Network for Inclusive Distance Education

Introduction

The Network for Inclusive Distance Education (NIDE) was a collaborative project funded in part by Networks Ontario's Telecommunication Access Partnerships (TAP) program and designed to expand opportunities in distance learning for people with disabilities.

The lead organization in this venture was the University of Toronto's Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (ATRC). The objective was to produce viable technologies that would enable educators to deliver accessible courseware to learners with disabilities via computer networks.

There are many benefits to distance education – especially for people with disabilities. Students complete courses at home or work and communicate with faculty and classmates via computer-based tools such as email, electronic forums, and videoconferencing.

For learners with disabilities, distance education eliminates concerns about transportation to and from school and access to classrooms and lecture halls. In addition, adaptive technologies (such as screen readers) may be unavailable in many traditional educational settings.

Objectives of the NIDE project included:

• Creating accessible curriculum through web-based courseware authoring tools and student interface designs.
• Developing an accessible method of delivering math, science, and music notation to distance education students.
• Developing authoring utilities that assist in the creation of interactive courseware and software simulations for students who are vision or mobility impaired.
• Creating synchronous communication tools (i.e. video/audio conferencing, real-time chat utilities, etc.) to support distance learning.
• Evaluating the various tools and methodologies through testing conducted by a broad spectrum of educators and learners.
• Implementation of an educational network that models inclusive teaching and learning practices through emerging technologies.

From these objectives, the following sub-projects were developed:

• Synchronous Communication Tools
• CSS Generator
• Haptics Pendulum Project
• A-Prompt
• Music Notation
• Interactive Learning Tools
• MathML Project

Staff involved in NIDE

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The Adaptive Technology Resource Centre

J.P. Robarts Library, First Floor, University of Toronto Information Commons
130 St. George St. Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3H1
Telephone: (416) 978-4360 Fax: (416) 971-2629

For additional information please e-mail Laurie Harrison