Inclusive and Supportive Education Congress International Special Education Conference Inclusion: Celebrating Diversity? 1st - 4th August 2005. Glasgow, Scotland

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Paul Lynch,
Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland
p.lynch@qub.ac.uk,

Dr Bryn Holmes,
Inishnet, Ireland
b.holmes@inishnet.ie,

 Stuart Lawler,
 National Council for the Blind, Ireland
stuart.lawler@ncbi.ie

1.        Introduction

The vision-impaired community has benefited from the progress in new technological developments in speech output software (e.g. JAWS, Supernova) as well as other technological advancements in screen magnification (e.g. Kurtzweil, Zoomtext) and Braille outputs (e.g. Duxbury). These changes are providing encouragement for those members of the community who have been unable to access learning courses or enter full-time employment.

The ACE (Accessing Communities for E-Business) Project brought a group of vision-impaired adults together to experience the development and testing of an e-Community where they could collaborate to build skills necessary to contribute to the changing workforce. The participants, who live in rural and urban areas of Ireland, were also invited to contribute to the development of materials for future generations of learners. The research project was set up to help increase the number of vision-impaired people’s access to e-learning and skills development by providing tailor-made courses (e.g. modules on ECDL for JAWS users) that would help them build the essential e-skills that would lead to greater chance of accessing different full-time employment opportunities.

E-Learning is having a greater impact on higher education colleges and universities and is transforming all forms of education and learning (Garrison and Anderson, 2003). As more new courses are being hosted on the Internet, students with vision impairments need to be equipped with the skills that increase their learning opportunities. ACE, through the development of a totally accessible website, addresses the gap in the training of vision-impaired communities that employers and training institutions often over-look when organising skills or in-house training for their employees and students. Participants, who are students, can acquire e-learning skills that will help them become more independent learners and less dependent on note-takers and student support providers.

2.        A Methodological Framework - Emancipatory Disability Research

The fundamental underlying principle of this research was to work with people with vision impairments in such a way as to emancipate rather than dictate. This form of research which is set within a social model of disability (Finkelstein, 1980; Oliver, 1990, 1996; Barnes, 1991) encourages vision-impaired people to draw on their learning experiences and create a balance of power between themselves and non-disabled people. By drawing on the specific learning needs and preferences of vision-impaired people, we have taken, adapted and implemented an emancipatory disability research model (Barnes, Mercer, Shakespeare, 1999). Furthermore, we explored how non-formal modes of learning knowledge and skills development could be embodied in an electronic community to serve the needs of the vision-impaired (Lave & Wegner, 1991).

ACE challenges the formal method approaches to learning that were experienced by some of the older participants in educational establishments for vision-impaired students and looks at a more socio-cultural practice where participating within a new community can provide an environment for both “newcomers and old-timers” to share in the “activities, identities, artefacts and communities of knowledge and practice” (Lave & Wegner, 2002, p.29). We were able, through its research design, to witness how new participants and novices to e-learning moved and changed trajectories, developed new identities and became more empowered learners. By participating in an e-Community, the vision-impaired were able to increase their sense of belonging and improve their technological skills at the same time as mediate with their peers and mentors. It was important that vision-impaired were able to avail of the right support when using technology as it could make a big difference to their personal lives and impact on their future success at work and further educational opportunities. As their technological skills improve, the vision-impaired learner was encouraged to help or mentor those who were just starting out in e-learning. Additionally, it was hoped that students who had successfully completed the training course would be able to apply newly acquired technological knowledge and become proactive members of the community and continue to contribution of sharing new knowledge. This again was exemplified in the pilot participants’ willingness to mentor to new participants once ACE had its springboard launch in May 2005.

From the beginning of the project, vision impaired participants were consulted at every stage, especially with regard to the way in which we sought to research their experience. An agreed emancipatory research model was, therefore, posited and later evolved over the initial stages of the Project. An agreed workable model was influenced by the experiences and suggestions from the vision-impaired communities including the National Council for the Blind, Ireland (NCBI), the Visually Impaired Computer Society (VICS) as well as research conducted on historical and contemporary frameworks   in the field of emancipatory research,

New research paradigms that encourage the right for minority groups to be heard are coming to the fore as a result of research being undertaken formerly by feminist, ethnic, Marxist and cultural theorists. Mercer states (2002) new practices were a reaction by researchers in these fields against, ostensibly, more traditional forms of researching disability that were considered to be exploitative of research participants and instead Mercer (ibid) argued the need to allow for the voice of the researched to be heard.

Figure 1 - The Evolution and Implementation of an agreed Emancipatory Research Model

The introduction of multiple researchers was key to ensuring that data are retrieved, studied and interpreted by numerous persons and not dictated by one researcher. Having said this, it is important that the researcher’s voice should contribute to the dialogue as Mitchell (1993) points out in his statement that “the informed researcher’s voice no longer provides an authoritarian monologue but contributes as part to dialogue” (p.55). This enriching of data through the interpretation, self-reflection and introspection of the pilot participants is considered to be an important aspect of the emancipatory research process.

The aim to break away from one-person led research where the choice of methods are dictated and influenced by any individual to a more group-led multi-vocal approach was reflected in the design of the electronic-Community or Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and how individuals participated and interacted in it. We were not just looking for a collective voice of the vision-impaired community but instead a voice that bridges the individual and the collective voice. We had built into its design a series of individual and group participant meetings that took place during a one-year period. These face-to-face interviews and focus group meetings were set up in as relaxing environments as possible e.g. at the NCBI headquarters, and at participants’ homes. Participants who took interest in the development of the e-Community and felt confident to take on a research role were encouraged to take part in capturing some of the data from the organised meetings in Ireland e.g. the Kilkenny Open-Day, interviewing participants and participating in team meetings. The different forms of data collection resulted in a set multi-layers that could be interpreted at different levels and interfaces - Non-disabled researcher with vision-impaired participant, vision-impaired participant with vision-impaired participant, vision-impaired with non-disabled volunteer. This approach “presses researchers into interrogating their own data more fully from alternative perspectives and to extend their thinking” (p.444) on what Barone (1990) sees as the difference between what exists and what is possible.

Participatory research, a common strategy used in emancipatory research was applied to observing – specifically related to how visually-impaired adults interacted on the e-Community. It set out to measure the levels of organised learning within the Community and to explore where there is an overlapping between task-, practice and knowledge-based communities. This is referred to as the fertile ground of “organisational learning” (Senge, 1990).

The participant observers were asked to engage in periods of participation in a community and by carrying out activities of direct observation, interviewing, documenting, reflecting, analysing and interpreting data. Understanding a virtual community where social meanings of online participants were analysed and interpreted added an extra challenge for all involved in the research process.

3.        Awareness Raising Day  

One of the first activities planned to gauge interest in the ACE Project was for the three partners to organise an Awareness Raising Day at Kilkenny on 26th April 2003 with the support of the Visually Impaired Computer Society (VICS). This event would help us to publicise the Project and allow the team to administer an assessment questionnaire to some of the participants who attended the event. The purpose of this event was to encourage vision-impaired people who want to learn more about the world of computers and assistive technology, to try out the latest technology – speech output software, screen magnification software and Braille keyboards. A needs analysis was developed to find out a little about visitors’ needs and aspirations in order to assess a pilot training programme could be put together.

We analysed the returned questionnaires and the Recruitment Forms to identify potential candidates who we would contact later to invite to an information meeting in October 2003.

The following table gives a breakdown of the main categories of data collected from the Assessment Questionnaire and Recruitment Form combined out of 10 returns.

Figure 2   - Assessment Questionnaire and Recruitment Form combined out of 10 returns.

The assessment questionnaire and ECDL and e-Business Pilot contributed to the ongoing development of the pilot and the resulting courses and e-community.

4.        Recruitment of participants and setting up of supports

The recruitment of participants was a multi-stage process that was strongly supported by the professional advice given by VICS at the early stages of the project. NCBI contacted the 10 first participants, (5 male and 5 female) who had agreed to take part in the piloting process. Below is a breakdown of what each participant does professionally:

• One blind female participant was completing an undergraduate degree course at Dublin City University and was wished to set up her own e-business. Partly as a result of working with the team, and applying her e-business skills, she set up an Independent Audio Magazine, TalkAround, which is now produced every month, by Vision Impaired People, for Vision Impaired People. TalkAround aims itself at the younger listener, from 18 to 35,
• Three blind participants (two male and one female) work for the Civil Service as telephonists/secretary,
• One blind participant (one female) was just retiring form the Civil Service,
• One blind participant (male) completed a computer applications degree,
• One blind participant (male) is in the process of setting up his own e-Business on an island,
• One visually impaired participant (female) is a teacher and careers adviser.

The data from the assessments showed that the life experiences of all the participants learning to use technology were varied, though most who volunteered to participate did have some type of basic ICT skills. Participants were selected more according to their interest in acquiring ICT skills through e-learning rather than having a prior knowledge of how to use the Internet. It was also essential for new participants to have the ability to use a screen-reader or magnifier and send and receive e-mails (with help from NCBI home training team if necessary).

Two main supports were set up at this time, a mailing list and also one-to-one training. The NCBI set up a specific e-mail list which has served both the research team and the participants. It also put in place a helpline to handle any specific queries on screen-reader technology or how to log on to the e-Community. One of the most successful partnerships was the pairing of NCBI volunteer trainers with a couple of the participants who requested help to get them started. One of theses partnerships is still continuing today and it is expected to continue into the future.

The Project has increased its number of participants steadily over the past 18 months. Many of the new participants joined as a result of Open Days and publicity activities by the research team but also the ‘word of mouth’ factor has been very positive with former pilot participants speaking to friends, work associates and other professionals. A cluster of interested participants in the Cork and Kerry region were invited to participate in a course run at University College Cork between in July 2004.

5.        A description of the development of the E-Community

The careful construction of an environment where participants and researchers meet each other on as equal a ground as possible has been a key component of the research. Through careful consultation with respected bodies representing the interests of the visually impaired i.e. National Council for the Blind, Ireland (NCBI) and the Visually Impaired Computer Society (VICS) and experienced web designers allowed us to access participants who were involved in the evolution, development and implementation of an agreed emancipatory research model.

Taking into account the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)

The World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) is committed to promoting a high degree of usability on the web for people with disabilities. WAI, in coordination with organisations around the world, pursues accessibility of the Web through five primary areas of work: technology, guidelines, tools, education and outreach, and research and development [http://www.w3.org/WAI/about.html].

All the pages of the e-Community were audited against the Accessibility Guidelines for the Web published by the Irish National Disability Authority [www.accessit.nda.ie/guidelineindex_1.html]. These guidelines are identical to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 published by the World Wide Web Consortium. [www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-19990505/] and known as the WAI guidelines. The e-Community was examined to the highest priority, WAI priorities 1, 2 and 3. The audit therefore takes into account all types of users, not just those with vision impairments. We also looked at major bugs and general usability problems were these would make the site less accessible.

Experts working for an audit section attached to the NCBI - NCBI Centre for Inclusive Technology evaluated the website at the end of the ACE Project (September 2004) and gave it a high rate of approval, with some minor changes.

Overall, we found that the ACE e-Community site was very well designed. It does an excellent job of implementing the WAI guidelines for web accessibility. Crucially, it does a good job of interpreting the spirit as well as the letter of these guidelines, which makes the difference between a site that is technically accessible and one which is actually accessible. (NCBI Centre for Inclusive Technology, 2004)

The vision-impaired participants that took part in this project were able to demonstrate how they could use and exploit online communication in innovative ways. One of most innovative uses was through the introduction of audio files that can be used to broadcast personal diaries and news programmes, travelling expeditions. These files were uploaded onto a newly created page “ACE Audio.” The inclusion of audio to the online community has been one of the most successful ways of presenting information in a non-text format.

6.        Twinning and E-Mentoring

Our focus on creating an electronic networked community that would exist not just to support learning with (constructivist learning) but also learning for (communal constructivist learning) and continuing to support member interactions after the project had finished is an aspect not found in any other e-learning system.   The e-mentoring of learners in the e-business community by previous learners (the pilot project participants for example – whose input and feedback also helped shape the course and direction of the community) are also innovative in that they are not an integrated part of any other e-community or network.

Some of the participants were invited to mentor and steer new members through the e-community once they had built enough skills and confidence. Access to members of this group was conducted through a number of gatekeepers i.e. the Visually Impaired Computer Society (VICS) and the NCBI.

In January 2004 all the pilot participants were paired to encourage sharing ideas and information, and joint problem-solving (without the threat of anyone feeling embarrassed or worried about how trivial the question may be). The pairs were formed so that a stronger ICT user would mentor a weaker one. Participants were asked to test this system in the project. Each participant’s homepage had a section where they send messages, questions and comments to their partner ACE. Each twin also has access to their twin’s learning diaries if they wished to make them public.

The participants rated the twinning process very highly, one in particular stating that: “The twinning thing has been a great success” at a pilot participant’s meeting hosted at the NCBI in March 2004. As a result of the twinning, the participant was able to surf the Internet for the first time with the careful guidance of a fellow vision-impaired learner. He has kept his a record of notes that his twin gave to him over the phone on how to add websites to his ‘Favourites folder’ and refer to them.

After the pilot testing process, the e-Community was launched in May 2004 to the public and new participants joined the pass worded website. An invitation ‘to take on the role of e-mentor’ was sent out to existing participants who had become acquainted with the e-Community. An e-mentor was someone who provided motivation, inspiration and help to a novice on helping them find ways to deal with immediate difficulties as well as help them plan and organise their learning.   The Community was designed to support e-mentorship through the use of learning diaries, online forums and twinning.

The e-mentoring process worked particularly well during the week delivery of the E-Business course in Cork in July 2004. Several of the pilot participants were invited to remotely participate in the course with a small group of students who met at the Disability Support Services at University College Cork (UCC). E-mentors were asked to participate during different times of the day on the discussion forum and followed the e-Business course. The participants at UCC were asked to present a business plan in their learning diaries and make them public to online participants who were asked to comment and give feedback on their plans.

7.        Accessibility and Usability issues

The design team carefully planned the e-Community in accordance with international regulations set down by the W3C WAI. As a result, the most utilised screen-reader, JAWS was able to read all the pages. Each participant was issued with a username and password and asked to give as much feedback about the accessibility and ease of use of ACE. The participants were invited to give feedback using the mail list. An introductory tape was sent out to each pilot participant. It consists of a short discussion on what e-communities are followed by a step-by-step walk through the site by the Inishnet designer. Feedback from the participants was very positive.

One of the most experienced participants logged onto the e-business course and found “everything easy to use” and “is at your fingertips” (Pilot Participant Meeting, March 2004). She also made some suggestions on how the course could be changed by introducing different assessment methods to replace the existing ones. Another participant said that he found the linked websites so interesting that he was being distracted from the course by spending so much time visiting them.

The issue of using two different screen-readers was brought up during the third meeting in March 2004. One of the participants was a Supernova (screen-reader) user and was unable to follow the ECDL modules as it had been written for JAWS. She was able, through the successful partnership with an NCBI volunteer, to adapt the ECDL modules to Supernova. As a result, she has taken quite extensive notes on what command keys to use when following a module.

Figure 3 - An example of the website developer taking into account the needs and wishes of the VIP community

8.        Participants’ Learning Experiences

One of the most important components of the Project was the idea for participants to keep an on-going record of their learning experiences by writing into a “Learning Diary”. As soon as a participants register onto the e-Community, they have access to their own Homepage which will provide them with key information on how the community works. The Homepage is the main page where the student can access information on all aspects of the community i.e. My Learning Progress, My Learning Diary, My Discussions, My Websites,   and My Study Twin.

 The learning diaries were designed to be used in a number of ways:

• to help students keep a record of how far they have advanced with the ECDL and e-Business courses,
• to give ACE valuable feedback on how they coped with sections of the courses and how they could be altered,
• an entry can be used to reflect on the section completed, how easy or difficult they found it, or raise any issues they have with the content, etc.
• by making entries public, other members of the e-Community can access the specific learning area and go directly to the link.

This Project has impacted considerably on the lives of a number of the participants who have testified to a more positive outlook on their own computer abilities and their confidence to seek new employment. Not only have the participants benefited from e-learning but they also see ways of how the e-community can grow and lead the way in providing essential skill training for vision-impaired people wishing to take further e-learning courses. The e-Community has helped to demystify the concept of e-learning for vision-impaired learners by providing an environment that promotes knowledge-building activities (e.g. ECDL and e-Business courses) within a carefully conceived online environment.

Making a diary entry public to the rest of the community can change what is a basic skills building course into a more dynamic and interactive one. Participants who followed the courses simultaneously were able to share their experiences and ask questions for help by using the learning diary or creating a new category in the Discussion Forum. Below are some examples from the learning diaries:

Supplementing online interaction with offline meetings has been an essential part of the Project. The three focus group meetings in Dublin served as a springboard for much deeper level learning activity for most of the participants. The blending of face-to-face and electronic communication benefited both the participants and the team who saw the importance of building a rapport with peers both online and offline. The building of confidence and sharing of skills and information that took place online was supported by the fact that the participants were able meet on a number of occasions. A participant, located on a small island off the southwest coast of Ireland, was unable to attend any of the group, face-to-face meetings. Arrangements were therefore made to link him up with the group using downloaded voice conferencing software during the final face-to-face meeting in Dublin. All the pilot participants were able to speak to the remote participant in turn. This activity was regarded as a very positive and fulfilling part of the community-building process.

9.0      Final Discussion

Inviting vision-impaired participants, some of whom have elementary ICT skills to join a totally new electronic community can be risky if there is a poor raison d’etre for the community’s existence. Fortunately, many of the participants belong to existing mail groups that serve both their online and offline needs. A new environment that promotes to build a community that serves the learning and communication needs to identify the gaps where existing mail groups are not fulfilling. A virtual community that supports vision impaired/blind people’s learning interests and aspirations can only be sustained if the voices of those participating are encouraged to speak and decide on its future. The bringing together of a small group of vision impaired adults from a physically bound environment e.g. the NCBI, to a virtual one, required the advice and commitment from all those who participated in it. By carefully selecting participants, who were keen to test new ways of learn, we were able to demonstrate how   the vision-impaired can benefit from new learning methods and increase their chances of entering new types of employment that have been inaccessible to them in the past.

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