[NABS-L] Online Schools

[Kendra Schaber]

Hi!
I have never done an online only school so I don't know how they work other
than that they only work online. As for online learning, I have taken online
classes at my community college, mostly as the result of the Covid pandemic.
In general, colleges that offer online use the same accessibility
requirements that in person classes do so long as you work through your
school's disability service office and that they know about your disability
in the first place. Even with the same accommodations as in person, the
matereals are not always accessible, and they are patchy at best. I just
finished two school years worth of Spanish classes. Each year, they used a
different website which had accessibility bugs that had to be worked out via
the developers of the actual websites because they are often third party
websites that are not part of your school's main website, even when
connected up through Canvis or Blackboard. Even when bugs get fixed,
sometimes, the websites themselves are not helpful, such as the ones which
required me to work specific verb forms in Spanish class. They were not
helpful to me with these verb forms, but working the verbforms were not
caused by accessibility issues. In contrast, I took a number of culture and
literature classes online that gave me very few troubles with accessibility
and they were also very helpful as well. Even so, there are some classes
that are too visual for the online world which require in person attendance.
I also wouldn't touch math or science online with a ten foot pole either
since they also open up way too many questions regarding accessibility. I'd
rather take those subjects in person. Despite unhelpful websites, I don't
mind language learning, literature, or culture classes on line so long as
the website or websites are also helpful in my overall progress in learning.
When one uses online classes, we often have to relay on our own resources in
combination with the school's resources because they're not as accessible as
they would be in person. As for the timing of online classes, I think they
take more time than in person classes because you're almost on your own for
accessibility, even when combined with your school's resources, you're on
your own for research, and again for doing the homework itself, and you
don't show up for lectures or other in person appointments. If you use Zoom
for a virtual class that's also synchronous, meaning that you have to show
up on Zoom like you would for an in person class, then you would have to
show up and you would have to make sure everything for your course is
accessible as well. No matter the format, you still have to keep up with
deadlines, appointments and due dates. It's common for homework to be due on
Sundays at 11:59 PM, but it's not always the case since some classes have
more than one homework due date per week and others require something done
before you show up to class if it's done virtually but over something like
Zoom. On the other hand, you don't have to worry about transportation or
where you live so long as you don't have to show up in person. I don't know
how one could survive in an online school, though it's possible to do so
because I have never attended one before. I hope this helps!
Kendra

-----Original Message-----
From: NABS-L <nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Adriana Banos via
NABS-L
Sent: Monday, June 13, 2022 6:20 PM
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Cc: Adriana Banos <adri.banosmendez at gmail.com>
Subject: [NABS-L] Online Schools

  Hello everyone,

  I hope this message finds you safe and in good health. I am writing to you
today to ask a few questions about online accessible education, particularly
in business.
  I have been thinking about going back to school, and studying business
rather than studying education which was my initial goal, however, my
current circumstances do not allow me to return to in person classes.
Therefore, I am looking to see if I can find an online school where I can
obtain a degree in business. I’m interested to know if any of you have
experience with online learning, and how well it worked out for you.
  I am also interested to know if    Federal aid is able to cover any
expenses for tuition on online school, or did you have to take care of the
payments yourself? Also, were you able to receive any accommodations through
that school?
  One more thing, in order for you to go into 100% online learning, did you
have to work on any credits through a community college and have them
transferred over? Your time is greatly appreciated. Have a great one.

Sincerely,
Jeanette (Adriana) Mendez


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