Week 10

Activity 3.1
1 hour
Think about the process by which you produced your learning resource and write some notes about it in your blog. Here is the link to my resource again....Reflection.doc
You might reflect on:

• Why did you choose the particular topic? I chose this topic because it is one which my learners often struggle with initially. It is a requirement of the assignments that they must use reflection.
• Why did you include particular elements? I chose to include links to the OU study skills website so learners could enhance their learning further if they wished to. I tried to keep the resource simple so as not to overwhelm learners. I also enabled the resource to be used by learners who did not have Internet access.
• What guidelines did you refer to when creating the resource? I used JISC. I used the guidelines aimed at creating readable word documents
• What areas were particularly difficult and why do you think this to be the case? Getting a balance between providing useful information that learners could use and not overwhelmimg or alienating them
• Do you think the act of making an accessible resource affected the way that the learning outcomes were addressed? In this case no but this mat have been the case had the resource been more technical
• How many of the decisions you made about the resource were influenced by technical considerations? Very few
• How many of your decisions were influenced by pedagogical or other considerations? All of them were. I also took into account my learners individual learning styles and cultural differences

Week 10

I've had to jump ahead slightly as I'm falling behind a tad.....if that makes any sense!!
I have already gone through the guidelines for Week 9 though!!


Activity 2.1
14 hours
Create an accessible online learning resource that can be shared with your tutor group.
The resource can be in any format but you must be able to make it visible online to other students. This could be through:
a link to another web page
your blog (if it allows you to include images)
the tutor group wiki
a file uploaded to the Week 10 Resource area . If you have linked resources, make sure that you include all the files and that the whole thing can be recreated on another computer. The limit for any one uploaded file is 20Mb.
Discuss this with your tutor if you are not sure how to proceed, but please don’t send attachments to your tutor group forum as this has very little storage space for files. Well after a heck of a struggle due to my lack of techological know how and the fact that this blog doesn't like my files I remebered the eportfolio and uploaded the resource to that.....never thought I would ever be grateful to MyStuff!!!!
Reflection.doc MyStuff failed again so have stuck a link in here too and it's also in the Week 10 Resource area!!!!
The learning resource can be on any topic and does not need be academic in nature, but it should be a self-contained activity. My resource is about reflection. The learners are expected to reflect within their TMA's and their ECA as well as refecting within their practice. I've included links to the OU study skills site and provided a table to help with developing their reflection. I also created the document using Rich Text Format. I based the format on the guidelines from Week 9 as word and RTF seemed to suit my learners better. I could have used a power point presentation but as there are some without computer access they could then feel alienated

It should be intended for use by all students, not a special resource for disabled students. It can include components that may be inaccessible, if an appropriate alternative resource is also provided. It can reflect practice such as imagining human support as a last resort. There are 42 learners in total on two courses that this resource is aimed at. Many have experience using computers but not all. There are no identified disabilities at this present time. Seven learners are Orthodox Jewish who do not have computer access. For them I would print off the resource and print out the OU links and post these to them. It' s aim is to provide learners with further information as and when they need it, to be accessed as and when needed.
It can be as long or as short as necessary, but remember that other students will need to be able to read it to make comparisons in TMA02. We suggest that you aim for a resource that would take a student 30–45 minutes to complete.
The content should include:

• learning outcomes, key skills or a similar indication of what students are expected to be able to do or learn In the actual resource I have not as yet included the learning outcomes. I would expect the learner to gain knowledge and understanding of what is meant by the term reflection, to be able to apply reflection to their practice and within their assignments.
• structure for navigation Here I have tried to keep it as simple as possible so as not to overwhelm my learners. Control/click on the icon will take them to the OU website.
• at least one image that requires a description This is where I did have a problem as I couldn't find an image that was relevant
• links to at least three related resources Have linked to 3 parts of the OU website
• at least one table.Have created a table for learners to use to aid their reflection

You can include other elements such as audio and video if you wish. This will be useful for other students in the evaluation activity in TMA02.
If you have a disability that makes elements of the activity difficult, please discuss alternatives with your tutor.
Bear in mind that the estimated time for this activity is 14 hours. The activity itself will not be assessed so the resource does not have to be polished or even complete, provided that there is sufficient content to demonstrate its accessibility features. Just as well!!

Week 9

Activity 3.1
1 hour
Imagine that you are responsible for designing an online module or lesson on web design for a group of students in your own context.
Decide which aspects of the guidelines are important in your context and think about how you would approach teaching this to your students.
Create notes, an outline or a plan for such a module or lesson in your blog.
Your method will depend on your context and teaching style. If you’re not sure where to start, the plan might include:

• learning outcomes
• a list of topics to cover
• resources that you would use
• which method of teaching (face to face, online, groups)
• the length of time it would take and so on.

The purpose of this activity is for you to think about what else students need to know in addition to a list of guidelines.
In my context I tutor both online and face to face. I'm now more of a facilitator of learning. The students have their course materials and I guide and advise them. I use lesson plans for face to face tutorials and I develop exisitng activities for online participation usually via the wiki.
Resources are usually what ever I have experience of rather than what is supplied by the OU. I tend to mainly use a word document and powerpoint.
In the past I have created a powerpoint on reflection using audio sound.

Week 9

Activity 1.1
1 hour
Return to Chapter 4 and read up to Legislation on page 41 (Seale, 2006).
As you read, make a list of the elements Seale mentions as needing to be made accessible. You will build on this list in other activities this week and in preparation for next week’s activity.

My list........

• Courseware...VLE'S, eportfolios
• Content
• Online experiences
• Web collaboration technologies
• Websites
• Library resources.....databases
• Text documents....PDF, Microsoft word
• Presentation applications......power point
• Multimedia...captions, Flash, Java

Activity 2.1
My List extended.....

• Electronic publications....ebooks

Week 8 Activity 1.1

Activity 1.1
6 hours
From your study of the course so far, you should be able to make a list of formats that would be useful for disabled students as alternatives to inaccessible resources. For example, a Word document might be an alternative to an inaccessible PDF file. Students in the case studies have mentioned alternatives such as braille or subtitles for video.
Make a list of at least five alternative formats in your blog. Use your own experience and any relevant notes from previous weeks to make brief notes for each format about:
its positive features
its negative features
the technical resources that might be needed to create it
the human resources that might be needed to create it.
If you need more information, carry out an internet search.

This is where I feel my lack of technology 'know how' lets me down pretty badly. I've read others' blogs and the wiki pages and there is definitely a big difference between me and some of my peers. It appears many of them are confident in the use of technology and are able to use alternatives to inaccessible resources with a lot more ease than I am.......need to do a lot more reading and researching to get myself up to scratch. If I'm struggling with the technology as someone who has no disability then how frustraing must it be for those with disability. It's as if knowledge and experience of technologies is an expectation of people with disabilities....here's the technology now use it and you will have accessibitiy.y What if they're as technophobic as I am??!! For me the tools and technologies used to aid accessibility at times made the activities I was to carry out as part of this course inaccessible!!!! (Hasn't helped having kids off school last week due to half term holidays!)