Web accessibility for online education

Greetings from the Canberra Institute of Technology, where I am attending the one day workshop "What web accessibility and implementing WCAG 2.0 mean for you" by Kristena Gladman and Felicity Hanrahan.The National VET E-learning strategy has a set of materials design to help with accessibility for vocational education:

• Understanding Accessibility
• Accessibility Guide for Teachers
• Creating Accessible Audio and Video
• Increasing PDF and Microsoft Word Document Accessibility
• Developing and Testing for WCAG 2.0

These are intended to help not only with the design of courses delivered online, but also materials such as books and Apps, used in face-to-face classes. I became involved with web accessibility in 1999, when asked to be an expert witness in the case of Maguire V Sydney Organizing Committee for the 2000 Olympic Games. This was using WGAC Version 1.0.


The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Version 2.0 are now an international standard: ISO/IEC 40500:2012. In my view it is not of value to explain the details of the standards and the legal requirements for web accessibility. In my view a better approach is to explain to teachers simple ways to implement accessibility techniques and how these can save them time and effort, while providing better learning materials for their students. That will then motivate them to act.

Part of accessibility can be to empower content developers, including teachers,  to make their materials simpler and therefore more readable for everyone. As an example, rather than have to work out how to highlight a label "Read this first" half way down a page of course notes, the designer can instead place it first, so it is read first. This makes the document more readable for everyone. It would be possible to then use CSS styles to mark part of text "read this first" and move it lower down the page, for aesthetic reasons, but readability perhaps should come first.

For most content developers, including educators, accessibility is mostly about what not to do, not what to do. The content will normally be used within an existing system, such as a Learning management System. The content creator should therefore not be specifying fonts, colours and the like for their course materials, for example. They should use the defaults, so that the styles set for their corporate web site will be automatically applied. If they do use their own fonts and styles, this will like result in more work by someone else who as to go through and remove this, so it is better not to put it in the first place.

As an example,  rather then use PDF, I use the HTML editor built into Moodle to prepare course notes. I avoid fancy formatting, just having one column of text and using default fonts. As a result the notes are very quick to download and display on a wide range of mobile and other devices.

Also the notes can be run through a web translator into other languages. I also use HTML for presentations, in place of Powerpoint, gaining the same advantages. This takes me a little more time to set up initially, but is much easier to maintain. As an example, my notes for a talk in Indonesia last week, could be translated from English to Indonesian. I have offered the Indonesian university I visited my ICT Sustainability Course Notes in Indonesian.

What web accessibility and implementing WCAG 2.0

Kristena Gladman and Felicity Hanrahan

The National VET E-learning strategy

 Presenters:

In late 2009 the Online and Communications Council, a subcommittee of COAG, endorsed the implementation of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0). These are a set of standards that make web content accessible to a wide range of users. WCAG 2.0 requires all federal, state and territory websites to conform to the guidelines.


Many people assume 'accessibility' only applies to online content, but it's not just about websites. Web accessibility also applies to all web content formats – that is all file formats and information that can be delivered on the web.


This one day workshop is intended to help participants understand what WCAG 2.0 means for them and will be delivered as a series of sessions, beginning with a session that provides an overview of:
10:00am - 12:30pm: Overview

• the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.0 (WCAG 2.0)
• the legal status of WCAG 2.0
• the government’s Web Accessibility National Transition Strategy (NTS)
• the application of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)
• how people with disabilities access the web

1:30 - 4:30pm: Streams (the overview will be followed by sessions split into streams based on the roles and responsibilities of the participants)
Stream 1: policy, management and project management:
This session will be focused on ensuring that policy makers, managers and project managers are in a position to manage risk and maximise the benefits of addressing accessibility through giving the participants a better understanding of the requirements for WCAG 2.0 conformance. The session will help them to determine what level of accessibility understanding they need in order to scope and resource projects, and identify what questions they should ask of the design and development team before publishing.

Stream 2: design and content:
This session will be focused on design solutions with the intention of giving participants a better understanding of how the WCAG 2 Success Criteria impact upon the design, creation and editing of content, what they need to provide to the technical implementers and how to avoid common pitfalls and reworking designs. For further information visit: https://actnationalvetelearning.wikispaces.com

Using iPads and eBooks For Training

The Canberra Institute of Technology will host a forum on Using iPads and eBooks For Training, 4:30 pm 24 October 2012.

ACT - e-Rated Networking Forum (face-to-face) 

When: Wednesday, October 24, 2012, 4:30 – 6:30pm 

Where: Canberra Institute of Technology, Reid Campus. Further details will be emailed to registrants closer to date.

Note: Interested in using iPads and eBooks in your training delivery?\ 

Join us at this ACT's e-Rated Networking Forum to hear how Box Hill Institute is using iPads with their apprentices! 

Guest Speakers: 

• Pauline Farrell, Executive Manager - Blended E-learning Solutions, Box Hill Institute
• Steven McMahon, Teacher - Metal Fabrication Trades, Canberra Institute of Technology

You must register (sign up) to attend this FREE face-to-face event.

Learning Objects Seminar

The Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) is offering a free seminar for educators on how to download and use learning objects. The seminar will be via the Intenet using Blackboard Collaborate. I have attended these seminars before and as well as explaining learning objects well, they provide an excellent example of how to give a seminar on-line.

Webinar - Search and download FREE learning objects By Helen Lynch

Want to discover free, publicly funded, quality assured, custom designed VET learning resources? Come along to this National VET E-learning Strategy (Strategy) Webinar for a demonstration of how to search, find and deploy (in a Learning Management System) learning objects from the Strategy's Toolbox Learning Object Repository.

Understanding how to use this free repository will save you hours of search time and allow you to present quality VET resources to your students.

Following this session a face-to-face workshop will be held in September on ‘Cutomising, repackaging and deploying’ these learning objects. ...

30 August 2012 12:30 – 1:30pm AEST via Blackboard Collaborate

E-learning For Regional Australia

As part of the National VET E-learning Strategy a free online industry forum on the use of e-learning for workforce training in regional Australia, 8:30am to 5:30 pm, 7 June 2012 (register online).

Program – Thursday 7 June 2012

8.30 am - 9.00 am

Audio testing

9.00 am - 10.00 am

Regional session 1

Emergency services, agriculture and transport

· Emergency services | Tasmania Fire Service (Tas)

· Natural resource management | Conservation Volunteers Australia (National)

· Agriculture | Rural Skills Australia (National)

· Agriculture | Qld Rural Industry Training Council (Qld)

· Transport and logistics | TDT Victoria (Vic)

10.30 am - 11.30 am

Industry sector session 1

Implementing industry-wide workforce development e-learning business plans

· Renewable energy | Clean Energy Council

· Surveying and Geospatial | Spatial Industries Business Association

12.00 pm - 1.00 pm

Industry sector session 2

KEYNOTE Managing change with an example from the manufacturing industry

· Manufacturing | Australian Industry Group

1.30 pm - 2.30 pm

Regional session 2

Aged care, nursing and health

· Aged care | Yass Valley Aged Care (NSW)

· Aged Care | Pakenham Aged Care (Vic)

· Nursing | Health Staff Ed Pty Ltd (SA)

· Health | Silver Chain Nursing Association Inc (WA)

· Health | WoundsWest (WA)

3.00 pm - 4.00 pm

Regional session 3

Apprentices and trades

· Civil construction | Civil Contractors Federation NT (NT)

· Civil construction | SWAT Skills Specialists (SA)

· Local government - construction | Local Government Association of SA (SA)

· Electrical supply | Essential Energy (NSW)

· Coal seam gas - water treatment | QGC (Qld)

4.30 pm - 5.30 pm

Regional session 4

Small business, tourism and retail

· Food processing and production | East Gippsland Food Cluster (Vic)

· Food | Northern Rivers Food (NSW)

· Tourism | Regional Development Australia - Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island Inc (SA)

· Tourism | Dolphin Discovery Centre (WA)

· Retail | Service Industries Training Authority Council (NT).

To participate in the online sessions, your computer must be configured to run Blackboard Collaborate (Elluminate v10) web-conferencing software. You will also need a headset with a microphone and a stable Internet connection. A practice session will be held on Tuesday 5 June from 2.00 to 3.00 pm AEST. For more information, visit the E-learning for Industry website at http://industry.flexiblelearning.net.au.

Free Professional Develop Workshops for Vocational Teachers

The Australian state and federal government fund an excellent free E-leanring Professional Development Workshop Program for vocational teachers. This is run by the Canberra Institute of Technology, but many of the events are online and available anywhere. There are also recordings of past events (some featuring me), notes and free e-learning software.

Coming up:

1. From classroom to online, 10 May 2012
   
2. Creating “easy to access” resources: What formats work best for your students, 22 May 2012
   
3. Learning Design Tool, 14 June 2012

Past events:

1. Learning activities Using QR code
2. Free web 2.0 code generators
3. “Deconstructing” Moodle for better learning design
4. e-Explorers - E-learning Basics
5. Creating and reusing web based learning resources
6. Mini course designs for mobile devices

Mobile Learning in Canberra

The Gaggle, an informal group of educational designers in Canberra, ACT will next meet Thursday 29 March 4:30pm in Building H137b, Bruce Campus, Canberra Institute of Technology , on the theme Mobile Learning. I will be showing how I designed my ANU ICT Sustainability course notes to work on a mobile device.

We will be looking at snippets of how teachers are using Mobiles in the classroom. We will also be looking at mobile apps that can be used to support the teaching and learning process.

Agenda.

4:30 to 5:10 pm Mobile learning snippets.

• Nina Allen “Moblogs in Marketing”
• Sam Mills and Harry Stevensen “Integrating Mobile Phones in the Commercial Cookery kitchen”.
• Felicia Zhang “Record audio with mobile phones and upload to Moodle”
• Janet Harris “Using mobiles with ESL learners”.
• Other examples from ANU and UC?

5:10 to 5:40 Demonstration of Mobile apps useful for teachers.

• CamScanner which enables you to scan multipage documents and send to email in less than a minute.
• Evernote – notes and task manager which can be accessed from your PC, tablets and phones.
• Livescribe pens. (Felicia Zhang).
• Others include Paper Camera, Summly, iMovie, Instagram.
• Other useful apps?

5:40 to 6:15 Networking

Time and Place

Thursday 29^th March.

H137b Bruce Campus (above the library).

Go in the main entrance near the flag pole on Vowels Crescent.

Free Training on e-Learning for Vocational Educators

The Canberra Institute of Technology is running a free professional development program for Vocational Education Training (VET) practitioners in the ACT to learn about e-learning. This is part of the National VET E-learning Strategy. CIT provides excellent training on-learning, which is applicable to universities as well as the TAFE sector and for in-company training. The catch is that to be eligible for these programs you generally need to be from a Registered Training Organization. (not all Universities are RTOs).

The program runs between February and June 2012:

This six month program is designed to support educators who want to:

• Work with learning tools and designs for maturing technologies such as mobile technologies (phones and tablets)
• develop learning designs for virtual and online learning environments ( focusing on Moodle and Connected Learning Community)
• generate their own web based content that is easily accessible and reusable
• reuse free learning content from a range of sources or create their own
• learn the basics of technology and design for le-earning

Face to Face workshops or online seminars include:

Learning activities Using QR codes - Thursday, February 16^th, 4.00pm – 5.30pm, CIT Southside campus- Registration opens February 2^nd

QR codes are tailor-made for quickly and easily linking to content from smartphones or tablets without the use of keyboards.

They are two dimensional so store far more information than a conventional bar code. They are cheap, quick and easy to create and

can form the basis of many keyboard free and non-classroom based learning activities.

Deconstructing Moodle for better learning design – Tuesday, 28th February, 8am – 9.30pm CIT Southside campus - Registration opens February 13th

Developing Learning designs for Moodle courses can be problematic because there is always a tension between balancing the use of Moodle’s inbuilt activities, incorporating

Web 2.0 tools and working with the “flat” structure of the Moodle learning environment which can be seriously constraining. This workshops considers how to break free from structures imposed by Learning management systems and online learning environments and move towards more collaborative, networked and knowledge sharing learning designs.

More information to follow for:

Creating and reusing digital learning resources: accessing national collections and user generated content - Tuesday, March 20^th

E-Explorers - E-learning basics - TBA

Mini course designs for mobile devices - Tuesday April 3rd

From classroom to online - TBA

Creating “easy to access” resources: What formats work best for your students – Tuesday, May 22nd

Learning Design Tool - TBA

Registration for these workshops will be available via Survey Monkey

For more information contact Helen lynch on ph 6207 4031

Helen M. Lynch, BA, DipEdStud, MEdAdmin, PGC Online Education
Senior E-learning Consultant,
National VET E-learning Strategy
Collaborate Vroom http://try.bbcollaborate.com/trial/m.go?mk=Txv9nsxNeh6S8rDP

Learning Object Workshop in Canberra

A free workshop on "Creating Learning Objects" will be held 19 October at CIT in Canberra.

e-Resources Professional Development

Creating Learning Objects (Open Educational Resources) with The VET Reload Content Packaging Tool

Wednesday, October 19th, 8.00am – 9.30am B016, Ground Floor B Block CIT Southside Campus , Cnr Ainsworth St. and Hindmarsh Drive Phillip

Make you own learning object

This hands-on workshop follows from the e-Gems Webinar "Learning objects: Create, Reuse, Deploy for better teaching and learning online!" (11 May 2011). It shows you how to work with the VET Reload Tool to create or manipulate learning objects.

You will be able to assemble your existing resources, e.g. word documents, digital photographs, html pages, videos and pdf files in a learning object format or add and remove pages from an existing learning object you have downloaded from the TLOR (Toolbox Learning Object Repository).

This flexible and universal learning object format allows learning sequences you have created or customised to be used as a standalone, coherent resources or imported into any Learning management system or even delivered on CDRom.

Requirements: Bring a collection of resources on a USB Stick.

About the VET Reload Tool

VET Reload Tool v2.61 (ZIP 14.6 MB) December 2009

Java 1.6.x is required. Standard Windows only (not Windows 7)


The VET Reload Tool can be used to create IMS and SCORM 1.2 content packages and corresponding VET metadata (Vetadata). It is based on the Reload tool developed by CETIS in the UK, and has been customised for the Australian VET sector.
Existing VET Reload users may want to view information on the changes to the VET Reload tool made in December 2009

Cost: Free for Educators. Sponsored by ACT Framework

Registration

You need to register for this event before October 19thth. To register please contact Helen lynch, 6207 4031 or email helen.lynch@cit.edu.au

For more information about other upcoming professional development opportunities for ACT educators please visit the ACT Framework webpage at: http://flexiblelearning.net.au/ACT

Mobile Devices for Education

The Canberra Institute of Technology is hosting "ilearn: idevices for education" 6 September 2011. Teachers are ivnivted to bring along their ipads, tablets and smart phones for a free interactive workshop on how to use them for learning.

Professional Development Workshop

iteach | ilearn: idevices for education

September 6^th, Tuesday 8am- 9.30am, B016 Computer lab, B Block ground floor, CIT Southside Campus, Cnr Hindmarsh and Ainsworth, Phillip.

Topic

Mobile devices such as ipads and tablets, smart phones and iphones are here to stay and adult learners are becoming increasingly enamoured of their use as a learning tool.

Bring your device and join this interactive workshop to learn what can be done and share what you and other educators are doing to put smart devices to work for learners. The emphasis of the workshop will be on ipads and iphones but much of what is discussed should apply to tablets and android phones as well.

Cost

Free for Educators

Registration

You need to register your interest in this session by 5^th September. Please email or telephone:

Helen Lynch, ACT Toolbox Champion, Australian Flexible Learning Framework

Phone 02 6207 4031

Email Helen.lynch@cit.edu.au

For more information about other upcoming professional development opportunities for ACT educators please visit the ACT Framework webpage at: http://flexiblelearning.net.au/ACT

Reload Tool For Creating Learning Objects

Helen Lynch, ACT Toolbox Champion, from Canberra Institute of Technology gave a webinar today on "Learning objects: Create, reuse and deploy for better teaching and learning online!" using the VET Reload Tool and use this with the as LORN and Toolbox Repositories of the vocational sector. This was of interest beyond the VET sector, as universities use the same tools, such as Moodle, which the objects can be used in.

I downloaded the "VET Reload Tool" before the presentation and found to my surprise that I could run the installation program under Linux. The tool itself is written in Java, but has a Microsoft Windows installer, which runs using the "Wine" utility under Linux.

I had to to run the tool was to find the "reload-editor.jar" file in the installed folder and run it with Java. This works fine under Linux, even though it was installed using a Windows install program, as it is just a Java program.

I saved the Moodle book version of my Green ICT Strategies course notes from the ANU course COMP7310, as an IMS content package. Then I tried to open this with Reload. The software was able to unzip the files in the IMS package and put them in a folder, but then reported:

Could not open file: Green_Technology_Strategies.zip
Error loading schema file

I then installed the unmodified Eclipse-based RELOAD Editor from the JISC project in the UK. This worked fine and was able to open my green ICT course notes. It appears that the modification of the meta-data for the Australian VET version of the tool has made it incompatible with the ANU's Moodle installation.

But while I could run the tool, I was not sure what use it was. Reload seemed to be just a XML editor. You could open the IMS package, navigate the folders in it, add and remove files and edit the XML based metadata. But this is not a WYSIWYG editor. The average educator I thought would find this very user friendly.

Helen's excellent presentation put this in context. Reload is not very exciting tool on its own. But it lets you assemble a lesson from set of documents, such as web pages, WP files, PDF and videos. These are zipped them into a "learning object", along with some metadata. The object can then be put in a repository, or a LMS (such as Moodle) and played by the student.

If the course designer can cope with the primitive interface of the the VET Reload Tool (like a text editor for decades ago), they can create, or modify learning objects with a reasonably quickly and easily. You can enter metadata and insert or remove files, while using your usual tools for creating and editing the content of the individual files.

This tool would have some benefits as it runs on a desktop computer, without needing a server. But for corporate applications at an institution, something like AContent would make more sense. AContent can be run on a server and accessed with a browser, without needing to install software and allows the files to be stored safely on the corporate server.

What was instructive was the high quality of the presentation and the branding of the materials presented, also the way the VET sector has a repository they share for learning objects. This is something the tertiary sector could learn from.

Gungahlin College and Library an Example of the School of the Future

In "Australian Learning Commons Proposal" I outlined how all Australians could be offered free online publicly accessible education from pre-school to university level. This would be supported through public libraries and schools. The new $72.4 million Gungahlin College in Canberra provides a good example of this approach.

The College will accommodate 900 upper secondary students and include a CIT learning centre (for vocational TAFE education). The college library will be available to the community, providing the , with learning rooms for adults and children.

The Gungahlin College is planned to have a 5 Green Star design rating from the Green Building Council of Australia. The ACT Government aims to install photovoltaic (solar power) systems at all public schools over the next four years. One enhancement I would suggest is extra investment so that the solar panels can provide emergency power to the buildings during blackouts. This way the schools can be used as emergency centres during disasters. As recent flooding in Queensland has highlighted, standard solar panels cease to provide power when mains power is lost.

Canberra Presentations at Moodle Moot AU 2010

There are 12 presentation from Canberra at Moodle Moot AU 2010 from educators, researchers, developers and administrators on using the Moodle Learning Management System in vocational and higher education :

1. The eLearn project – redefining learning at CIT (part 1),
   Margaret O'Connell, Jaci Ganendran, Aaron Pont (Canberra Institute of Technology)
2. The eLearn project – redefining learning at CIT (part 2), Margaret O'Connell, Jaci Ganendran, Aaron Pont (Canberra Institute of Technology)
3. EQUELLA and Moodle Panel Session, Dr Andy Syson (Coventry University), Jaci Ganendran, Margaret O'Connell (Canberra Institute of Technology), Dan McFadyen (The Learning Edge International)
4. Developing a Unit Outline Repository linked through Moodle , Helen Carter, Shane Nuessler (University of Canberra)
5. Managing a non-vanilla Enterprise Moodle – Pushing the Limits while Minimising the Risks, Alan Arnold (University of Canberra), James Strong (NetSpot)
6. Using Moodle for Postgraduate Professional Education with eBooks and Smartphones by Tom Worthington (ANU)
   
7. Moodle for Opera Singers by Grazia Scotellaro, Grazia Micciche' (ANU)
8. Moving in- and out-of-role: Safe & unsafe spaces in online simulation learning, by Aliya Steed, Margie Rowe (ANU)
9. Crash, or Crash Through - Moving to Moodle in Two Weeks by Marianne Dickie, Ilona Van Galen (ANU)
10. Project Governance: keeping the Good Ship Moodle on course by Karen Visser (ANU)
11. Translating Learning Outcomes in Moodle by Srinivas Chemboli, Lynette Johns-Boast, Lauren Kane (ANU)
12. Moodle and the flexible delivery of small enrolment languages by McComas Taylor (ANU)

Web 2.0 for Vocational Education

Canberra Institute of Technology is running a free Flexible Learning Toolbox Workshop on Web 2.0 for Vocational Education, in Canberra, 16 June 2010.

Adding Web 2.0 to your Toolbox Resources (AKA...The collaborative Internet, Social Media, Social Networking)

Wednesday, June 16^th , 8.00am to 9.30am
B016, B Block, ground floor, Southside Campus, Canberra Institute of Technology, Cnr Ainsworth Street and Hindmarsh Drive, Phillip.

To Register: Call or email Helen Lynch, 6207 4031 or helen.lynch@cit.act.edu.au

Web 2.0 has given us wonderful social software applications like Blogs, Wikis, Youtube, RSS and Widgets that we can use to add new levels of interactivity to our online learning. The challenge for VET teachers is to make use of these tools for teaching and learning and to incorporate them into existing e-learning resources such as Flexible Learning Toolboxes and Toolbox learning objects.

This workshop shows you just how easy it is to embed, frame, RSS and link Web 2.0 applications in Toolboxes and Toolbox Learning Objects and will challenge you to think about the use of Web 2.0 tools in teaching and learning. Some examples of Web 2.0 applications are: Wiki, Voicethread, Youtube, Blog, Flickr, del.icio.us.

Examples and thought provoking projects involving Web 2.0:

1. If you would like to explore examples of Web 2.0 used in a school setting you might like to visit Andrew Douch’s blog or go directly to some of his biology teaching resources - Andrew has his own youtube channel and won him a 2008 Victorian Education Excellence Award.
2. The European SVEA project to encourage the use of Web 2.0 in VET can be followed on Twitter for a bit of a look at what they are getting up to.
3. Social media in plain English.

Helen M Lynch, ACT Toolbox Champion, Educational Designer, Canberra Institute of Technology