alert – Accessibility in Learning Environments and Related Technologies

Student 7

Dr Barbara Newland, Juliette Pavey and Victoria Boyd

Disability: Dyspraxia (partial)

Subject: Computing Science

E-tivity: Online quizzes

Summary

Student 7 is a full-time Computing Science student who is a very confident computer user and rates his competence in using the VLE as good. He is not, however, a frequent user of the VLE, accessing it only once every few weeks, and does not believe that it has any effect on face-to-face delivery of his classes. Student 7 attributes his infrequent use of the VLE to the tendency for staff in his department to create their own web pages and deliver materials via these.

Student 7 advocates that more should be done institutionally to raise awareness and provide training in VLE use, and suggests that this has impacted on his experience and the extent to which staff in his department use the VLE.

On learning

It's, I'd say, vital for people with handwriting specific difficulties, having the notes there (online) as an option…the amount of notes that I have has increased a lot, and I'm learning and I'm getting a lot more out of lectures, cos otherwise I'd just end up getting lost.

On the VLE

…when I get to know (the VLE) a bit better, it would be very much a learning tool, it will be something there as a means of support. I think it's something that needs to be continued and encouraged.

On e-tivities

We got asked about the lecturers and that was all done online, which was useful because it took a minute to fill in and it was just there for you, you didn't have to mess around, taking paper back, filling it out… if it's on the computer anyway you can just get the computer to perform percentages…

On disability

…with my learning difficulty, handwriting at any particular speed is not pleasant or an easy experience. I'm concentrating so hard on copying down the notes, which I'll probably copy down wrong…they're just so messy that when I've got to learn from them, the facts might be there, but it's just not really feasible. I spoke to the disability support service and someone arranged for notes to be pre-printed for me. I go through and annotate them, so I'm still concentrating on what they’re saying, but if I'm reading it and hearing it at the same time, it makes it so much easier.

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