Business Spotlight 08.2019

(Nancy Kaufman) #1

64 TECHNOLOGY


Fotos: dusanpetkovic/iStock.com

Business Spotlight 6/2019

to record high anxiety levels on Wednes-
day afternoons, which have traditionally
been left free, so the university now offers
drop-in sessions on those days.
Universities are feeling the pressure
to improve accessibility after the UK
government reduced funds for Disabled
Student Allowances (DSA) in 2016–17.
The universities were given more money
to persuade them to “create a more inclu-
sive learning environment” overall, rath-
er than focusing on targeted support for
individuals.

Targeted support is important
Although disability campaigners have
broadly welcomed the change, they
point to some problems. Piers Wilkinson
is head of Ramping Up, a consultancy on
accessibility in higher education, and dis-
abled student officer-elect at the National
Union of Students. Wilkinson says that a
general, inclusive approach can be helpful
in determining that a particular style of
teaching or assessment does not work for
all students, not just their disabled peers.
But he argues that although that is impor-
tant, universities still need to provide tar-
geted support for disabled students.
Furthermore, analysis by Policy Con-
nect, a cross-party think tank, shows
that the number of students receiving
technology equipment through DSA has
dropped since the £200 charge for DSA-
issued laptops came in, despite a substan-
tial increase in the number being assessed
as needing support. It recommends re-
moving these upfront costs.
Rachel Hewett, fellow in the Vision
Impairment Centre for Teaching and Re-
search at the University of Birmingham,
adds that even when students receive lap-
tops, the fact that they are issued by the
DSA can make them unsuitable. “Once
they have put on all the different software
they need and are trying to run them in
conjunction with other laptops, they
aren’t powerful enough,” she says. Many
students struggle to use the equipment,
as they aren’t given any training.
Hewett would like to see the DSA
fund mainstream technology such as
iPads, which increasingly include func-
tions such as Braille-writing capability.

Getting used to mainstream technology
would also be more helpful to students in
the long term, she argues.

More promotion necessary
For Gemma Long, universities just need
to get better at promoting the support
that’s already there. She says that making
specialist software and training gener-
ally available, rather than limiting it to
disabled students, makes it more widely
known, as well as removing the stigma
associated with it. For someone like her,
who received her diagnoses late, it would
have been particularly helpful. That is
why she has founded an assistive tech-
nology network to represent staff who
support their disabled students with tech-
nology. The group held its first awards cer-
emony in August.
Universities are slowly tackling the
barriers for disabled students, helped
along by developments in technology.
There’s more yet to come: Wilkinson
is excited about the prospect of virtual
reality — particularly when it comes to
fieldwork. “It can be incredibly difficult
for a disabled student to get a wheelchair
on to a salt marsh,” he says. “But if the
learning aims are being immersed in an
environment, and making discoveries,
VR can achieve that.”
© Guardian News & Media 2019

Students at
De Montfort
University can
record their
moods via a traffic
light system

allowance(s)
[əˈlaʊəns(Iz)] UK
, Fördermittel
assess sth. [əˈses]
, etw. einschätzen
assessment [əˈsesmənt]
, Bewertung, Beurteilung
drop-in session
[)drɒp (ɪn )seʃ&n]
, offene Sitzung (zur
Klärung von Anliegen) für
Studierende mit Behin-
derungen/Erkrankungen
fellow [ˈfeləʊ] UK
, Fellow, Mitglied einer
akademischen Einrichtung
einer Universität
immerse sth. in sth.
[ɪˈmɜːs In]
, etw. in etw. eintauchen;
hier: einbetten, verankern
in conjunction with sth.
[)ɪn kənˈdʒʌŋkʃ&n )wɪð]
, im Verbund /
gemeinsam mit etw.
incredibly [ɪnˈkredəbli]
, unglaublich

issue sth. [ˈɪʃuː]
, etw. ausgeben, zuteilen
mainstream [ˈmeɪnstriːm]
, etabliert
National Union of
Students [)næʃ&nəl
)juːniən əv ˈstjuːd&nts]
UK , etwa: Nationale
Studierendenvertretung
ramping up
[)ræmpɪŋ (ʌp]
, Ausbau, Anlauf
salt marsh [(sɔːlt mɑːʃ]
, Salzsumpf, -wiese
student officer-elect
[)stjuːd&nt )ɒfIsər iˈlekt]
, etwa: gewählte(r)
Studentensprecher(in)
think tank
[(θɪŋk tæŋk]
, Denkfabrik
upfront [ˌʌpˈfrʌnt]
, im Voraus entstehend
VR (virtual reality)
[)viː (ɑː]
, virtuelle Realität

Brain in Hand app:
designed for people
with autism and
learning disabilities
Free download pdf