Arnold Bailey
March 25, 2008
In many school districts distance and instructor availability is a major concern because of distance and scheduling considerations. Not only does this sometimes limit course availability, it also increases the cost of the course. The exceptional students are most susceptible to these constraints because typically the students are few and widely dispersed. Conferencing and Long Distance education is becoming a very viable option to address these issues in educating exceptional students. Hillsborough County is initiating a Hillsborough County Virtual School District program as an adjunct to the Florida Virtual School District (FLVS) state program.
The proposal is to perform a study of the implementation on the Exceptional Student program. There is very little experience or research in either the implementing an accessible distance learning program or determining the impact of K-12 Distance Learning on Exceptional Students.
The Florida Virtual School District (FLVS) program served more than 31,000 students in 68,000 half-credit courses in school year 2005-2006. FLVS, which has grown steadily since its inception in 1997, has shown the popularity of online learning when students are given the choice of taking online courses, and has demonstrated the ability of the program to grow rapidly. Hillsborough County is initiating a Hillsborough County Virtual School District program as an adjunct to the Florida Virtual School District (FLVS) state program.
The project will be a subset of the HCVSD implementation. The following are the work efforts:
1. Developing a Distance Learning process that is accessible, conforming, at the minimum, to all applicable statutes, policies and guidelines.
There are many issues concerning accessibility involved in distance learning and conferencing that require well developed and tested processes:
· Ensuring that courses are designed and implemented are accessible.
· Ensuring that the software applications are accessible.
· Ensuring that the proper assistive hardware is available and used effectively during class sessions.
· Ensuring that the physical facilities are available and sufficient.
· Ensuring that the instructors are trained and take into account accessibility.
2. HCSD will specifically design and instruct a set
of courses which will be inclusive of a portion of the Exceptional Student
population.
3. Perform an evaluation to determine if the DL program had a positive impact upon the education of Exceptional Students.
a. The program promotes participation by exceptional students
b. The program improves availability of more courses by exceptional students.
c. The quality of education has not degraded.
To determine the effectiveness of DL by exceptional students the following questions need to be answered relating to exceptional students:.
· Has the DL program made more courses available?
· Does the DL process meet stated goals?
· Is DL as effective as classroom instruction?
· What are the tangible and intangible impacts DL has had?
4. Provide an experience report stating the experiences and issues encountered during the project. The report can be used by other school districts when implementing a K-12 Long Distance Learning program.
DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) serves to increase the successful participation of individuals with disabilities in challenging academic programs such as those in science, engineering, mathematics, and technology. Primary funding for DO-IT is provided by the National Science Foundation, the State of Washington, and the U.S. Department of Education.
· Equal Access: Universal Design of Distance Learning - a checklist to assure access and promote the learning of all students.
· Real Connections: Making Distance Learning Accessible to Everyone - guidelines for designing Internet-based distance learning courses to fully include all students.