ICALT2011-Widgets to support the concept of an Adaptable Learning Environment

Editor's Notes

• #2: We describe the Widgets for Inclusive Distributed Environment (WIDE) study that aims to produce open source widgets that can be plugged into a range of learning environments to support disabled learners and are freely available for use and adaptation by the wider community.
• #3: We describe the Widgets for Inclusive Distributed Environment (WIDE) study that aims to produce open source widgets that can be plugged into a range of learning environments to support disabled learners and are freely available for use and adaptation by the wider community. Meet the needs of students with diverse needs to create an environment suitable for all learners regardless of how and where they access their learning.
• #4: A combination of different widgets can serve as front-end applications for distributed learning aids and services in a mash up based personal learning environment (Taraghi et al., 2009). Widgets can also represent discrete tools, applications, assistive technology or other learning supports to perform specific functions. In the context of the research reported here, a widget, is considered as a discrete, self-contained application that works across a range of browsers or platforms (Pearson et al., 2011). lude widgets that support the, sometimes, very specific requirements of learners, in an attempt to move closer to the goal of inclusive, accessible and personalised learning. examples include widgets that support learners with motor difficulties in completing web forms, widgets for creating high contrast view/themes or activating voice recognition for students with vision impairments, or symbols-based calendars for students with learning disabilities or cognitive disabilities that are non-text users. For users with disabilities, as for all other users, free or open source software offers the opportunity for users to control their own computing, to make software fit their needs rather than passively accepting whatever developers choose to offer them.
• #5: The WIDE project adopted a mixed methodology that draws on principles from participatory design and HCI under the umbrella of agile development. This methodology responds directly to the call for methods that empower learners to be the ones who highlight the issues which are important to them (Sharpe et al., 2005) The study adopted a participatory approach in that it enabled researchers and technologists (WIDE team) to work together with disabled students and practitioners (in teaching or support roles), to identify a student need, and to explore the issues and impacts of potential solutions to that need The ideas were then translated into a design document, which represents a learning design for a widget that will best support the student. The WIDE development team then adopted an agile development approach to produce iterative prototypes of the widgets in close cooperation with the designers to develop a bank of high quality widgets that can be plugged in to a range of learning environments, created by and for those responsible for supporting disabled students in further and higher education and in specialist colleges.
• #6: During the design process each group developed their initial ideas further with the aid of a set of specially adapted templates learning design and storyboard templates. For these we used A0-sized laminated posters (Figure 2) in order for the participants to organise their expert knowledge to produce a learning design that encapsulates the necessary information on the interface and functionality of the widget. These posters templates were designed to be user-friendly, requiring no technical expertise and therefore suitable for our participants and suggestive rather than prescriptive. They include some simple prompts and principles, from which ideas can be developed and knowledge can be captured and expressed. On completion, the learning designs were photographed, archived digitally, and made available on the WIDE wiki where the final widgets are available for download and distribution.
• #11: A widget that provides a visual shopping list that indicates which items have been bought. The "Sentence Jumbler" is a simple widget that shuffles the words in a sentence and the user is required to put them in the right order.
• #12: On reflection, a number of limitations and challenges in regards to the process have also been identified. In some instances, widget designs where not completed in detail within the timeframe of the workshop, which required further input from the participants and resulted in communication problems. Most of the groups at the workshops have produced more than one widget design, which resulted in delays in terms of producing the prototypes and slowed down the agility of the process. initial results confirm that the designers are enthusiastic about their widgets, generally the learning designs have been translated successfully into widgets and they have met the expectations of the designers.
• #13: The findings of the WIDE case study demonstrate a need for personalised applications to enhance the learning experience of students with disabilities, they also recognise that although basic widgets are simple for those with some technical expertise to develop, the development of new widgets is likely to be beyond the means of most teachers or tutors. For this reason a set of authoring tools (incorporating libraries of templates, services and APIs and a repository) that would enable academics without technical skills to develop, modify, adapt and share widgets is required. would enable academics without technical skills to develop, modify, adapt and share widgets is required.