Lesson 7 - Choosing Media

10.2. Access

Of all the criteria in determining the choice of technology, this is perhaps the most discriminating. No matter how powerful in educational terms a particular medium or technology may be, if students cannot access it in a convenient and affordable manner they cannot learn from it. Thus video streaming may be considered a great way to get lectures to students off-campus, but if they do not have Internet access at home, or if it takes four hours or a day’s wages to download, then forget it. The difficulty of access is a particular restriction on using xMOOCs in developing countries. Even if potential learners have Internet or mobile phone access, which 3.8 billion globally still do not (ITU, 2018), it often costs a day’s wages to download a single YouTube video – see Marron, Missen and Greenberg, 2014.

Any teacher or instructor intending to use computers, tablets or mobile phones for teaching purposes need answers to a number of questions:

• What is the institutional policy with regard to students’ access to a computer, tablets or mobile phones?
• Can students use any device or is there a limited list of devices that the institution will support?
• Is the medium or software chosen for teaching compatible with all makes of devices students might use?
• Is the network adequate to support any extra students that this initiative will add?
• Who else in the institution needs to know that you are requiring students to use particular devices?

If students are expected to provide their own devices (which increasingly makes sense):

• What kind of device do they need: one at home with Internet access or a portable that they can bring on to campus – or one that can be used both at home and on campus?
• What kind of applications will they need to run on their device(s) for study purposes?
• Will they be able to use the same device(s) across all courses, or will they need different software/apps and devices for different courses?
• What skills will students need in operating the devices and the apps that will be run on them?
• If students do not have the skills, would it still be worth their learning them, and will there be time set aside in the course for them to learn these skills?

Students (as well as the instructor) need to know the answers to these questions before they enroll in a course or program. In order to answer these questions, you and your department must know what students will use their devices for. There is no point in requiring students to go to the expense of purchasing a laptop computer if the work they are required to do on it is optional or trivial. This means some advance planning on your part:

• What are the educational advantages that you see in student use of a particular device?
• What will students need to do on the device in your course?
• Is it really essential for them to use a device in these ways, or could they easily manage without the device? In particular, how will the assessment be linked to the use of the device?

It will really help if your institution has good policies in place for student technology access. If the institution does not have clear policies or infrastructure for supporting the technologies you want to use, then your job is going to be a lot harder.

The answer to the question of access and the choice of technology will also depend somewhat on the mandate of the institution and your personal educational goals. For instance, highly selective universities can require students to use particular devices and can help the relatively few students who have financial difficulties in purchasing and using specified devices. If though the mandate of the institution is to reach learners denied access to conventional institutions, equity groups, the unemployed, the working poor, or workers needing up-grading or more advanced education and training, then it becomes critical to find out what technology they have access to or are willing to use. If an institution’s policy is open access to anyone who wants to take its courses, the availability of equipment already in the home (usually purchased for entertainment purposes) becomes of paramount importance.

Another important factor to consider is access for students with disabilities. This may mean providing textual or audio options for deaf and visually impaired students respectively. Fortunately, there are now well-established practices and standards under the general heading of Universal Design standards. Universal Design is defined as follows:

Brokop, F. (2008)

Most institutions with a centre for supporting teaching and learning will be able to provide assistance to faculty to ensure the course meets universal design standards. For instance, BCcampus has produced an accessibility toolkit (Coolidge et l., 2018) and Norquest College, Alberta, has published a detailed guide to ensuring online materials are accessible for persons with disabilities.