ITR12: Inclusive Technologies for Reading: Pilot

Join us for the pilot of this new online course in between 8 October 2012 and 22 March 2013. Participation in the pilot course is free. 

Access the course site here [requires separate login]

About the course

Dates: 8 October 2012 to 22 March 2013 (incl. 2 week break for Christmas)

Inclusive Technologies for Reading is a 22-week online course for teachers, parents, special needs support staff and anyone supporting people who have difficulties accessing text due to a print impairment (this includes blindness, partial sight, dyslexia and related difficulties as well as a range of physical disabilities). It is also suitable for ICT professionals who have not had specific training in inclusive technologies.

The course will give participants a chance to explore in detail a range of free and inexpensive technologies they can use to improve the reading experience of people they support.

The course was developed and is run by Load2Learn, an online resource for downloadable curriculum materials in accessible formats. You will find more details in the Course curriculum and brochure [PDF, 452kB] or in the Frequently Asked Questions. You can also download the Course overview in audio format [MP3, 13MB] read by the Brian synthetic voice under license from IVONA.

Course Approach and Delivery

• The course is experiential and practical. We believe that you cannot use technology just by learning about it, hands on experience is essential.
• The course goes beyond acquiring knowledge and skills. It seeks to ensure that participants will continue to learn by asking them to demonstrate their motivation and ability to share inclusive computing practices.
• Participants will be asked to engage online with each other as well as with external support networks and people in their work/study environment.
• The course consists of 7 compulsory and 2 optional units (there are 6 optional units to choose from).
• Participants will be using a course forum in addition to publicly available resources including blogs, Twitter and YouTube to complete course work.
• Participants will receive tutor support in the form of a fortnightly summary podcast by the course tutors.
• Participants should expect to spend 5-7 hours a week working on the course.

Course Outline

The course will cover these topics:

• Difficulties faced by students with print disabilities
• Document formats to make reading more accessible
• Presenting text through audio, text-to-speech, and DAISY (text linked with audio)
• Using hardware e-readers to present text in alternative ways
• Techniques for using inclusive technologies in the classroom
• Additional assistive reading technologies for visual and physical impairments (including screen readers, screen magnifiers, and hardware for physical disabilities)

The course does not require prior technical skills other than the ability to browse the internet and use a word processor. The course is designed to develop new skills necessary for inclusive computing.

Course curriculum and brochure

To find out more information you can download the Course curriculum and brochure [PDF, 452kB]. 

You can also download the Course overview in audio format [MP3, 13MB] read by the Brian synthetic voice under license from IVONA.

Frequently Asked Questions

Please read the Frequently Asked Questions for more information.

Feedback

This is a pilot course and we are looking for feedback. If you have any comments on the course or the course curriculum, please email training@load2learn.org.uk.

Course site

The course materials and course discussions are hosted on a separate site that requires a separate login from the Load2Learn site. We are planning on merging the 2 sites later.

Access the course site here [requires separate login]

Registration

Registration for this pilot course is now closed.

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