e Learning - Activity task
Activity task
1. Read through the four scenarios below and choose one to answer the associated questions.
Work out your answers to the questions posed.
You will find your list of challenging activities and solutions useful here. In a real situation, you would need to ask questions of colleagues and students, so think about what information might be missing from the scenario. In your own situation think about which colleagues you might consult to find this information. Make a note of any assumptions that you make.
Scenario 1 A course with extensive audio
You are planning an elearning activity for a modern language course. The course uses an audioconferencing system as an important tool for practising and tutoring spoken language. The tool also has a text-chat facility. Students are not assessed on their use of the conferencing but experience has shown that those who use it achieve better grades.
Which students may have difficulty using the audioconferencing?
What adjustments could be made?
What adjustments do you think would be considered reasonable or not reasonable?
What information would you provide to alert students to potential challenges?
Scenario 2 A course with multimedia
You are planning an elearning activity, which includes commissioning software that students will use to look at images, listen to audio and complete an interactive quiz. Completion of the quiz is an individual activity that counts towards assessment.
What might some students find challenging in this activity?
What adjustments could be made?
What adjustments do you think would be considered reasonable or not reasonable?
Would your response be different if it was a group activity?
What would you include in your specification to the software developers?
What information would you provide to alert students to potential challenges?
Scenario 3 A course with extensive video
You are planning an elearning activity that includes a DVD video. The video has a large number of short clips: some with interviews, some are situations with voice-overs and some are street scenes with background sounds but no dialogue or voice-over. Students are expected to study the street scenes in detail and to write essays about them.
What might some students find challenging in this activity?
What adjustments could be made?
What adjustments do you think would be considered reasonable or not reasonable?
What would you include in your specification to the DVD developers?
What information would you provide to alert students to potential challenges?
Scenario 4 A course with many diagrams
You are planning an extensive elearning activity about science topics. Some of the topics use a small amount of mathematical notation and there are large numbers of diagrams and illustrations. Students are expected to study data, maps and charts and to interpret their meaning.
Which aspects of the activity might some students find challenging?
What adjustments could be made?
What adjustments do you think would be considered reasonable or not reasonable?
What information would you provide to alert students to potential challenges?
2. You may wish to post your answers in the Comments section below.
3. Discuss the issues raised in this activity in the Comments section below. Focus on access to the learning, your moral and legal obligations and what kind of support you might get from work colleagues. Do you agree or disagree with the views we have put forward in this activity?
Resources
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) (a part of the US Department of Education), ‘Special analysis 2002: nontraditional undergraduates’
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2002/analyses/nontraditional/index.asp
OU ‘Introduction to accessibility’ http://kn.open.ac.uk/public/index.cfm?wpid=2488
OU ‘Guidelines for describing visual teaching material’ http://kn.open.ac.uk/public/index.cfm?workspacepageid=2709
