Establishing an Accessible Social Presence

This VoiceThread discussion was created as part of a literary analysis unit on Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang, The following video introduces students to the VoiceThread technology and provides them orientation on using it for the first time.

The presentation was created using Google Docs, VoiceThread as the discussion examples, Screenr to capture the audio and video, Mac PowerBook and TextEdit to create the captioning, and YouTube to embed the captions and create a finished video product.

Photo credits: Crowd of Red Guards courtesy of University of Westminster, Smash the Four Olds! Facing History and Ourselves National Foundation, Inc.

Reflection

Online learning is an opportunity for students to learn anytime, anywhere and in any way that best suits their individual needs. One important factor is that online and distance learning opens the way for students with disabilities to participate in educational classes in ways they have not done before. Assistive Technology such as screen magnification and screen reader software, speech recognition technology and closed captioning is available to assist students with disabilities access the online world independently. With this opportunity to reach another audience comes accountability to provide equal access to students with disabilities. One module of the LEC certification dealt specifically with online accessibility, and provided insight and instruction on laws and regulations to make blended online learning accessible to all students. Universal accessibility is a requirement of ADA Section 508, and requires "all students, regardless of disability, must be provided with access to equivalent learning materials, including interfaces, images, sounds, multimedia elements, and all other forms of information". The module covered an array of Universal Design concepts such as heading styles, alternative text for non-text images, and video captions that are meant to bring accessibility to all students, with and without disabilities.

The VoiceThread technology used in this artifact video allows students to access information and participate in multiple ways, such as typing, speaking, and audio or video file upload. The introductory video gave students an overview of how to log in to VoiceThread and a brief summary of how the online collaboration will work. The benefit of this video introduction was that students were able to connect to the class and the instructor, bringing a feeling of camaraderie and community. The close captioning added an additional element of accessibility for hearing impaired students. Utilizing this method of online discussion, VoiceThread and YouTube for close captioning will encourage and foster Bloom's higher level thinking skills of understanding, analyzing and creating, and encourage online collaboration for all students.