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  March 2010

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• How can we test a website to be sure it is accessible to handicapped students? What do we look for? Are there tools we can use to check a website?

Khan (2005) recommended the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) as a valuable source of guidelines for designing accessible webs sites.  My list of items to look for will come from the W3C, and I’ve also included a link to their website that gives a detailed list of accessibility tools that can be used to evaluate a website.

Also, I’ve found three very easy to use tools that can be used to test a website to ensure that it can be used by handicapped students.  Power Mapper, Wave, and Section 508 (listed below) all enable a user to copy/paste a url or a section of html into the search bar along with an email address that the result will be sent to.  The software scans the website or code and rates the sites’ accessibility according to accepted standards for accessibility.

The W3C (Checklist of Checkpoints for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, n.d.) published widely accepted guidelines for accessibility.  Some of the main points include; providing alternate text for images, contrasting colors for those with color blindness, summaries for tables, specify meanings of abbreviations or acronyms, provide navigation bars, and supplementing text with graphic or auditory components when this can aid in comprehension (Checklist of Checkpoints for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, n.d.).  A thorough reporting would take more room than I can spare, so feel free to look over the detailed table at this link: http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/full-checklist.html .

• As a teacher, how would you evaluate a website that you wanted to use for a class?

My first step would be to use one of the tools listed in this blog.  I took the liberty of evaluating my high schools’ home page to serve as an example.  It failed the requirement for alternate text on every non-text element (a lengthy process to go through as I found out creating my own websites as projects) and left the evaluation tool guessing at many others.

If I could not find an alternative and absolutely needed to use a specific website for a class, I would have to check the IEP’s and 504 plans for students in that class and either create an alternative assignment that met their requirements or create a companion to the website that enabled them to access the content, probably in the form of a power point with annotated screen shots.

Section 508 results

Failure

Your page has not yet cleared all automatic violations for Section 508. Please check the following violations and cautions.

Rate	Qty	Issue	Requirement	Point
	2	<Img>	A text equivalent for every non-text element shall be provided (e.g., via “alt”, “longdesc”, or in element content). Please add a description via the alt or/and longdesc element	A
	N/A	Color	Web pages shall be designed so that all information conveyed with color is also available without color, for example from context or markup.	C
	N/A	Presentation	Documents shall be organized so they are readable without requiring an associated style sheet.	D
	5	<Table>	Row and column headers shall be identified for data tables. (g) Markup shall be used to associate data cells and header cells for data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or column headers. (h)	G | H
	N/A	Flickering	Pages shall be designed to avoid causing the screen to flicker with a frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz.	J
	N/A	Timed Response	When a timed response is required, the user shall be alerted and given sufficient time to indicate more time is required.	P
	N/A	<Script>	When pages utilize scripting languages to display content, or to create interface elements, the information provided by the script shall be identified with functional text that can be read by assistive technology.	L
	N/A	Links	A method shall be provided that permits users to skip repetitive navigation links.	O
	N/A	Interpretation	When a web page requires that an applet, plug-in or other application be present on the client system to interpret page content, the page must provide a link to a plug-in or applet that complies with §1194.21(a) through (l).	M
	N/A	Other options	A text-only page, with equivalent information or functionality, shall be provided to make a web site comply with the provisions of this part, when compliance cannot be accomplished in any other way. The content of the text-only page shall be updated whenever the primary page changes. (k)	K

List of accessibility checkers:

Power Mapper: http://www.powermapper.com/products/sortsite/ads/acc-accessibility-testing.htm?gclid=CLWwv5jruaACFRAeDQodpH9NUg

Wave: http://wave.webaim.org/

Section 508: http://www.section508.info/

Complete list of web accessibility tools: http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tools/complete.html

Sources:

Checklist of Checkpoints for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 . (n.d.). World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Retrieved March 14, 2010, from http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/full-checklist.html

Khan, B. H. (2005). Managing E-Learning Strategies: Design, Delivery, Implementation and Evaluation. Hershey: Information Science Publishing.

• Do you agree with the provisions that are included in the code and the way in which they are phrased?

Before I read Bob Johnson’s blog (2010) I had no problem with the way the provisions are phrased.  Johnson (2010) brought to my attention the negative verbiage used in the provisions, something that I suppose I’m simply accustomed  seeing in such documents, and discussed how a simple change to more positive terms could improve the overall ambiance of the code.  I like his idea, but I don’t necessarily see anything wrong with “Shall Not” statements as they are direct and leave little room for interpretation.  I appreciate the scope of the provisions, including even prohibitions against embarrassing or disparaging students.  I wish my third grade Catholic school teacher, Sister Katherine, would have read that one; she was a battleaxe.

• Had you ever read a “teacher’s code of ethics” before? Is there anything missing?

I honestly don’t think I’ve ever read a teacher’s code of ethics before.  I imagine that I would have had to read through this at some point in my certification program but I can’t remember a specific time when I sat down like I did this week and read and reread the NEA Code of Ethics.  I really don’t think there’s anything missing.  The commitment to the student section is clear and thorough, as is the commitment to the profession section.  At first glance I thought that perhaps there should more emphasis on community interaction, but that is included in the commitment to the student section with the following; “The educator strives to help each student realize his or her potential as a worthy and effective member of society” (NEA, 1975).

• Apply one of the ethics situations to your own work environment.

I wrote about a situation at my school involving a colleague who lied about her qualifications to obtain her current job and somewhat of the turmoil surrounding this situation in another venue for this course.  It’s sad to say that I have plenty of examples of unethical behavior that I could relate to this code, but for this section I will focus on a recent example that actually reflects well upon the faculty at my school.  Provision II.6 states that educators, “Shall not disclose information about colleagues obtained in the course of professional service unless disclosure serves a compelling professional purpose or is required by law” (NEA, 1975).  At our most recent board meeting several faculty positions were cut due to declining enrollment and budget concerns (a common story in Illinois Public Schools) and the days leading up to the meeting were pretty tense.  Our union president and a small number of leading faculty were aware of the pending cuts and to their credit, despite wild rumors and gossip, they did not disclose anything concerning faculty members before the board meeting and even for a few days after would tell people to “read the paper” if they inquired into the subject.  Quite a few people looked foolish on Tuesday morning when everyone found out that their “inside information” was baseless gossip.

• Given that this course is about online teaching, what are issues that might be included in a code of ethics for online teachers?

Given the proliferation of social networking sites I would like to see something in the code of ethics that addresses student-teacher relationships in the virtual setting.  There is, to my knowledge, no unified consensus on how to manage such relationships, so schools and individuals are left to use their best judgment; which, as we know, is very relative.  Most teachers I know will have nothing to do with their students on social networking sites simply because of all of the potential problems that could result from such things, but there are still those who “friend” all of their students on facebook and exchange text messages regularly.  As it stands, ethical relativism seems to be the dominant mode of understanding this new area of teacher-student relations, with individuals making decisions based on their personal beliefs of right and wrong (Woodbury, 2002).  The NEA code of ethics does a great job of identifying the roles and responsibilities of teachers, but I think that technological advances have brought us to a point where this needs to be reexamined before somebody’s version of “right” clashes with the majority version of “wrong”.

References

Johnson, R. (2010, March 8). Ethics and Critical Thinking. Global Campus Blog. Retrieved March 9, 2010, from http://edublogs.global.uillinois.edu/rjohn22/

National Education Association (1975). NEA – Code of Ethics. Retrieved on March 5, 2010 from http://www.nea.org/home/30442.htm

Woodbury, M. (2002).  Computer and information ethics.  Champaign, IL: Stipes.

Reading through my blog postings for this class made me realize how well the recorded lectures and supplemental materials enhanced the readings.  The meat of my posts usually concerned one or the other, which, upon reflection, demonstrates how important it is to provide such quality supplemental materials for your students.

I greatly enjoyed Khan’s (2005) concise explanations of his e-learning framework and especially found his checklists useful as we prepared our weekly evaluations of the EOL program.  I have kept very few of the texts from this program thus far (mainly due to their high resale value on amazon) but I will keep Khan (2005) on my shelf next to Horton (2006) and Clark and Mayer (2008) because of its ease of use and obvious practicality.

I gained quite a bit from the management perspective of this course, which was entirely new to me.  I have been able to draw considerably on my experience as a classroom teacher in previous courses but this one required me to step out of that comfort zone and approach learning from an entirely different perspective.  I don’t think this would have been as productive or insightful without the opportunity to apply our learning to a real-world situation.  While I’m becoming a little frustrated with all of the group projects (I completely understand the rationale) I thought this one was excellent and would have been impossible to complete without two great teammates (Thanks Lisa and Shari).

Great class.

References

Clark, R., & Mayer, R. E. (2008). e-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning (2 Har/Cdr ed.). Washington D.C.: Pfeiffer.

Horton, W. (2006). e-Learning by Design. Washington D.C.: Pfeiffer.

Khan, B. H. (2005). Managing E-Learning Strategies: Design, Delivery, Implementation and Evaluation. Hershey: Information Science Publishing.

The role of the project manager in evaluating online courses is essentially to guide the evaluation process as the leader of a team consisting of the stakeholders (students, faculty, staff) and make informed decisions based on results of ongoing evaluations.

The Corda Centerview product was very interesting and dashboards in general can be quite helpful in providing timely information about important topics.  While watching the Centerview promo I thought about how much time I could save each semester in measuring student performance on final exams (if they meet expectations on a given standard) and how such a tool could help on a regular basis in measuring various indicators of performance.  I really have no idea how such a thing could be set up to serve that purpose, but the idea is fascinating.  This is one of those moments when I realize how sheltered I am working in a relatively small, rural high school with limited (but expanding) technology.  I think they can be a worthwhile tool for e-learning in giving students quick access to assignment grades/performance, perhaps keeping track of when they submit work to demonstrate their study habits (if they always submit work an hour before it’s due, etc…) and for faculty and staff as well.  It seems that you could set it up to show you any type of data you think is important, and it could be very helpful in helping all involved monitor progress.

Reading through chapter 8 of Khan (2005) I noticed that the UIUC College of Education Online student portal does a great job of covering instructional and counseling support, technical support, and resource support.  There are links to registration information, payment information, software requirements, library resources, orientation information, an online support team, and general contact information if any of these proves unhelpful.  Overall, I think the portal makes efficient and effective use of its space in offering learner support for these three areas.

The interview with Dr. Montague left me with the impression that the LEEP online program is nothing short of excellent.  I thought the most interesting aspect of her discussion was the fact that even though the program draws students from every state in the U.S. and over a dozen countries around the world, all students are required to spend a given amount of time on campus.  For a program in library science it makes perfect sense to ensure that your students get some hands on time working with course concepts in a real setting, but it is pretty surprising that it has to happen on the U of I campus.  I would have liked to know if the college helps to defray some of the travel expenses (I’m certain they do not) and how they handle room and board.  It seems like it would be a deterrent, especially if there are other programs with good reputations available that do not have such requirements.  Dr. Montague spoke briefly about the activities that take place during this campus time, but I would like to know a little more detail so I can better understand the justification for this requirement.

Resources

Khan, B. H. (2005). Managing eLearning strategies: Design, delivery, implementation,
and evaluation. Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing.

Here is my presentation on eLearning vs Blended Learning.  I realized after I watched it that I forgot to show the final slide with my citations.   I’ll try to put my powerpoint on here or just take a screen shot of the page and post it (It took me way to long to get the recording down!)

I did a screen cast for this blog…more to get some practice with the settings before I recorded my presentation than to try to be fancy.  There’s no frills, just a shot of my desktop (a pic I took in Dresden) and me droning on in the background   I just realized that while I claimed I would discuss diverse learning styles I did not.  As we know, we should employ a variety media (text, graphics, audio/video) to present information and varied activities (synch/asynch discussions, group/individual projects) to ensure that all of our learners are able to access and apply learning.  Enjoy!

Viewing the interview with Ryan Thomas, the Director of IT at the College of Education at the University of Illinois, I was most interested in the emphasis placed on simplicity.  When discussing identity and access management, Mr. Thomas cautioned would-be course designers and program managers to always keep ease of access in mind when deciding upon what resources to utilize in a course/program.

Having multiple user accounts for a variety of online services can be a daunting task for some (I have students who insist on having unique usernames and passwords for every account they set up).  It seems that Mr. Thomas is pushing what some call the K.I.S.S. method, or Keep It Simple Silly, and I would have to agree.  While an instructor or designer may perceive the utility of many different online services, it’s important to limit course requirements to what is truly essential; especially in an online course that may run only 8 to 10 weeks.

Throughout this program I have been introduced to a number of online tools and programs that are all exciting and innovative, and I’ve learned to incorporate a good number of them into my professional life.  It’s telling that we’re usually given a choice between many tools that perform similar functions and allowed the freedom to use whichever we please to complete tasks; it shows that while our professors may want us to use a specific service, they pull back and encourage us to explore options within a given range.  The choice allows us to personalize the service and take ownership of its use, which makes  setting up new user accounts less onerous.

The most salient thing that struck me about the readings was the lack of a single, well-researched and tested business model used by higher education institutions.  From reading Khan (2005) I got the impression that online learning business models were well-trodden paths and all one had to do was to select the one that best fit their institution and get started.  All that Vignare, Geith, and Schiffman (n.d.) could do was to identify three very general and rather nebulous “types” of models; an Independent, self-funded college, self-funded department or school within a university or college, and overhead-funded department or school within a university or college.

From Lorenzo (n.d.) I realized that expecting to find one, two, or three well trodden paths is unreasonable.  There is no “best” business model, but there is a best fit for each situation.  I appreciate Khan’s (2005) breadth and depth and fully intend to refer to his checklists if ever I find myself in position to, but I’m glad that I was able to hear a few other voices on this topic.

References:

Khan, B. H. (2005). Managing E-Learning Strategies: Design, Delivery, Implementation and Evaluation. Hershey: Information Science Publishing.

Lorenzo, G. (0). Business Models for Online Education. Educational Pathways, -, 69-95.

Vignare, K., Geith, C., & Schiffman, S. (0). Business Models for Online Learning: An Exploratory Survey. ?, -, 53-67.

An interview with Dr. Johnson

I enjoyed Dr. Adam Fein’s interview with Dr. Scott Johnson, the Chief Information Officer and Associate Dean for the College of Education at the University of Illinois.  Dr. Johnson discussed institutional issues related with the creation of online learning environments, and while I found the entire interview interesting, two comments stood out to me; the need to prove the value of their online learning program and the need to approach an e-learning as a business.

Initially when I thought of what it meant to prove the value of online learning I thought of the intrinsic value (the stuff that appeals to me as a learner) and didn’t really think of the business-side concept of value until the end of the interview when Dr. Johnson sought to remind us non-business folks that education is, in fact, a business.  The fact that I’m a teacher and my attention is focused on such a narrow portion of the education spectrum explains my lack of any practical experience in the business aspect of my field, and somewhat explains why such a simple suggestion (remember that this is a business) seemed so profound.  I actually found myself questioning my reasons for pursuing this degree and struggled for answers.  I have absolutely no interest in running a business; which is why I’m enrolled in this program instead of an administrative one.

All in all, I enjoyed this interview because it got me out of the teacher/student mindset for a few hours and allowed me to think about what I’m doing from a different perspective.  It was a valuable learning experience that I won’t soon forget.

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