Rough presentation notes

 

Who am I - proff background:

Digital content and graphic design 20+ years

Includes: ILT role, teaching, advisory and leading several JISC and other projects recognised nationally (inspired my original EdD and recent personal one has influenced and shaped this research. (EdD halted, research passion continued)

Title of my research:

Educating our next generation with awareness and underpinning skills to be digitally inclusive and accessible. 

Why?

Statement of truth?

We have a generation growing up digital:

My knowledge about this is positioned and framed by:

Digital generation- as a mum (send), as an FE teacher, current digital generation (literature net gen) -

as someone who works in digital content

Literature- digital by default, ICT/Digital

Prensky (captured the imagination of the situation - this influenced my previous work - learners need skills it’s not instinct) - previous EdD.

What is the impact of a digital society?

We have now barriers in our digital society:

The context is positioned and framed by:

Physical accessibility and the digital shift.

Inaccessible content, stats (potentially impacts 22% of our society)

Web Regulations because of this growth

BSL bill impact on video captioning/signing need

My job focuses on digital accessibility regs

My workforce and contacts with blind users highlight the barriers 

Literature highlights the need for these skills in society and the workplace 

3% of ICT and engineering 

Current curriculum 2013 (doesn’t refer to it/nor citizenship) 

REALLY HIGHLIGHT THE PROBLEM 

Based on the faces the Key Argument for this research Is based on the Social model of disability 

In this model it is society that has creates the barriers (verses medical model), yet our society is not aware or skilled to address the problem. The skills needed are not taught or raised within the school curriculum.

Why schools 

SCULPT model (2) - learning to ‘unlearn’ is challenging (un-establishing routines)

Learning correctly from the beginning is a better model (later in life different part of the brain - add on or retrofit/fix. Challenges of complexity doing this already identified in literature (to back up my own findings) 

Knowledge in context and when it was first learnt is in school where it becomes part of establishing norms and lifelong routine. 

Teachers also need skills towards imparting this knowledge.

Reframe that in the social model of disability and this is the possibility I aim to explore.

Current literature in this area focuses on workplaces, higher education contexts, ICT curriculum examples, the pedagogy of teaching digital accessibility due to the importance of empathy teaching (the why).
However research is very sparse (Refs) - none is done in schools (checked Sarah Lewthwaite leading the research in this area). Infancy of research possibly due to it recently being framed by regulations (2018)

Underpinning skills are the basics 

The basics promote awareness

The basics are simple (not the WCAG)
Problem- the information that exists to inform digital accessibility skills and knowledge is currently aimed at web developers, IT professionals and enthusiasts. It does not yet cover everyday basics everyone can do. ‘A ten year old could do this triggered my thinking in this area’

Learn to enable example - SCULPT acted as a pilot to build this (testing what what works)

Works to embed basic understanding and create accessible content (everyday documents etc) L2E was built to add the wider remits of everyday practice that were missing in SCULPT.

Results- Reinforced as a basic model ‘working’ by awards, national recognition and use, case studies from others.

END: WCC happy to let me continue my research but due to overlap any resources in pseudonym (politics).

Aims:

Testing what works is the primary aim, but also exploring when and where in the curriculum this sits, what the current situation in schools is to investigate ideas

List research aims:

Investigate the current knowledge base in schools (curriculum but also personal)

Primary, Secondary, Teachers to explore where this knowledge development sits or would best sit.

Explore concepts and skills to develop L2E with both teachers and learners (coproduction an understanding with participants what could work. 

The outcome will shape L2E (my personal ambition to see this education put in place) recommendations what level and what is relevant to teach.

Current knowledge, reflecting on the situation, suggesting a solution and exploring it best fits with a mixed methods approach around a model of Dewey’s pragmatism.

A broad range of schools urban and rural in UK

Survey to establish some key correlations

Learner/teacher focused (new learners/ teachers are old learners) - perceptions and knowledge about digital accessibility as well as key concepts, skills and what they currently learn from the curriculum.

Followed up by interviewing a cross section smaller numbers (semi structured to also capture extra details and personal experiences, perceptions and interpretations)

- perceptions was a key challenge in SCULPT (is that teachers AND learners eg unlearning)

Dewey (reflect) this might also help shape a determine the later part of exploring teaching and learning concepts of digital accessibility.

Workshops/focus groups 

Recorded - separate teacher/learner sessions potentially because of learning/unlearning 

Interviews with participants based on any findings that emerged to understand them in more depth for the school and participant context.

To help plan this research I have contacts:

Alistair McNaught, JISC (Kelly Mote), Robin Christopherson AbilityNet, Richard Moreton Head of Accessibility for government. George Rhodes, Sarah Lewthwaite (Southampton)

Timings will be based on PHD program. October start to capture initial survey data (no pending exams or other high priorities)
Rest of the year analysis and inform workshop content (May reframe research questions and will inform interviews)
October next year to do workshops

Layered and sequential research