Jane Seale - Böcker

This book examines the role that technologies play in the lives of adults with learning disabilities. It analyses how design and support practices can be used to support access to technology in ways that can enhance opportunities and life experiences. Drawing on international literature and the author’s own research, the book considers what we know about past and present practices of supporting adults with learning disabilities to use technologies. It outlines how support practices can offer opportunities to overcome digital inequalities, offering a framework of core beliefs and knowledge that can inform future initiatives. The book has a particular focus on technologies, policies, practitioner communities and the characteristics of support practice. It also highlights the potential of people with learning disabilities, the potential of technology and the potential of the environment to support technology use. This important book will be highly relevant reading for academics, researchers and post-graduate students in the field of special educational needs and disabilities, digital education and learning technologies, inclusive education and social work.

This book examines the role that technologies play in the lives of adults with learning disabilities. It analyses how design and support practices can be used to support access to technology in ways that can enhance opportunities and life experiences. Drawing on international literature and the author’s own research, the book considers what we know about past and present practices of supporting adults with learning disabilities to use technologies. It outlines how support practices can offer opportunities to overcome digital inequalities, offering a framework of core beliefs and knowledge that can inform future initiatives. The book has a particular focus on technologies, policies, practitioner communities and the characteristics of support practice. It also highlights the potential of people with learning disabilities, the potential of technology and the potential of the environment to support technology use. This important book will be highly relevant reading for academics, researchers and post-graduate students in the field of special educational needs and disabilities, digital education and learning technologies, inclusive education and social work.

For the past five to ten years researchers have been developing tools and guidelines for developing accessible e-learning experiences for students with disabilities. Despite this, very few practitioners in higher education are confident that they know how to develop accessible e-learning experiences. This is prompting researchers to work with practitioners in order to develop meaningful approaches to addressing accessibility; ones that facilitate the development of a clear conceptualisation of why and how practice can be changed to meet the varied needs of students. This book describes these approaches and explores the extent to which they might challenge current thinking and understanding. Topics covered include: approaches to developing accessible multimedia and learning objectsholistic approaches to developing accessible e-learning and blended learning experiencesinstitutional and programme approaches to addressing accessibility issues. Exploration and discussion of these topics will challenge practitioners to reconceptualise their understanding of ‘best practice’ in relation to accessibility and e-learning and offer directions for future practice and development.This book was previously published as a special issue of Alt-J.

The issue of access is at the forefront of the practical challenges facing people with learning difficulties and people working with or supporting them. This engaging text brings together evidence, narratives and discussions that question and advance our understanding of the concept of access for people with learning difficulties. Seale and Nind draw on their expertise to analyse a wide range of situations, including access to public spaces, citizenship education, community participation, and employment.Through a series of related chapters, key researchers in the field of inclusion and learning difficulties enrich the access debate by: considering what kind of access people with learning difficulties want; identifying effective practice in relation to facilitating and promoting access; revealing the capability of people with learning difficulties to seek and achieve access to potentially exclusionary communities; providing a space for a wide range of people to share access stories. With contributions from a variety of stakeholders including people with learning difficulties, Understanding and Promoting Access for People with Learning Difficulties clarifies the concept of access without over-simplifying what is involved. Through rigorous critique, this book provides a unique rationale for a new multi-dimensional model of access and ways of promoting it.Proposing a reconceptualisation of the risk associated with promoting access for people with learning difficulties, this book will be of immense interest to students, researchers and professionals involved in inclusion and disability issues.

The issue of access is at the forefront of the practical challenges facing people with learning difficulties and people working with or supporting them. This engaging text brings together evidence, narratives and discussions that question and advance our understanding of the concept of access for people with learning difficulties. Seale and Nind draw on their expertise to analyse a wide range of situations, including access to public spaces, citizenship education, community participation, and employment.Through a series of related chapters, key researchers in the field of inclusion and learning difficulties enrich the access debate by: considering what kind of access people with learning difficulties want; identifying effective practice in relation to facilitating and promoting access; revealing the capability of people with learning difficulties to seek and achieve access to potentially exclusionary communities; providing a space for a wide range of people to share access stories. With contributions from a variety of stakeholders including people with learning difficulties, Understanding and Promoting Access for People with Learning Difficulties clarifies the concept of access without over-simplifying what is involved. Through rigorous critique, this book provides a unique rationale for a new multi-dimensional model of access and ways of promoting it.Proposing a reconceptualisation of the risk associated with promoting access for people with learning difficulties, this book will be of immense interest to students, researchers and professionals involved in inclusion and disability issues.

Most people working within the higher education sector understand the importance of making e-learning accessible to students with disabilities, yet it is not always clear exactly how this should be accomplished. E-Learning and Disability in Higher Education evaluates current accessibility practice and critiques the extent to which 'best' practices can be confidently identified and disseminated. This second edition has been fully updated and includes a focus on research that seeks to give 'voice' to disabled students in a way that provides an indispensible insight into their relationship with technologies and the institutions in which they study.Examining the social, educational, and political background behind making online learning accessible in higher and further education, E-Learning and Disability in Higher Education considers the roles and perspectives of the key stake-holders involved in e-learning: lecturers, professors, instructional designers, learning technologists, student support services, staff developers, and senior managers and administrators.

Most people working within the higher education sector understand the importance of making e-learning accessible to students with disabilities, yet it is not always clear exactly how this should be accomplished. E-Learning and Disability in Higher Education evaluates current accessibility practice and critiques the extent to which 'best' practices can be confidently identified and disseminated. This second edition has been fully updated and includes a focus on research that seeks to give 'voice' to disabled students in a way that provides an indispensible insight into their relationship with technologies and the institutions in which they study.Examining the social, educational, and political background behind making online learning accessible in higher and further education, E-Learning and Disability in Higher Education considers the roles and perspectives of the key stake-holders involved in e-learning: lecturers, professors, instructional designers, learning technologists, student support services, staff developers, and senior managers and administrators.

For the past five to ten years researchers have been developing tools and guidelines for developing accessible e-learning experiences for students with disabilities. Despite this, very few practitioners in higher education are confident that they know how to develop accessible e-learning experiences. This is prompting researchers to work with practitioners in order to develop meaningful approaches to addressing accessibility; ones that facilitate the development of a clear conceptualisation of why and how practice can be changed to meet the varied needs of students. This book describes these approaches and explores the extent to which they might challenge current thinking and understanding. Topics covered include: approaches to developing accessible multimedia and learning objectsholistic approaches to developing accessible e-learning and blended learning experiencesinstitutional and programme approaches to addressing accessibility issues. Exploration and discussion of these topics will challenge practitioners to reconceptualise their understanding of ‘best practice’ in relation to accessibility and e-learning and offer directions for future practice and development.This book was previously published as a special issue of Alt-J.

Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary.This innovative Research Agenda offers a comprehensive analysis of the role of assistive technology (AT) in the lives of people with disabilities. Contributors representing a diverse range of stakeholders including researchers, practitioners and people with disabilities suggest avenues for research over the next 10 years.A Research Agenda for Disability and Technology addresses inequalities and tensions surrounding the ways that disability and technology interact, exploring how technologies have an important role but that they cannot, on their own, transform the lives of people with disabilities. Focusing on digital AT, chapters discuss alternative approaches to ‘wicked’ design and accessibility problems and offer ways of thinking differently about the relationship between research, practice and policy. Contributors also debate how our assumptions about disability and technology influences the ways in which people with disabilities are meaningfully involved in research and development.Considering a wide range of interconnected issues, this Research Agenda is a seminal resource for academics in health policy, critical disability studies, science and technology studies, computer science, and social policy. It also provides valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners, guiding them toward a more inclusive and accessible future where technology serves as a catalyst for positive social change.

This book examines the role played by technologies in removing the disadvantage experienced by students with disabilities in higher education. Ultimately, the book argues that practice in the fields of disability, ICT and higher education is still not providing consistent and widespread positive learning experiences to students with disabilities.