design of an assistive technology online class
DESCRIPTION
WCET 2008 Conference presentationTRANSCRIPT
Adaptive Learning Programs Lab
Design of an Assistive Technology Online Class
Joe HumbertAssistive Technology Specialist
E-Learning in Higher Education: Making Good on the PromisesWestern Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications
Friday, November 9, 2007
Previous Training Methods
Problems with Previous Methods
Reasons for the Class
How We Created the Class
How We Structured the Class
Challenges We Encountered
Future Plans
Questions and How to Contact Us
Presentation Overview
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Direct Training 1-on-1
Group Training
Technical Support
Previous Methods for training
Adaptive Learning Programs Lab 3
Direct Training 1-on-1• Most lessons were overviews and took at least 1.5 hours• Took time away from Staff’s other responsibilities
Group Training• Students could not coordinate schedules• Privacy issues with students acknowledging disability to other
students• Never enough time to cover topics and questions completely
Technical Support• Over the Phone
» Hard to describe solutions without visual aids
• Direct Support (In Person)» Many Issues were about basic use of software and capabilities
Problems with Previous Methods
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Previous methods to provide comprehensive training on Assistive Technology (AT)
Wanted to provide training to all of these groups:• Incoming Students• Students new to AT• AT Lab Assistants• Anyone wanting to learn about AT
Would provide answers for basic support issues
Free up staff to answer specific support issues and unique errors
Statistics
Relieve scheduling issues• Class is asynchronous
Reasons for the Class
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Class Deployment• WebCT Vista
Video Tutorial Creation Software• Camtasia• Captivate• ScreenCorder
Difficult Software to Include in Class• Zoomtext• Jaws• Dragon NaturallySpeaking
How we created the class
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WebCT Vista is the course management system used by Purdue
Features• Similar interface to other classes with which the student has been or will be
involved • Provides tools for logical structure of class materials• Provides assessment and data gathering tools to assist in determining the
effectiveness of the class materials
Asynchronous• Move at your own pace• WebCT Vista supports Asynchronous learning models
» Students with certain types of Learning Disabilities need more time to process information
» There are many different types of learning styles and everyone has their own– Asynchronous models allow people to learn in their own way
How we created the class:WebCT Vista
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Tried a variety of software to capture the tutorials• Camtasia• Captivate• ScreenCorder
Needed to find software that would work with Assistive Technology• Needed to capture both video and audio put out by the computer
system
Finally settled on Camtasia because it would capture the audio output from JAWS screen reader
How we created the class:Video Tutorial Creation
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We had difficulties with multiple pieces of software• Zoomtext (Screen Enlarger)• JAWS (Screen Reader)• Dragon NaturallySpeaking (Voice Input)
Zoomtext• Zoomtext inserts itself into the video driver chain• The video capturing software would not capture the Zoom features
and video features of Zoomtext» Solution was to video tape the screen and import it into the software
• To date no video capturing software works with Zoomtext
How we created the class:Difficulties with AT
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Jaws• Many of the screen recording software we tried would not capture the
output from the JAWS screen reader» We solved that by finding the right software
• When JAWS crashed during recording the recording software would crash too
Dragon NaturallySpeaking• Capturing software can only capture one audio source at a time
without one audio stream overriding another» Solution: Record the audio separately
• Like with Zoomtext this is a temporary fix• In the future we will look for new software or hope that future versions
will work better
How we created the class:Difficulties with AT Continued
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WebCT Vista Open campus
Pre and Post test model
Sub-divisions of the class• Student side versus Lab Assistant side• Sub-divisions of the student side
Setting up the class for future improvements
How we structured the class
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WebCT Vista, at Purdue, has two different “Institutions” to in which to setup a class • Open Campus• Academic Campus
We chose the Open Campus for multiple reasons• Anonymity
» Many students with disabilities do not want others to know– Open Campus allows the user to create a unique user name instead of
requiring their Purdue Username as with the Academic Campus
• Open Access» Because a Purdue Username is not required, people outside the
university could be allowed to take the course
• Same features as Academic Campus• Can be ported to Academic Campus
How we structured the class:WebCT Vista Open Campus
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We included tests and surveys• For statistical purposes
» How many students complete the different lessons
• To gage if students are learning from the course» See if improvements are needed
Pretest/Posttest model• Each sub-course, software/device, and lesson has a pre and post test• The course in general has both a pre/post test and pre/post course
survey• This ensures we have statistically significant data
How we structured the class:Pre and Post test Model
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The class is divided into two main course paths which are our main audiences• Student (students, faculty, staff or other)• Lab Assistant
Student path• Divided into disability categories• Focuses on the software the student will find useful
» More lessons focusing on common tasks
• Not mandatory
Lab Assistant Path• Not subdivided• Focuses on crucial information
» Common issues» Overview of the lab hardware/software
• Will become mandatory
How we structured the class:Student versus LA
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Sub-divided into disability categories• Learning disabilities• Visual impairments• Mobility impairments
Sub divisions were decided upon for multiple reasons• Meeting with Disabilities Services group• Most students our lab supports would fall into one of the categories
Those sub-courses were further sub-divided• First by Software/ Hardware
» Finally individual lessons covering hardware/software features were decided upon
We have a picture of the course layout
How we structured the class:Student side
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Technology is constantly changing• Updates and improvements would be mandatory
Designed course to be flexible• WebCT courses can be ported to new versions• Structure of course is simple, but expandable
» Physical class
» New divisions – Disability categories– Software
» Different course management system
We will talk about our future plans later
How we structured the class:preparing for the future
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Planning the course
WebCT
Captioning the videos
Streaming the videos
Getting the information out to the students
Updating videos and content
Updates to new operating systems
Challenges we encountered
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Deciding on the Basic design• Neither of us had designed a course before• How to deploy the course
» WebCT
» Physical meeting
» Web site
• Joe did much of the planning» Met with seasoned course designers
» Met with seasoned WebCT developers
• Dividing the course» Whether to have separate sections for students and LAs
» Naming of the student sub-courses– Met with DSS office
Challenges we encountered:Planning the Course
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Neither of us had designed a course in WebCT• Had to learn about the tools• Proper way to design a course
» Student interaction
» Proper flow
» Anonymity
Portability of course• Certain tools in WebCT have problems when ported
» We will have to restructure some of the course for a new version of WebCT
Problems with multimedia and files• Only certain file types are supported• Video issues
Challenges we encountered:WebCT Vista
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Recreating tests• Time consuming• Scoring / time limits
Accessibility• WebCT Vista has accessibility issues
» Screen reader access
» Extending time
» Frames
» JavaScript
» Keyboard controls
Challenges we encountered:WebCT Vista (continued)
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Captioning the videos• How to caption
» Format– Closed– Open
» Using video capture program or external software
• Display of captions» Color
» Placement
» Number of lines
• Transcript» Very hard for Joe to read from script
» Format of transcript
Challenges we encountered:Captioning the Videos
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Streaming the Videos• WebCT does not support embedding video• Decided to use Purdue’s streaming server• Streaming server supports certain file types
» Had to re-encode some videos• Videos would not play off campus
» Worked with multimedia group to solve server path issues
• Prepared solutions for alternate versions» Slow internet
» No internet
Challenges we encountered:Streaming the Videos
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How to approach students with disabilities• We do not have direct contact with the entire disabled student
population» Office hours 8am-5pm while lab is open 6 days a week -- 7am-7pm
» Not all students use the lab
• Decided we would have the DSS office put the word out» Formalized a letter/email for distribution
Response was slow for student participation• Course went live during summer session• Issues of anonymity
Will continue to out the word and raise awareness
Challenges we encountered:Getting the Word Out
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Updating videos and content• Because of the challenges with the Technology and AT, the course
was rolled out in stages• Still adding new videos and lessons• Constant cycle
» New versions of software– New features/ options– About every 6 months
» Hard to keep up– Takes up staff time
» New Operating Systems (OS)
Updates to new (OS)• Some AT still have issues with Vista
» Can’t create new lessons/videos till issues are fixed
Challenges we encountered:Dreaded Updates
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Moving to WebCT Vista 4• New features/ tools• More accessible interface• Live chat
Looking into using Learning Modules• Easier to port to new version of WebCT• More options
Internal Statistical Report• We can compare pre and post assessments to show the effectiveness of the
training. We can also show the need for training.
Publication• Report to AT journal• Present at other conferences
Future Plans
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Updating Videos and Content• New hardware• New software• Making course more individualized
» Each persons disability is different
Put in exercises for students to practice skills• Practice for potential support issues LAs will face• Lead to fewer detailed support issues
Possibly distribute e-text using the same class• Many students receive digital text files on CD• Other institutions distribute via CMS
Future Plans
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Any Questions
Joe Humbert• IUPUI• [email protected]• (317) 274-4378
Links• Alps lab: http://www.itap.purdue.edu/tlt/idc/alps/• WebCT: http://www.webct.com/• Ecourses at Purdue: https://ecourses.purdue.edu/webct/entryPageIns.dowebct
Thanks for your time and Attention!!!!
Questions and Contact Information
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