An accessible education must take into account different students’ needs. The Special Needs Education Agency of Sweden (SPSM), has created tools (2016) and (2015) to help mapping out education environments and their interaction to get an overall perspective. It enables an accessible education for all. The survey also provides a basis for the planning of adaptation and mitigation measures, so that the individual can develop as far as possible. Studying as an adult may involve completion of previous studies or a new profession. The teaching must be adapted to the individual’s needs and circumstances. If you have a holistic view of the environment, the specific aid will reduce and save time at the individual, group and organizational level.
The accessibility model consists of four fields, where the first part maps the conditions for learning. The three cornerstones of the models pyramid affects the interaction with each other and are important for the individual development of knowledge. All areas have a number of indicators that need to be mapped. The model is based on research, best practices, laws and regulations.
How can adult education become more accessible?
People with disabilities have different needs and need to be assessed individually. Many disabilities do not appear on the outside. As a student, you are not required to tell about your disability, but most choose to inform in order to get the adjustments and compensatory measures needed. Requirements for learning:
In the design of teaching, the individual’s interest, previous experience and need for adaptation in learning needs to be considered. In order to feel full participation, the individual needs to be involved in decisions concerning the education and study plan.
If the study environment is mapped, there is a prerequisite for the education being accessible to all. How the different environments are designed also affects how the social interaction works between the students and the staff. The furniture in the classroom where you teach influences interaction, participation and opportunity for individual support in the group.
Students have different learning styles and to know how the individual learns best, a questionnaire can be used. The questions can be answered during a dialogue or answered by e-mail.
The pedagogue compiles the study plan with the student based on the answers and/or conversations that have been completed. Now there is the opportunity to make adjustments and compensatory measures based on the needs that emerged during the conversation. Reasonable demands need to be made based on the individual’s impairment and needs. In the training, there must be different ways of communicating with each other, from conversations in groups to ”conversations” via digital tools. How to communicate and interact in a group can be different from situation to situation. Students will choose different ways depending on what feels most comfortable and what best suits the situation/exercise tasks. Through the availability of digitization 24/7, the ability to adapt the education will increase according to the individual’s needs. The work with Blended Learning, flipped classroom and class blogs allows greater individualization of the education. Picture/movie/audio clips and time aids facilitate learning for many people with disabilities.
General about physical accessibility
The rooms must be adapted to make it easy to move around.
Information and orientation boards with text and image support should be available so that it is easy to find in the premises.
Lighting and acoustics must be of good quality.
General about educational accessibility
Teaching should take into consideration the ways of different individuals to learn. The education should provide access to different teaching tools and aid. Access to digital tools facilitates learning through the training available 7 days a week and 24 hours a day (7/24). Clear information and structure of teaching on the education website. The student needs a structured overview of the digital tools that will be used in the education.
General about social accessibility
The facilities will promote activity that creates contact and interaction. The education should find solutions so that students are included in social contexts and teaching. Through different forms of communication, the possibility of participation increases.
How can the education become accessible to Lisa 26 years?
The following is a reflection based on ” Guide – Examples of four learning situations ” in Example 1
Description of Lisa’s difficulties:
She has difficulty concentrating and focusing on her tasks. Lisa also has difficulty in sitting still during school work for a while. Her symptoms resemble difficulties found in people with diagnosis ADHD.
Social environment:
The pedagogue needs to support and encourage Lisa’s interests and to share his/her experiences for increased social participation. In order to increase motivation, it is important to assume its interests and experiences in learning situations.
By giving Lisa support in the physical and educational environment, her ability to participate in social interaction with the rest of the group increases.
Physical environment:
Lisa needs good quality in the visual and auditory environment that allows her to concentrate longer.
Furniture in the room, work placement and design of the physical environment are important for the concentration. Opportunity to sit or stand and work alternately can facilitate her concentration. The classroom needs a raised and lowered table and the tables have sound-proofed surfaces. Lisa also needs access to an individual room where she can work with her tasks if necessary.
Lisa can easier concentrate when she gets to listen than when she’s going to read herself. The room can be equipped with a sound equalization system eg. Redcat/Frontrow or that she has access to listen to downloaded material. Reading material and audio instructions to the data is an important adaptation to increase her motivation, stamina and concentration. The alternative may be to work with their tasks at home via the grid through flipped classrooms and class blogs.
Educational environment:
The pedagogue needs knowledge about Lisa’s disability and how it affects learning and how she learns best.
Use clear educational strategies and support structures by telling about the purpose of the lesson / task. Through clarification in Lisa’s calendar, it facilitates submission on time to the teacher. The class blog requires a reminder of the date of submission of the information.
In assignments, the student may need more advice and support how to put up her work through study techniques or guidance with support templates etc. Feedback is important so that she knows if she understood the task correctly. Short workouts and feedback of the assignment is a good educational support.
Lisa can also choose to work through the class blog with her tasks. Since Lisa has easier to listen to text than reading, she needs an adaptation with recorded instructions to the class blog entries. Through the class blog, the data is available 7/24 and she is able to choose the time for her studies when it suits her best.
The class blog needs a clear structure, which makes it easy to navigate between different parts. Lisa needs support in her tasks through image and movie clips to increase motivation and endurance.
How can the education become accessible to Erik 42 years?
The following is a reflection based on ” Guide – Examples of four learning situations ” in Example 2
Description of Erik’s difficulties:
Erik has difficulty communicating verbally with others. He also finds it difficult to interact/collaborate with others and to work in groups. These symptoms resemble Asperger/Autism spectrum states.
Social environment:
By using Blended learning and flipping classrooms in the learning situation, Erik is given an opportunity to study the teaching in other ways than traditional teaching. Through the class blog, Erik can argue for his opinions and thoughts, participate in discussions, and share the opinions of others without feeling limitations in social interaction. It increases Erik’s participation, opportunity for new perspectives and the opportunity to feel accepted.
Physical environment:
The physical environment needs to be designed so that Erik has the opportunity to choose when he wants to sit with others and when he needs to work individually. The alternative may also be that he performs his tasks through the education’s digital platform/class blog. If Erik gets more opportunities to choose physical situations through Blended learning, it can facilitate his learning and increase his social participation. In order to participate in the physical environment, a longer introductory period is required for many. The physical environment needs to be well structured, clear and without too many sense of minds.
Educational environment:
The pedagogue needs knowledge of how Erik’s impairment affects learning and how he learns best.
Use clear educational strategies and support structures by telling the purpose of the lesson/task. The task needs clear written instructions and is clarified in point form.
- What is the purpose?
- How should the task be performed?
- Where should it be performed?
- With who?
- When will it be completed.
By clarifying in the calendar, it facilitates the submission of the data in time to the teacher. The class blog requires a reminder of the date of submission of the data.
In other tasks, he may need more advice and support how to put up his work through different study techniques or guidance on how to do a verbal or oral task.
How can the education become accessible to Maria 53 years?
The following is a reflection based on ” Guide – Examples of four learning situations ” in Example 3
Description of Maria’s difficulties:
Maria has difficulty with unclear instructions. She is also having trouble with written instructions. The symptoms are reminiscent of Asperger, a part of criteria within the autism spectrum state.
Social environment:
By using Blended learning, flipped classroom and class blog, Maria is given an opportunity to take part in teaching in a way other than traditional education. Working digitally facilitates linguistic communication with others. Through digital communication, her opportunity for greater participation increases. Her difficulties may otherwise mean missing information and feeling an exclusion.
Physical environment:
The design of the classroom teaching and classroom design is important for her to be able to interpret and perceive information and instructions. The room can be equipped with a sound equalization system eg. Redcat/Frontrow or that she has access to listen to downloaded material or simple instructions. It can also facilitate her ability to address the information.
Educational environment:
The pedagogue needs knowledge of how the student’s disability affects learning and how she learns best.
Maria’s difficulty in taking in information means that she needs a lot of picture, film and sound support for her tasks. By working with blended learning, flipped classroom and class blog, it is possible to customize the tasks according to her needs. For oral information, it needs to be short instructions, superimposed and structured so that they are easy to read and easy to understand. Maria needs to try recorder material where she can follow the text marked at the time of reading. Another option may be to listen to recorded instructions through the class blog and flipped classroom to complete their tasks/studies. Pre-recorded material makes it possible to listen several times. Maria also needs the opportunity to discuss and present her assignments verbally.
How can the education become available to Mohammed 23 years?
The following is a reflection based on ” Guide – Examples of four learning situations ” in Example 4
Description of Mohammed’s difficulties:
Mohammed has difficulty concentrating. He has difficulty keeping attention in the classroom. The symptoms are reminiscent of ADHD. Mohammed’s difficulties may also be due to the earlier trauma he experienced in war in his country of origin.
Social environment:
The pedagogue needs to support and encourage Mohammed’s interests and to share his experiences for increased social participation. Through the support of Mohammed in the physical and educational environment, his ability to participate in social interaction with the rest of the group increases.
Physical environment:
Mohammed needs good quality in the visual and auditory environment that allows him to concentrate longer. Furniture in the room and location in the environment is important for his concentration.
Variation to sit or stand and work can also facilitate his ability to concentrate. The classroom needs a raised and lowered table and access to a room where he can work individually on certain occasions. The room can be equipped with a sound equalization system eg. Redcat/Frontrow which makes the concentration easier. For Mohammed, the option may be to work with his tasks at home via the network through flipped classrooms and class blogs. Through Blended Learning, his studies can be facilitated when he can choose the physical environment for his studies.
Educational environment:
The pedagogue needs knowledge of how Mohammed’s disability affects learning and how he learns best.
Mohammed needs to be able to share information and exercises in his own language. A survey of his need for support in the Swedish language can facilitate further studies. He needs to read material in his own language and Swedish, which makes the exercises more accessible in the studies.
Use clear educational strategies and support structures by telling about the purpose of the lesson/task. Make clear timetables in the class blog’s calendar for submitting the data to the teacher for assessment. In other tasks, the student may need more advice and support how to put up his work through different study techniques or guidance with support templates, etc. Mohammed may choose to work through the flipped classroom or class blog with his tasks at the time that suits him best.