Evidenced-based approach to the design and redevelopment of inclusive technology enhanced learning environments Final report 2016 Lead institution: University of South Australia Partner institutions: Australian National University Media Access Australia Queensland University of Technology The University of Adelaide Project leader: Professor Denise Wood, Project Leader, University of South Australia and Central Queensland University Report Authors: Professor Denise Wood, Project Leader, University of South Australia and Central Queensland University Dr Sheila Scutter, University of South Australia Ms Renette Viljoen, Central Queensland University Project website: http://www.responsive-learning.org Project coordinator: Dr Sheila Scutter, University of South Australia Project team members: Dr Leanne Glenny, University of South Australia Dr Collette Snowden, University of South Australia Associate Professor Deirdre Tedmanson, University of South Australia Dr Tina Du, University of South Australia Mr Bruce Underwood, University of South Australia Ms Tracey Johnson, University of South Australia Professor Noel Lindsay, The University of Adelaide Professor Helen Partridge, formerly Queensland University of Technology Ms Julie Harrison, Australian National University Dr Scott Hollier, Media Access Australia Ms Renette Viljoen, Central Queensland University Collaborators: Professor Jutta Treviranus, Ontario College of Art and Design Professor Gregg Vanderheiden, Trace Centre, University of Wisconsin-Madison PhD Student: Mr Lindsley Abadia, University of South Australia Evidenced-based approach to the design and redevelopment of inclusive technology enhanced learning environments 2 | P a g e Support for the production of this report has been provided by the Australian Government Department of Education and Training. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Government Department of Education and Training. With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, and where otherwise noted, all material presented in this document is provided under Creative Commons Attribution- ShareAlike 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. The details of the relevant licence conditions are available on the Creative Commons website (accessible using the links provided) as is the full legal code for the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode. Requests and inquiries concerning these rights should be addressed to: Higher Education Program Management Quality and Access Branch Higher Education Group Australian Government Department of Education and Training GPO Box 9880 Location code C50MA7 CANBERRA ACT 2601 <[email protected]> 2017 ISBN 978-1-76051-321-4 [PDF] ISBN 978-1-76051-322-1 [DOCX] ISBN 978-1-76051-323-8 [PRINT] Acknowledgements The project team acknowledges the support of the Australian Government through its Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT1), now part of Department of Education and Training for their ongoing guidance throughout the project. We also acknowledge the support of Central Queensland University (CQU), which provided funding enabling the project team to extend the project by incorporating case studies from accessibility and usability testing of six courses at that university. CQU also made available their open online course (OOC) for delivery of training materials on inclusive design that have been developed through this project. In particular, we acknowledge the contributions of Renette Viljoen, Jenny Wang and Colin Beer who undertook testing at the university and Renette in particular for assisting in the development of the framework for inclusive design of technology enhanced learning (TEL) developed through the project and also developing the OOC, which has been an additional deliverable from the project that was not originally envisaged in the initial grant application. Several academics who were not project team members also contributed to the project by providing access to their courses for accessibility and usability testing at our partner universities. These academics included: Mr. Jeremey Smith (Australian National University) Ms Wendy Flannagan (Central Queensland University) Dr. Brad Smith (Central Queensland University) Dr. Kerry April (Central Queensland University) Dr Yateendra Mishra (Queensland University of Technology) Dr. Edward Palmer (University of Adelaide) Mr Charles Morris was appointed as developer and he integrated the two responsive accessibility solutions into Moodle test sites and also assisted in the development of an open source usability and accessibility testing tool for use by academics wishing to test their courses with their students or have their courses peer reviewed by colleagues to ensure their courses are accessible and usable for students from diverse backgrounds. We also acknowledge the support of our international collaborators including Professor Gregg Vanderheiden (Director, Trace Rehabilitation Centre, University of Wisconsin- Madison) and Professor Jutta Treviranus (Director, Inclusive Design Research Centre, The Ontario College of Art and Design University, (OCAD) University) whose work informed the trial and implementation of the Flexible Learning for Open Education (FLOE) accessibility solution integrated into the test server Moodle Learning Management System. FLOE is a 1 The OLT ceased on 30 June 2016. Evidenced-based approach to the design and redevelopment of inclusive technology enhanced learning environments 4 | P a g e project of the Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure initiative (GPII) through the Inclusive Design Research Centre, OCAD University. We also thank our independent evaluator for this project, Professor Natalie Brown from the University of Tasmania for contributing her expertise to the evaluation of the project. Finally, we thank the many universities that agreed to host our workshops including: Australian National University (ANU) Central Queensland University (CQU) Charles Darwin University (CDU) Edith Cowan University (ECU) Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University of South Australia (UniSA) University of Tasmania (UTAS) Evidenced-based approach to the design and redevelopment of inclusive technology enhanced learning environments 5 | P a g e List of acronyms used AIDE Accessible and Inclusive Design for Education ANU Australian National University CQU Central Queensland University DRUM Diagnostic Recorder for Usability Measurement ECU Edith Cowan University FLOE Flexible Learning Open Education GPII Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure ISO International Organization for Standardization LMS Learning Management Systems MAA Media Access Australia OCAD U The Ontario College of Art and Design University OOC Open Online Course OLT Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching Evidenced-based approach to the design and redevelopment of inclusive technology enhanced learning environments 6 | P a g e PLE Personalised Learning Environment QUT Queensland University of Technology RLS Responsive Learning System RMIT Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology TEL Technology Enhanced Learning UniSA University of South Australia UDI Universal Design of Instruction UDL Universal Design for Learning UTAS University of Tasmania WAI Web Accessibility Initiative W3C World Wide Web Consortium WCAG Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Evidenced-based approach to the design and redevelopment of inclusive technology enhanced learning environments 7 | P a g e Executive summary This project aimed to produce research into effective strategies for inclusive online learning and teaching across a range of disciplinary areas, and to develop a framework, guidelines and resources based on international standards, that could guide academic staff in the development and practice of inclusive technology enhanced (TEL) curricula. Aims and objectives The specific aims of the project were to: demonstrate the benefits of an evidence-based approach to the design of inclusive TEL environments; provide guidelines for academics on the design and redevelopment of inclusive TEL curricula; and develop a prototype of an open source accessibility solution that adapts to student needs by delivering content that is personalised to meet their individual accessibility needs and learning preferences within learning management systems (LMS). The objectives were to: guide academics in the design and redevelopment of their courses through an evidence-based approach to inclusive teaching and learning; encourage and raise awareness of personalised learning through the collection of exemplars based on trials of a personalised, responsive learning approach to the delivery of inclusive TEL curricula across disciplinary fields; affirm the work of academics already active in the field by providing them with the opportunity to showcase their initiatives in personalising the learning experience of their students; and facilitate discussion within and between a wide-range of disciplines leading to review of current practices in effective strategies for personalising the learning experience of students. Project outputs The project led to the achievement of the following deliverables: A comprehensive review of the relevant literature, usability and accessibility guidelines, evaluation tools and assistive software solutions. The review provided the foundation for developing