Habits and Language
We are usually not aware of our use of phrases in instruction like ... "you will see ...", "look for the Submit button on the lower right of the screen", or "on the graph you will notice ...". A student who is visually impaired will not see or notice. In fact, they will not know what is on the right or left when given those directions, especially towards the middle or end of the screen. Most have the graphics turned off on their browser so any reference to color, shape or geographical location will not have meaning. Consistency on where navigational links are placed on the page becomes significant. Change link locations and one believes they have left one site and are now on another.
After working again with one of our visually impaired students, I walked away again feeling completely inadequate in teaching a skill. Stumbling all over myself, my pat explanation for adding a file to an e-portfolio was not working for me or the student. I realized my instructions were filled with phases that must sound insulting to her and I cursed at myself for not being more aware of what I was saying.
However, one gets the feeling that perhaps in teaching, we assume interpretation more than we should. After all, we as the teacher/instructor, can "see" it. We have explained it many times that same way with success. Why is it not working this time for this particular student? Must be that they are not paying attention or do we assume incorrectly that we were successful all those times in the past. Hummmm....
As I was writing out instructions for adding a file to the eportfolio, I was very much aware of what I was saying, much more so than in the past. After all, what good does it do for a web page to sail through accessibility testing if your instructions were not adequate. Let's face it, no amount of testing will predict whether that student will actually be able to carry out a task on that screen other than user testing.
As we talked about accessibility testing in our staff meeting after my presentation today, I realized that unless you have direct experiences with screen readers or students with visual impairments, you can never appreciate what these students go through just to access the instructional content, not to mention learning the material. Many of the members of my group today during the discussion focused on the coding component of accessibility testing, believing this is where we should put our energies. Because they didn't have the same experiences I had, it was difficult for them to understand that the issue is not only one of coding but, more importantly, how instruction or content is written or explained.
Each student comes into a classroom with unique needs and experiences. Past knowledge and the way they process information will influence how they merge new with old to create new constructs. Perhaps we are not always aware of how much our teaching style, delivery and assumptions determines their success. There is much to be learned from working with students that are challenged. After all, this brings me full-circle to my original thoughts when I started this blog in that we are all disabled in one way or another. We should design better learning environments so that all can participate and learn.
After working again with one of our visually impaired students, I walked away again feeling completely inadequate in teaching a skill. Stumbling all over myself, my pat explanation for adding a file to an e-portfolio was not working for me or the student. I realized my instructions were filled with phases that must sound insulting to her and I cursed at myself for not being more aware of what I was saying.
However, one gets the feeling that perhaps in teaching, we assume interpretation more than we should. After all, we as the teacher/instructor, can "see" it. We have explained it many times that same way with success. Why is it not working this time for this particular student? Must be that they are not paying attention or do we assume incorrectly that we were successful all those times in the past. Hummmm....
As I was writing out instructions for adding a file to the eportfolio, I was very much aware of what I was saying, much more so than in the past. After all, what good does it do for a web page to sail through accessibility testing if your instructions were not adequate. Let's face it, no amount of testing will predict whether that student will actually be able to carry out a task on that screen other than user testing.
As we talked about accessibility testing in our staff meeting after my presentation today, I realized that unless you have direct experiences with screen readers or students with visual impairments, you can never appreciate what these students go through just to access the instructional content, not to mention learning the material. Many of the members of my group today during the discussion focused on the coding component of accessibility testing, believing this is where we should put our energies. Because they didn't have the same experiences I had, it was difficult for them to understand that the issue is not only one of coding but, more importantly, how instruction or content is written or explained.
Each student comes into a classroom with unique needs and experiences. Past knowledge and the way they process information will influence how they merge new with old to create new constructs. Perhaps we are not always aware of how much our teaching style, delivery and assumptions determines their success. There is much to be learned from working with students that are challenged. After all, this brings me full-circle to my original thoughts when I started this blog in that we are all disabled in one way or another. We should design better learning environments so that all can participate and learn.
posted by Heidi Trotta at 6:09 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home