This paper examines a journal editor's overview of research on disability and learner characteristics in distance education. It summarizes key articles addressing how distance learning can serve as a "level playing field" for students with visual, auditory, and other physical disabilities through universal design and planned redundancy of instructional modes. The paper also covers accessibility standards, cognitive style assessment, and flexible teaching strategies that benefit all learners. The editor emphasizes the need for peer-reviewed, methodologically sound research and highlights provisions for at-risk populations, including those with learning disabilities, incarcerated students, military personnel, and learners with inadequate study skills.
The author of this article begins by describing how he evaluates submissions about learner characteristics for publication, and the standards he applies in that process. One of the most important qualities he looks for is the use of well-grounded research and theory based on peer-reviewed academic journals or books — a requirement he returns to several times. He has found that while the quantity of submissions regarding learning characteristics has increased, the quality of those submissions has fallen short in important ways. Beyond the problem of citing insufficiently rigorous research, he also notes that the representativeness of the samples used in studies may not always be appropriate to the research questions being analyzed.
The author quotes himself from a previously published article in the American Journal of Distance Education, in which he recommends that any good learner support system should always make provisions for "at-risk" groups. These include those with learning disabilities, which may create levels of stress above and beyond the usual pressures of learning. In addition to formally diagnosed learning disabilities, at-risk groups would include those with visual, auditory, or other physical disabilities. They would also encompass incarcerated populations, learners with inadequate study skills, and members of the armed forces. He further recommends that students have access to guidance and advice regarding their chosen curriculum.
The author goes on to describe several articles included in the same issue, focusing on students with visual, auditory, or other disabilities. The first, by Kinash, Crichton, and Kim-Rupnow, reviews the literature over the prior three years concerning distance education and the "level playing field" it can provide for students with physical disabilities. The universal design inherent in distance delivery, along with what the author calls the "planned redundancy of modes," benefits both students with disabilities and those without. Distance learning offers a wide range of resources and learning experiences that are typically more diverse than a traditional brick-and-mortar classroom can provide, making this mode of learning more adaptable to the varied needs of different learners.
"Software designers and teachers share accessibility responsibilities"
"Embedded Figures Test and cognitive style assessment"
"Redundant, flexible instruction for equitable learning outcomes"
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