[nabs-l] online college vs classroom instruction

[Kevin Chao]

Blakboard is mostly accessible. In particular, discussion board and exams are mostly screen reader accessible. I've used it over 2 semesters, 7.3 and 9.1 Windows, Mac OS X, and iOS apps.  

Sent from my iPad

On May 20, 2011, at 11:16 PM, <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Josh,
> You have a lot to consider with being a student coupled with the wheelchair.
> I went to the traditional classroom all through college. I went to a big
> state run school and then transferred to a smaller private school, Marymount
> university.
> No, online college is not more accessible.  Things like the discussion board
> on Blackboard are problematic, so are the quizzes.
> I tried an online class this semester and was very disappointed.  Its partly
> my learning style. I didn't know what was important to extract from the text
> without a class lecture.  I wasn't sure what to study for the test.
> Assignments seemed a bit ambiguous with the instructions.  I just was never
> sure what the professor expected.
> 
> What do you want from college? If you want the social aspect, the
> independence and living away from home, the increased freedom, the ability
> to just go where you want on campus such as a friend's room late at night to
> hang out, then stay on campus.  Oh, another thing on campus its easier to
> see your professors, if you need extra help during office hours; where as if
> you are a commuter or online, you can't get to campus as easily.
> ]
> But if you just want the academics, then online might work. Also what is your study habits? Online classes you are more on your own. You are not in class with a schedule to turn in things and you won't have classmates to study/compare work with;  what I mean is with papers, you often get to read each other's work and get suggestions.
> 
> Personally, I see challenges either way.  On campus classes will present accessibility challenges since you cannot see the board or screen; so you will want the powerpoints or screen lecture notes sent to you.
> But online challenges abound because of graphics, flash content, and blackboard if your school uses it.
> 
> 
> Regarding access to school due to your wheelchair, I'd check that a lot, even more than the blindness accomodations. The blindness is something minor to accommodate, where as physical disabilities require modifications to the built environment.
> 
> Ensure you can access all classrooms with your wheel chair. Does the school have enough ramp access?  Does the school have enough space for your chair to wheel into class?
> The law, ADA, requires renovated buildings to be wheel chair accessible.
> Unfortunately, some schools including the community college, I'm at now, are not in ADA compliance because either they did not think of it or buildings were built prior to 1990 and were not yet renovated.
> 
> So the law requires access, but if your school was not built with ADA accessibility in mind such as wide door ways, ramps, accessible restrooms, push buttons, etc. you will have a hard time living and moving around campus. So check into that.  You could even bring someone sighted and help you look around. That person can check for ramps, push buttons, elevators to each floor, accessible restrooms, and even check the door way width for you.
> For ADA compliant wheel chair access door widths need to be 32 inches. But again, if built before 1990 without renovations, buildings are not covered by ADA.
> 
> HTH,
> Ashley
> 
> -----Original Message----- From: Josh Gregory
> Sent: Friday, May 20, 2011 8:25 PM
> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nabs-l] online college vs classroom instruction
> 
> Hi all,
> I'm a little curious here, what do people think on this? For us
> blind students who are about to graduate from high school soon
> (I'm a junior this year and will be a senior next) college is
> something some of us look into.  So, my question: Do people think
> that online college is more accessible for blind people, or
> classroom instruction? If I may ask, what have people's
> experiences been with both? What about a person who is blind and
> partially in a wheelchair such as myself, could I manage in an
> on-campus environment or would online instruction be better for
> me?
> Thanks so much,
> Josh
> 
> Sent from my Apex
> 
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