Addressing Issues of Social Justice with Technology

Mike Menchaca, Ed.D.mikepm@hawaii.eduTracie Ortiz (A-M)tracier@hawaii.eduAlex Parisky (N-Z)parisky@hawaii.edu

Menchaca, Ortiz © 2009

Overview Futurism vs. RealityDiverse LearnersPolitical Action

Futurism Looking BackwardDyson, et al., 1994: “The reason for America's victory in the computer wars of the 1980s is that dynamic competition was allowed to occur, in an area so breakneck and pell-mell that government would've had a hard time controlling it _even had it been paying attention_. The challenge for policy in the 1990s is to permit, even encourage, dynamic competition in every aspect of the cyberspace marketplace.”

Meinrath, 2006: “For the last six years, the Administration has defined America's best interests as synonymous with those of a handful of giant telephone and cable companies. During this period, trillions of dollars of investment capital have evaporated, America has plunged from 4th to 16th (some would say 19th) in global broadband penetration, and we have fallen increasingly behind the leading nations in access to high-bandwidth capacity and in cost per unit of bandwidth.”

What does a lack of appropriate high speed infrastructure mean for our country,especially with regard to issues of equity and social justice?

Reality CheckDyson, et al.:

Demassification, customization, individuality, freedom -- these are the keys to success for Third Wave civilization.

Most other advanced industrial countries will attain cyberspace democracy … before America does.

Meinrath: In a communications age, access to the resources, information,

opportunities, and conversations that broadband services and community and municipal wireless networks facilitate is a vital element -- the foundation upon which the future of civil society rests.

Digital inclusion is not about averting social catastrophe, or noblese oblige to the underprivileged, or charity … The quality of the networks and infrastructure we have, along with the social and human capital investments in our communities, will define our quality of life and the direction our economies and societal structures will take.

Diverse Learners in Higher Education

Designing distance courses to meet the educational needs of diverse learners aims in providing access to the rich array of instructional resources available to students and faculty. The following will inform of possible diversities of students in which faculty members may encounter in their online course(s).

Tracie Ortiz

IntroductionDistance education is extending and creating greater

opportunities to diverse learners and larger populations more than ever. Additionally, distance learning programs have created opportunities for people with disabilities to participate in online instruction (Santovec, 2005).

Diverse learners include:

Physical disabilities include but not limited to:

Examples:Vision loss Hearing loss:Vision loss:

Text-to-speech

Braille

Large printElectronic materialsAudio books

text captioning interpreterVideos (signed)visual aids/icons

motor/limb lossFew navigational linksText-t0-speech

Cognitive disabilities include but not limited to:AutismTraumatic brain injuryAphasiaDyslexiaLearning disabilitiesADD/ADHDPost Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD)

Friedman, M. G. & Bryen, D. N. (2007). Web accessibility design recommendations for people with cognitive disabilities. Technology and Disability, IOS Press. 19, 205-212.

Partial table of strategies for cognitive impairments

Grabinger, R. S. Aplin, G., & Ponnappa-Brenner, G. (2008). Supporting learners with cognitive impairments in

online environments. TechTrends, 52(8), 63-69.

Pg.66

Second Language LearnersEnglish as a second language

Simple languageAudio booksText-to-speech

LawsSection 504 (component of Rehab Act of 1973)

ADA- Americans with Disabilities ActSection 508 (part of ADA)W3C-Wide Web Consortium

ReferencesNational Center for Education Statistics. (2006). Retrieved June 1, 2009 from

http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=64.

Friedman, M. G. & Bryen, D. N. (2007). Web accessibility design recommendations for people with cognitive disabilities. Technology and Disability, IOS Press. 19, 205-212.

Gallaudet Research Institute. (2008). Retrieved June 1, 2009 from http://gri.gallaudet.edu/.

Grabinger, R. S. Aplin, G., & Ponnappa-Brenner, G. (2008). Supporting learners with cognitive impairments in online environments. TechTrends, 52(8), 63-69.

Santovec, M. (2005). Accessibilty and universal design. Distance Education Report, 9(9), 3-7.Using Technology to Support Diverse Learners. (2009). Retrieved June 2,

2009 from http://www.wested.org/cs/tdl/view/tdl_tip/60.

Political Action CommitteeSee agenda for activity

etec.hawaii.edu/otec/classes/698/6.04.09.html