The author was recently engaged by a leading English academic institution to undertake the Web design and development on a major e-learning project. This paper describes the transferable production model created to facilitate project completion.
The aim of the project was to create a distance-learning course presenting in-depth and up-to-date academic materials in the form of an engaging, interactive learning experience. Continue reading »
This paper considers some of the major issues in the field of learning technology. It seeks to identify areas in which technology has greatest potential to contribute to the learning process, and also those areas in which the application of technology is inappropriate or detrimental.
Issues described include the support of different kinds of learner, learning environments, reusability and accessibility. Questions raised include the changing role of learning in the information age, the extent to which learning materials may be re-used and how misunderstandings between the various contributors to learning technology projects may be overcome.
The paper concludes with a description of a hypothetical example of an effective application of learning technology. Continue reading »
Educational Technology has the potential to offer learning opportunities to a wider audience than ever before, and as such has the power to promote a fairer and more equal society. The issue of accessibility is concerned with ensuring that the opportunities offered by the technology truly are available to as large and diverse a group as possible. In particular it is concerned with ensuring that learners with disabilities, including those who may be accessing materials through assistive technologies such as screen readers, are not unduly disadvantaged.
Accessibility concerns are not solely altruistic. The number of people worldwide with some form of disability represents a massive potential audience that few educational providers (or indeed commercial operations) can afford to exclude. Additionally much educational provision is, or will soon, be subject to accessibility legislation. Continue reading »