The Future of Education

This study examined pre-post changes in faculty awareness and understanding of online instructional needs of students with disabilities following a half-day workshop.

    Students with disabilities are attending college in increasing numbers (Scott, McGuire & Shaw, 2003). Providing support for online instructors is paramount since course delivery in higher education increasingly utilizes online options. Advocates for the deaf recently filed Federal lawsuits against Harvard and MIT, stating that both universities violated antidiscrimination laws by failing to provide closed captioning in their online lectures, courses, podcasts and other educational materials (Lewin, 2015). The university’s Office of Disability Services surveyed all University faculty in February 2015 to assess training and support needs. Results indicated low levels of preparedness in helping students with assistive technology, an overall need for additional training to appropriately accommodate students with disabilities and/or need of accommodation in online portions of classes and a need for immediate action to ensure that online courses are accessible to all students.

     Our University received a grant to train faculty on promoting accessibility in online courses for students with disabilities. Twenty faculty completed courses on online instructional practices and a three hour instructional workshop was presented.  Pre-post workshop surveys (28 Likert items) found positive changes on the following items:  1) I am more likely to offer assistance to students with visible disabilities (15% agreed at pretest; 35% agreed at posttest); 2) I understand that my efforts related to accommodation and inclusion will affect student retention (75% agreed at pre; 100% agreed at post); 3) I am aware of the range and types of disabilities of my students (65% agreed at pre; 85% agreed at post); and 4) When dealing with people who have disabilities, I often feel unsure of how to interact with them (5% agreed at pretest; 30% at post). We will also be conducting interviews with program participants, and those data will be discussed.  We will conclude with implications for online teaching as well as the need for further research.