UNIVERSAL DESIGN: ONLINE EDUCATIONAL MEDIA FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

For students with disabilities, using the online educational media employed in most general education classrooms may be challenging, since much mainstream programming is not accessible. Online educational media take the form of integrated learning modules that contain content to enhance students’ learning and support teachers’ instruction. For students, each integrated learning module typically includes a full-length educational video and additional educational materials (such as still images, related articles, links to relevant web sites, self-study assessments, and activities). For example, the sample integrated learning module in the Universal eLearner (the Internet-based educational materials that are discussed next) contains a vocabulary list, a story, a story quiz, a video, three student activities, and a unit quiz. These online activities are designed to provide a comprehensive learning unit on a topic or to supplement traditional classroom instruction. Research has underscored the effectiveness of integrated learning modules in improving test scores in math (Taylor, 1999) and science (Cantrell, Pekcan, & Itani, 2006), but such modules are available in almost all content areas and at all educational levels from elementary school to postgraduate programs. The Universal eLearner is an online integrated learning module, under development, that incorporates accessible technology, universal design for learning, and best practices for online education. The American Foundation for the Blind and Bridge Multimedia have just completed a three-year grant through the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, U.S. Department of Education, to develop and test the latest version of the Universal eLearner. The Universal eLearner, although not a finished product, has been developed and fieldtested with students with disabilities (including those with visual impairments, hearing impairments, orthopedic impairments, and learning disabilities), as well as students who are English language learners and typically developing students. The evaluations conducted under the grant focused on the accessibility and usability of the Universal eLearner to provide feedback to the development team to improve the product further. An advisory board, consisting of professionals and consumers with all forms of disabilities, has also contributed their expertise to the development of the Universal eLearner. The prototype versions of the Universal eLearner are designed for an upper elementary school social studies unit using educational materials from the Pearson Digital Learning Knowledge Box series, but many of the outcomes of the testing of the Universal eLearner are applicable to integrated learning modules for any grade level and in any subject area. This report presents some of the outcomes from the grant-funded project to help professionals understand the needs of students with disabilities in relation to integrated learning modules and to offer suggestions for anyone who is developing universally accessible online educational programming. WHO BENEFITS FROM UNIVERSAL ACCESSIBILITY? When products are created using universal design, the needs of people with physical and sensory disabilities are taken into account and accessibility features and options are built into the product (Flores, 2008). In the classroom, “specialized learners” include not only students who are blind or have low vision, students who are deaf or hard of hearing, and students with physical disabilities, but also students with learning disabilities, English language learners, and students with cognitive impairments. Each group faces its own significant learning challenges. Traditionally, students with all forms of disabilities have been provided instructional materials that have been designed for typical students, not those that have been adapted to meet their needs. These students also often receive instructional materials that are targeted exclusively toward students in their disability group that do not match the general education curriculum in rigor and content, which increases costs for school systems.