Students with Impairments (SwI) appear to be unwilling towards transition to Higher Education (HE), face serious challenges during their studies or quit university without developing the necessary skills to cover future working requirements. In Africa, HE has failed modernisation, while Individuals with Impairments (IwI) are numerous and have limited access to appropriately designed HE programmes.The aim of the project is to develop accessible Distance Education Programmes (DEP) for individuals with Visual, Hearing, and Mobility/ Physical (ViHeMo) impairments. The objectives are to:• Develop accessible and inclusive DEP improving the quality of HE for individuals with ViHeMo impairments and offering flexible learning and virtual mobility• Upgrade the facilities in HE Institutions (HEIs) through accessibility offices and assistive technology resulting in modernisation of services• Build capacity in HE staff in developing and carrying out accessible DEP• Involve IwI in a user-center design The project’s innovative aspects lie in:• The development of a complete educational material in all the possible types of information output. The material will be delivered in adapted format to meet the needs of students with ViHeMo impairments.• The user-center design – the material will be examined by end-users with the purpose of further improvements.• The multi-aspect adaptation of the Distance Education (DE) delivery system – i.e. adaptations pertaining to accessibility, usability and educational effectiveness. • The overall assessment through complete DEP and the participation of end-users.The development of accessible DE programmes will benefit directly the IwI. Many of them (285) will be actively engaged in the assessment of educational materials, at least 132 in the pilot courses, and 165 in the trainings. Teaching staff (at least 550) and trainers (66) will benefit directly from their participation in the project since they will receive in-service training.
The objectives are to:- Develop accessible and inclusive Distance Education (DE) improving the quality of HE for individuals with with Visual, Hearing, and Mobility/Physical (ViHeMo) impairments- Upgrade the facilities in HE Institutions (HEIs) through accessibility offices and assistive technology resulting in modernisation of services- Build capacity in HE staff in developing and carrying out accessible DE programmes- Involve IwI in a user-center design
Students with Impairments (SwI) appear to be unwilling towards transition to Higher Education (HE), face serious challenges during their studies or quit university without developing the necessary skills to cover future working requirements. In Africa, HE has failed modernisation, while Individuals with Impairments (IwI) are numerous and have limited access to appropriately designed HE programmes.
<< Background >> Students with Impairments (SwI) appear to be unwilling towards transition to Higher Education (HE), face serious challenges during their studies or quit university without developing the necessary skills to cover future working requirements. In Africa, HE has failed modernisation, while Individuals with Impairments (IwI) are numerous and have limited access to appropriately designed HE programmes. << Objectives >> The objectives are to:- Develop accessible and inclusive Distance Education (DE) improving the quality of HE for individuals with with Visual, Hearing, and Mobility/Physical (ViHeMo) impairments- Upgrade the facilities in HE Institutions (HEIs) through accessibility offices and assistive technology resulting in modernisation of services- Build capacity in HE staff in developing and carrying out accessible DE programmes- Involve IwI in a user-center design << Implementation >> The implementation involved:- The review of state-of-art outcomes - Research activities with the participation of the end-users- Design and assessment of accessible educational material- Adaptation of the DE delivery tool- A top-down training approach (accessibility advisors and representatives will train the teaching staff and IwI, teachers will engage SwI is DE pilot courses) resulting in a pyramid of skillful trainees in accessible DE- Project management, QA and dissemination activities << Results >> The results of the project include:- 36 reports- 132 IwI participating in research activities- 28 accessibility advisors, 67 trainers-representatives, 264 teachers and 103 IwI were trained in the context of 13 training events- 59 SwI and 83 students without impairments were educated together in the context of DE pilot courses