Jennison Asuncion

Before diving into the results, some background on the research is in order.

The overall objectives of our research have been to:
- identify eLearning-related barriers and facilitators experienced by college and university students with disabilities in Canada; and
- develop best practices guidelines for stakeholders in the Canadian postsecondary education community and the postsecondary publishing industry. A key principle guiding our research has been that to fully investigate and address accessibility of eLearning in higher education, our research needs to fully represent the issues from four perspectives: that of the student(s) with a disability, faculty, the campus-based professionals who provide disability-related accommodations to students, and what we termed eLearning specialists - the individuals who play a role in supporting/implementing eLearning at the institution. Therefore, we collected closed and open-ended data from these four groups.

To get a broad perspective on the current state of eLearning and accessibility on Canadian postsecondary campuses, we started our research by interviewing 22 “key informants.” These were individuals who came recommended to us by our research partners and collaborators. Key informants included the four groups mentioned above, plus ePublishing vendor representatives.  Topics we were interested in included:
- the specific forms of eLearning colleges and universities are using in their courses;
- the types of eLearning-related accommodations requested by and provided to students with various disabilities; and
- the key trends, benefits and issues.

Information coming from these interviews was used to develop French and English versions of four voluntary, confidential online surveys. We administered these to a convenience sample consisting of:
1. Canadian college and university students with disabilities who have taken at least one course in the last three years where the professor used some form of eLearning;
2. college and university professors who have taught at least one student with a disability during the last three years in a course where they used some form of eLearning;
3. staff who provide disability-related services at Canadian postsecondary institutions; and
4. individuals who support/implement eLearning at Canadian postsecondary institutions, including VPs and managers of distance education and instructional technology departments; persons who train faculty to use technology; designers and developers of eLearning on campus.

If folks are interested in us going deeper on the methodology or have broader questions about our research approach, , please ask.

Hello,

I wanted to provide a bit of background about the Adaptech Research Network and the disability and Information Technologies Research Alliance.

The Adaptech Research Network is based out of Dawson College in Montreal. It is co-directed by Maria Barile, Catherine and myself. We have been conducting federally and provincially funded scientific research involving Canadian college and university students with disabilities since 1996. We have three focus areas. The first is on the use and accessibility of computer, information and adaptive technology. The second focus area is on the facilitators and barriers that impact on academic success and the persistence of students with disabilities in postsecondary education. Finally, we research and evaluate free or inexpensive ($200.00CDN or less) hardware and software that may be of use to students with disabilities. You can see our current library of free or inexpensive titles by going to our web site http://www.adaptech.org and clicking on Downloads.

The Disability and Information Technologies (Dis-IT) Research Alliance (http://www.dis-it.ca) is a group of researchers, people with disabilities, companies, accessibility experts, government policymakers, and service providers. It is studying what needs to be done to ensure that Canadians with disabilities can be part of the innovations and emerging ICTs of the knowledge-driven economy. Dis-IT is funded by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada until September 2007.

Tying it all together, The eLearning research which we will be discussing here is a theme of the Dis-IT research alliance.

Hello,

I wanted to provide a bit of background about the Adaptech Research Network and the disability and Information Technologies Research Alliance.

The Adaptech Research Network is based out of Dawson College in Montreal. It is co-directed by Maria Barile, Catherine and myself. We have been conducting federally and provincially funded scientific research involving Canadian college and university students with disabilities since 1996. We have three focus areas. The first is on the use and accessibility of computer, information and adaptive technology. The second focus area is on the facilitators and barriers that impact on academic success and the persistence of students with disabilities in postsecondary education. Finally, we research and evaluate free or inexpensive ($200.00CDN or less) hardware and software that may be of use to students with disabilities. You can see our current library of free or inexpensive titles by going to our web site http://www.adaptech.org and clicking on Downloads.

The Disability and Information Technologies (Dis-IT) Research Alliance (http://www.dis-it.ca) is a group of researchers, people with disabilities, companies, accessibility experts, government policymakers, and service providers. It is studying what needs to be done to ensure that Canadians with disabilities can be part of the innovations and emerging ICTs of the knowledge-driven economy. Dis-IT is funded by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada until September 2007.

Tying it all together, The eLearning research which we will be discussing here is a theme of the Dis-IT research alliance.

Hello from Toronto and Montreal.

My name is Jennison Asuncion and on behalf of Catherine fichten and our entire Team, I would like to thank you for joining us. Over the next two weeks, our goal is to use our research as a backdrop to have a broader dialogue with all of you about the state of the accessibility of eLearning in your worlds, to gauge your insights and to share and exchange information.

Catherine and I have provided brief biographies of ourselves. You can get to those by clicking on our names in the seminar description. These should give you a sense as to the perspectives that we bring to the conversation.

To better help us get to know you, I invite you to post your own introduction in this discussion thread. Tell us a bit about yourself and your connection and/or interest in the broad topic of eLearning and accessibility for learners with disabilities. Equally important, if you have a specific area of interest you would like to have discussed, please tell us, so that we can address ourselves to it over our time together.

Jennison

Hello from Toronto and Montreal.

My name is Jennison Asuncion and on behalf of Catherine fichten and our entire Team, I would like to thank you for joining us. Over the next two weeks, our goal is to use our research as a backdrop to have a broader dialogue with all of you about the state of the accessibility of eLearning in your worlds, to gauge your insights and to share and exchange information.

Catherine and I have provided brief biographies of ourselves. You can get to those by clicking on our names in the seminar description. These should give you a sense as to the perspectives that we bring to the conversation.

To better help us get to know you, I invite you to post your own introduction in this discussion thread. Tell us a bit about yourself and your connection and/or interest in the broad topic of eLearning and accessibility for learners with disabilities. Equally important, if you have a specific area of interest you would like to have discussed, please tell us, so that we can address ourselves to it over our time together.

Jennison