Remember: Inclusive teaching is good practice!

An inclusive approach benefits all students:

• All students fall along a continuum of learner difference.
• Flexible delivery accommodates these learner differences.
• Learning materials and forms of assessment that are varied and diverse will be appreciated by everyone.
• In most cases, it takes just a little creativity, patience and common sense to make it possible for everyone to learn and contribute.

Inclusiveness also benefits staff:

• Staff working in FE already have lots of experience in working with diverse groups of students and people who have encountered barriers to learning in the past. Helping your college make inclusion a reality presents an opportunity to draw upon and extend these skills.
• Starting out from an inclusive perspective will save on time and resources in the future.
• You will feel confident that you are fulfilling with your legal requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act Part 4 (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Act).
  

Be Prepared

• Look at course outlines and learning outcomes and think about alternative ways in which learners might demonstrate their skills.
• Get information about the learner’s needs. Ask what support a student might need and help to plan their workload.
• Seek support from the college learning support specialists and BRITE Link participants.
• Plan your lesson. This will allow you to think about any tasks that may create barriers for your learners and will give you a chance to think about alternative ways of delivering your lesson if necessary.
• Students learn in a variety of ways. Varying delivery method will maintain interest and will allow you to adapt to different groups of learners.
• Let students know what will be expected of them in terms of the method, frequency and location of assessments.
• If the student will be utilizing special exam arrangements, e.g. extra time, breaks etc. these should be used in practice assessments.
  

Provide lesson plans, lecture outlines and other documents in advance

If students have access to notes prior to a lecture or tutorial, they will be freed up from trying to write down everything you say and will be more able to actively listen and participate. This practice gives students the opportunity to think about any questions the might want to ask. During the class, they can expand on your notes by annotating points of interest.

Benefits for all:

• It enables students to prepare for the lecture.
• It allows students to listen to the lecture.
• Students will be able to be more active participants.
• Students with disabilities or additional support needs will be able to brief any support workers, plan what equipment they require for that lesson and what vocabulary they need to study.

Where possible, provide information in electronic format. This will make it easier to create multiple formats that can be tailored to the individual student’s needs. A simple Word document is best. For information on providing accessible learning materials, refer to the materials from the BRITE workshop: Making a Material Difference.

Create Accessible Overheads and PowerPoint Presentations

• Use a font size of 20 - 30 pt.
• Fonts such as Arial or Comic Sans are easier to read for many people (avoid Times New Roman).
• Use bold to highlight rather than Italics or underlining (as this can make the words ‘run together’).
• Do not put too much information on each overhead - 6 bullet points are best.
• Use bullets or numbers rather than continuous text.
• Keep lines left justified with ragged right edge.
• Cover only one subject matter per slide.

Using colour:

• Create good background/foreground contrast.
• Do not rely on colour to convey meaning as some students may have colour blindness or a visual impairment that makes it difficult to perceiving colours accurately.
• A dark background and light text is best for dark rooms. A light background and dark text is best for light rooms.

Interactive whiteboards are a useful tool for use with all learners who find taking notes difficult as a record of what was on the board can be printed out. Whiteboard content can also be ‘captured’ and replayed (with audio) on your college’s intranet or Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). Students with visual impairments can view presentations on a laptop, using either their own magnification software or a zoom facility contained within the interactive board’s accompanying software. The Mimio Xi (www.mimio.com) is a portable device that, if desired, can be used solely to capture written whiteboard content. Its text recognition software can also be used in conjunction with some assistive software to produce speech output or Braille.

Are you using an interactive whiteboard such as a Promethean, SmartBoard or Mimio to include students with additional support needs? TechDis is looking for FE staff to write articles about their experiences. Please contact Kellie Mote at kmote@stevenson.ac.uk if you are interested in learning more about how you can contribute to the research... and get paid!

If you are posting your Power Point slides on your college’s VLE, think about whether they will make sense when viewed without your input. If not, include other notes or think about recording your lectures.

Note Taking

Even when handouts etc. are provided for students in accessible formats, taking notes remains an integral part of the learning experience, yet there may be many students who will be accidentally excluded by the assumption that this is a simple activity. For instance, students with dexterity problems, sensory impairments and specific learning difficulties could all find note-taking challenging. There are a number of strategies you may find your students using in class to perform this task:

• A professional note-taker (with subject knowledge) or a support assistant may join the class to take down detailed notes for a Deaf student.
• Other students may choose to record what is said on a Dictaphone or digital recorder. If anyone is uncomfortable with this, the student can state that the recordings will only be for his or her personal use.
• Handheld spellcheckers and work prediction software will assist the student with specific learning difficulties.A student with a visual impairment may use a specialist Braille note-taker or a lap top computer with either magnification or text-to-speech software.
• Students with memory and organisation difficulties may benefit from computer-based software facilitating mind/concept mapping.
• Ensure that students have sufficient time to set up their assistive technology and to make notes.
• Lecturers who are interested in exploiting the benefits of speech recognition may want to experiment with this in class. For examples of how this works, see www.liberatedlearning.com

Facilitating Participation

It may be necessary to move the classroom furniture around or to allow students to decide where they will be most comfortable. An obvious consideration is whether students with mobility difficulties can easily manoeuvre around the room. If a wheelchair user is restricted by the layout of the room in any way, ensure that he or she can still take part in group work and see the whiteboard.

Also think about less obvious environmental factors such as sufficient lighting, noise levels and room on desks for assistive technology. If physical access to a room proves to be a problem, you may wish to approach the person in charge of timetabling and identify a more suitable room. It would also be worth bringing any accessibility concerns to the attention of the estates manager.

Tips for facilitating participation:

• Consider seating arrangements – e.g. so that students who lip-read can see everyone’s face. For more detailed information on including Deaf students, see the leaflet at www.rnid.org.uk or at http://www.lisa.sbu.ac.uk/deafinitely_able/.
• Only allow one individual to talk at a time and repeat or rephrase what the student has said if it isn’t particularly clear.
• Put the main ideas of discussion on a board or a chart.
• Provide a discussion paper prior to the tutorial – this will enable students to prepare for the discussion.
• Have breaks if the tutorial is particularly long.
• If a student is using a portable digital magnifier or CCTV (where a small camera projects a magnified image onto a monitor) , make sure they are close to a power source and, if the magnifier is being used like a telescope to focus on the front of the room, ensure they have a clear unobstructed view. For more information about uses of digital magnifiers in college, see the BRITE article Magnification on the Move, which can be found in the Product Reviews section of the website.

Give visually impaired students and students with specific learning difficulties (e.g. dyslexia) handouts etc. in advance so they can use assistive technologies to read the paper or to print it off in large font or Braille.

Let visually impaired students get to know the layout of the room. Describe the physical layout and if the student would like a tour of the room, allow the student to take your arm as you walk. Ask other students to introduce themselves.

For students who wear a hearing aid, the use of a radio microphone will assist the student to fully participate, particularly in noisy environments. Typically, the lecturer wears a small microphone and a transmitter which allows the student to receive an enhanced quality of sound with minimized background noise. Including students who are D/deaf or have a hearing loss is addressed in detail on the BRITE Seminar Sound Advice on Friday 3 June 2005. If you are unable to attend, please contact us for a copy of the information pack.

A break during the lesson will also be good practice for students who may have a medical condition, since they may become tired easily.

Some students with health problems may not be able to attend all classes. These students will also appreciate information/handouts to help them can catch up. Keep in contact with them via email or by telephone to counter feelings of isolation.

For more information on assistive technology, refer to the web links at the end of this pack and the materials supporting the BRITE workshop A Day in the Life of an Assistive Technology User.

Using Video and Audio Equipment

• Tell students that you will be showing a video and what it is that you want them to take note of.
• Provide a written transcript, or describe sequences where there is limited audio feedback.
• Allow students to borrow the tape beforehand so they can watch it with an interpreter, or have a transcript written up by a note-taker.
• Try to use subtitled programmes where possible. Many new videos have subtitles included, but you may need a caption reader. Most DVDs should have a subtitle option (it should state it on the cover).
• Subtitling and on-screen BSL interpreting services are available from www.ac2.com

Laboratory Work

Decide whether the objective is for the student to just understand what is being carried out or whether the student needs to actively demonstrate his or her knowledge. For instance, a student with a disability may work with a support assistant and direct him or her through the task. Consult the student in order to jointly find a solution to any potential difficulties that might arise with practical tasks.

An outline of the practical given in advance to all students it can aid them to prepare for the task prior to the laboratory session and to discuss any potential barriers that they may face in the environment.

Discuss safety considerations with the students before the experiment begins. Safety rules should be available in accessible formats, e.g. large print.

Give visually impaired students an opportunity to become familiar with the laboratory before the first session. Describe the features of the room and guide the student around the room. The student can then participate in safety-orientation more easily and will already know the locations of exits, showers and extinguishers.

Where necessary, rewrite labels in large print or make Braille labels using a Dymo Braille labeller (available from http://www.rnib.org.uk). Talk to the student about whether there are any tasks he or she feels unable to handle alone.

Don’t worry about guide dogs getting in the way - they are well trained to sit still under tables when their owner is working. Just make sure that the other students realize that the dog is not a pet and should not be fussed over and excited while working.

When a student who is deaf or hard of hearing is working in a lab, it is helpful to use equipment with lights or other visual means of indicating on and off.

Provide Alternative Learning Experiences and Assessments

Where learners cannot participate, after exploring all reasonable steps to make the activity accessible, an alternative equivalent learning experience can be offered. Think about substituting parts of the course for something which can be accessed and still achieves the learning outcomes.

Where a personal assistant, scribe or British Sign Language interpreter assists a student: you will have to communicate and work with this colleague to develop a plan to best support the learner.

If aspects of laboratory work or field trips prove impossible, try virtual presentations or be creative with the use of video, internet resources and tactile samples. For a good example of virtual lab work have a look at http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/frog/menu.html.

It is not always necessary for every student to undertake an identical assessment, as long as all learners experience an equivalent assessment procedure, with the same degree of difficulty and learning outcomes.

Field Trips

The field trip may need to be adjusted or alternative arrangements made (reasonable adjustments) in order to make the trip inclusive for all students, such that all students will have an equal learning experience.

When organising field trips:

• Plan early.
• Discuss with all students any mobility or fitness problems they may have.
• In these discussions consider both the formal purpose of the trip and the more informal learning and social 'events' - e.g. which local pubs are accessible?
• Seek support. Ensure discussions consider the potential need for specific equipment, the organising of technological or personal assistance, the resources required and how these will be managed.

Work Placements

Where placements, including international placements, are a formal requirement or standard component of a course, consider ways of ensuring that disabled students get the most from the experience by:

• Seeking placements in accessible contexts. Are the placement providers inclusive? For example, if some tasks present difficulties for the student are there alternative tasks the student can do instead?
• Seeking specialist guidance on international placements.
• Working with placement providers to ensure accessibility.
• Providing support before, during and after placements that takes account of the needs of any disabled students, including transport needs.
• Pairing students up with a mentor.

Further Reading

For practical guides to the DDA Part 4 (SENDA), have a look at the Skill website at www.skill.org.uk

TechDis also produce informative leaflets, covering many of the issues mentioned here. See www.techdis.ac.uk.

Assistive Technology Resources

Assistive Technology intros: http://www.abilitynet.co.uk

Web Accessibility: http://www.w3.org/WAI

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