SENnet:  Special  Educa0onal  Needs  Network    

sennet.eun.org  is  a  community  dedicated  to  the  use  of  technology  to  improve  learning  for  students  with  SEN    SENnet  ac0vi0es:  •  Research:  finding  and  sharing  good  

prac0ce,  e.g.  video  clips  •  Digital  learning  resources:  improving  

access  and  discoverability  •  Teacher  educa0on:  online  ‘learning  

episodes’  •  Peer  networking:  study  visits  

Aim,  objec+ves  Aim:  

To  introduce  key  ideas  in  designing  technology-­‐supported  learning  ac0vi0es  for  students  with  special  needs  in  mainstream  classes  

Objec0ves:  •  Understand  ‘special  needs’  •  Learn  about  Universal  Design  for  Learning  •  Discover  useful  resources  for  the  inclusive  classroom  •  Make  video  and  digital  learning  resources  accessible  

Accessibility  issues  

Accessibility  for  whom?  “Special  needs  students’  are  not  well  defined  interna0onally  but  usually  cover  those  for  whom  a  special  learning  need  has  been  formally  iden0fied  because  they  are  mentally,  physically  or  emo0onally  disadvantaged  ”  OECD  

Trend  to  integrate  students  with  SEN  into  mainstream  schools  and  close  special  schools  

How  many?  

In  England,  the  largest  categories  in  schools  are:    •  Moderate  learning  difficulty  •  Behaviour,  emo0onal  and  social  difficul0es  

•  Speech,  language  and  communica0ons  needs    A  much  smaller  propor0on  of  pupils  have:  •  Au0sm  spectrum  disorders  •  Physical  disabili0es  •  Visual  or  hearing  impairments  

Does  equity  maWer?  

2006  UN  Conven0on  on  the  Rights  of  Persons  with  Disabili0es  

–  Provide  accessible  informa0on  to  persons  with  disabili0es    –  Design,  develop,  produce  and  distribute  accessible  ICT’    

Standards  bodies:  – WCAG  2.0  Guidelines.  Web  content  must  be  perceivable,  

operable,  understandable  and  robust  It’s  easy  and  there  are  addi0onal  benefits,  e.g.  for:  

–  School  (cer0fica0on)  –  All  learners  

SEN  and  inclusion  “Inclusive  educa0on  does  not  mean  making  SEN  pupils  par0cipate  or  aWend  mainstream  educa0on  but  transforming  the  educa0on  system  so  that  all  students  (with  their  differences)  can  exploit  the  educa0onal  offers  and  opportuni0es  regardless  of  their  individual  needs.”  

Quick  poll  

www.surveymonkey.com/s/2WCX93K  

Universal  Design  for  Learning  

Universal Design for Learning

•  Designing  for  all:  from  pavements  and  kitchens…  •  …to  digital  learning  •  www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDvKnY0g6e4  •  Do  we  do  it  ins0nc0vely  as  teachers?    

Understand  and  apply  the  principles  of  Universal  Design  for  Learning  

Useful  resources  for  learners  with  special  educa0onal  needs  

Name   Defini+on  Access  Mode   Human  sensory  perceptual  system  or  cogni0ve  faculty  through  which  a  

person  may  process  or  perceive  informa0on.  

Vocabulary   Auditory,  colour,  tac0le,  textOnImage,  textual,  visual  

Adapta+on  Media  Type  

Term  iden0fying  a  media  type  commonly  used  to  aggregate  accessibility  modali0es  or  func0onali0es  as  media.  

Vocabulary   Braille,  ChemML,  Daisy,  EPUB3,  NIMAS  ,  LaTex,  LIT,  MathML,  Nemeth,  OEBPS,  PDF  

Adapta+on  Type   Term  describing  an  adapta0on  type.  Vocabulary   alterna0veText,  audioDescrip0on,  cap0ons,  e-­‐book,    hap0c,  highContrast,  

signLanguage,  transcript,  longDescrip0on,  extendedAudioDescrip0on,  visualRepresenta0on,  sub0tlesFor  Deaf,  fullTranscrip0on        

Control  Flexibility   Term  describing  an  input  method.  

Vocabulary   fullKeyboardControl,  fullMouseControl,  fullVoiceControl  

Display  Transformability  

Term  describing  a  characteris0c  of  a  resource  display  that  can  be  modified.  

Vocabulary   backgroundColour,  cursorPresenta0on,  fontFace,  fontSize,  fontWeight,  foregroundColour,  highlightPresenta0on,  layout,  leWerSpacing,  lineHeight,  structurePresenta0on,  wordSpacing,  fontColour,  imageContrast  

Educa+onal  Complexity  

Term  describing  a  resource  that  is  simplified      or  enriched      rela0ve  to  another  resource  that  presents  the  same  intellectual  content.    

Vocabulary   Simplified,  enriched  

Hazard   Term  describing  a  characteris0c  of  the  described  resource  that  must  not  be  delivered  to  some  users.  

Vocabulary   Flashing,  mo0onSimula0on,  sound  

SENET-­‐LRE

 Metad

ata  

Applica+

on  Profile  

Useful  resources  for  learners  with  SEN    

•  European  survey  of  SEN  resources  and  repositories  of  SEN  resources  -­‐  Posi0ve  feedback  

•  Collected  and  registered  in  a  Google  database  •  Various  ways  to  categorise  resources  •  The  registered  records  were  transferred  to    

EUN’s  Learning  Resource  Exchange  (LRE).    •  204  new  0tles  are  now  in  the  LRE  tagged  with  SENNET  as  

provider  

OERs:  lreforschools.eun.org  

The  LRE  widget    

English  version  of  the  widget      hWp://lrewidget.eun.org/widget_sennet_en.htm  

Resources  for  learners  with  SEN  (LRE)  

Spanish, 38

Danish, 2

Dutch, 2

English, 79

Norwegian, 26

Portuguese, 54

Italian, 17

Turkish, 6

Estonian, 4

German, 31

Languages

The  website  www.chillola.com  has  a  number  of  resources  in  various  languages  (English,  German,  French,  Spanish,  Italian)  which  help  children  to  learn  basic  vocabulary.    They  see  pictures  associated  with  words,  can  listen  to  the  correct  pronuncia0on  and  can  easily  switch  between  languages  to  listen  to  the  word  in  another  language.  

Video case study with observation of and interview with student with dyslexia and her teacher. The student demonstrates how she uses the IT-backpack. http://lreforschools.eun.org/web/guest/resource-details?resourceId=621757

It-­‐rygsækken    (Danish  with  English  sub0tles)  

http://lreforschools.eun.org/web/guest/resource-details?resourceId=626552

Doorway  (in  English)  

Doorway Online is a collection of free learning activities originally developed with funding from Scottish Borders Council. The suite comprises highly accessible educational activities that learners will find easy to use independently. Each exercise has range of accessibility and difficulty options.

Online  teacher  training  experiences  

Inclusion  and  Accessing  Technology  

Accessibility  for  video:  prac0cal  considera0ons  

•  Belgium  –  Consumer  tools:  smartphone  and  MS  MovieMaker  –  Permission,  publishing  –  Fonts  and  contrast  

•  Italy  –  Professional  equipment  and  tools  –  Scrip0ng  

•  Portugal  –  iPad  and  iRig  mic  adapter,  Final  Cut  Pro  –  Get  the  scenes,  light,  sound  right  –  Cap0oning  tools  (Amara,  YouTube)  

Cap0ons  are  easy!  1.  Log  on  to  YouTube    2.  Choose  a  video  you  have  uploaded  3.  Use  the  cap0on  tool  4.  Share  thre  results!  

Accessibility  essen0als  •  Print,  documents,  PDFs  •  Presenta0ons  •  Web  sites    

Checklist  ü  UDL  applied?    ü  Text:  digital,  sans  serif,  structured,  bullets  func0ons  used,  

language  simple,  contrast  ü  Video:  cap0ons  and  transcript  ü  Presenta0on:  16  pt  minimum,  high  contrast  ü Web  content:  alterna0ve  text  to  images  

ü  Built-­‐in  features  of  tools  used,  e.g.  templates  

Going  further  •  Classroom  ideas,  advice:  sennet.eun.org  •  Facebook:  www.facebook.com/groups/SENnetwork/            

Project  ref.  518426-­‐LLP-­‐1-­‐2011-­‐1-­‐BE-­‐COMENIUS-­‐CNW  This  project  has  been  funded  with  support  from  the  European  Commission.  This  publica9on  reflects  the  views  only  of  the  author,  and  the  Commission  cannot  be  held  responsible  for  any  use  which  may  be  made  of  the  

informa9on  contained  therein.