because over time I learn their preferences and what they respond best to. For example, students can hand in writing, video, or audio assignments and I always try to give them feedback in the same form. Instead of writing short notes or paragraphs, I sometimes have short conversations about the assignment via our learning platform. This personalized feedback can make a huge difference in my students' progress.

4. Competency-based learning If you ask me, the credit hour system used by many higher education institutions is one of the worst ways to rate students, even those without special needs! However, it is so widespread that few people question it. At IHECP, we do not link student performance to credits. How much time they spend behind a desk is not a good indicator of their progress. Instead, we focus on involving them in learning activities and developing their skills. To that end, we try to make the most of our learning platform, which allows us to hide or unlock learning modules based on each student's unique progress in a lesson or course. Each module has a quiz or other type of assessment at the end and students can only proceed to the next module if they demonstrate mastery of the previous one. Teachers can see where each student is, adjust instructions, and guide them if they're struggling with something - and they can do it in real-time! Conclusion I am a special educator, but I believe that education is special for everyone. We need personalized education for everyone, and it's almost impossible to do it live - we need educational technology. If we could place the thought and load our intent to teach everyone, we would be much more successful than in one-by-one or face-to-face classrooms. Find more details, Automobiles | Banking and Finance | Construction | Customer Training | Education | FMCG | Government | Healthcare | Hospitality | Information Technology | Logistics | Manufacturing and Retail | Non Profit | Oil Gas