Martyn Cooper

Using remote laboratories to extend access to science and engineering

This paper will describe an approach to the provision of laboratory experience using communications and control technology. This approach provides the possibility of extending access to laboratory work for students who are unable to attend a conventional laboratory for a variety of reasons, such as disability, caring responsibilities, or part-time study. A remote experimentation system is under development for students to conduct a range of experiments in science and engineering education. It will be seen that laboratory work is an important aspect of learning in these disciplines, although there are constraints on its provision, including the specific barriers facing people with disabilities. The PEARL project seeks to overcome many of the existing constraints. The paper presents the design for the system and its specific features, and discusses its use in an educational context. In order to illustrate how PEARL will support people with disabilities, this paper also presents an overview of the assistive technologies currently in use.

Remote Laboratories Extending Access to Science and Engineering Curricular

This paper draws on research, development, and deployment of remote laboratories undertaken by the authors since 2000. They jointly worked on the PEARL project (http://iet.open.ac.uk/pearl/) from 2000 to 2003 and have worked on further projects within their own institutions (the Open University, United Kingdom, and the University of Porto, Portugal, respectively) since then. The paper begins with a statement of the rationale for remote experiments, then offers a review of past work of the authors and highlights the key lessons for remote labs drawn from this. These lessons include (1) the importance of removing accessibility barriers, (2) the importance of a pedagogic strategy, (3) evaluation of pedagogic effectiveness, (4) the ease of automation or remote control, and (5) learning objectives and design decisions. The paper then discusses key topics including assessment issues, instructional design, pedagogical strategies, relations to industry, and cost benefits. A conclusion summarizes key points from the paper within a review of the current status of remote labs in education.

A challenge to web accessibility metrics and guidelines: putting people and processes first

This paper argues that web accessibility is not an intrinsic characteristic of a digital resource but is determined by complex political, social and other contextual factors, as well as technical aspects which are the focus of WAI standardisation activities. It can therefore be inappropriate to develop legislation or focus on metrics only associated with properties of the resource. The authors describe the value of standards such as BS 8878 which focus on best practices for the process of developing web products and include a user focus. The paper concludes with a case study that illustrates how learning analytics could provide data to support the improvement of the inclusivity of learning resources, providing a broader perspective beyond the digital resource.

Access to Mathematics in Web Resources for People with a Visual Impairment

This paper discusses issues in the representation of mathematics within web resources and how this affects access for people with a visual impairment. Firstly it outlines the distance and open learning context at the Open University and the needs of people with a visual impairment. The paper then describes and discusses different approaches to making maths online accessible to people with a visual impairment. Two key projects at the Open University are outlined and some reflections made on future directions for the work.

What can analytics contribute to accessibility in e-learning systems and to disabled students' learning?

This paper explores the potential of analytics for improving accessibility of e-learning and supporting disabled learners in their studies. A comparative analysis of completion rates of disabled and non-disabled students in a large five-year dataset is presented and a wide variation in comparative retention rates is characterized. Learning analytics enable us to identify and understand such discrepancies and, in future, could be used to focus interventions to improve retention of disabled students. An agenda for onward research, focused on Critical Learning Paths, is outlined. This paper is intended to stimulate a wider interest in the potential benefits of learning analytics for institutions as they try to assure the accessibility of their e-learning and provision of support for disabled students.

Symposium report: impacts of ICT on supporting students with disabilities in higher education, Makuhari, Japan, Feb 13th 2015

The Open University of Japan hosts an annual international symposium on matters relating to higher education. This year, the theme was supporting disabled students in this context and, in particular, the role of ICT here. This is timely because the Japanese Act on the Elimination of Disability Discrimination was enacted in 2013. From 2016, this means public universities are legally obliged to provide reasonable accommodation to students with disabilities (SWDs), while private universities are expected to make diligent efforts to provide this for them. This report gives highlights of the five presentations and then presents themes from subsequent discussion.