Group items tagged

In 2010 and 2012, we tested and evaluated four major LMS for accessibility/usability: Blackboard, Desired2Learn, Moodel, and SAKAI. The results have been publicized in CSUN (2010) and Midwest Educause (2012) conferences. Since then, we have observed that LMS vendors have continued to strengthen the accessibility and usability of their systems, while also working to incorporate some of the features suggested in our evaluations. In light of this ongoing interest and activity, we have revised and enhanced our evaluation criteria based on common features, streamlined our evaluation process, and rescored our LMS systems. At CSUN 2013, we presented a high-level overview of the results of our new evaluation, along with side-by-side comparisons that support our recommendations for improving learning management systems for users with disabilities.

""Evaluating Web Sites for Accessibility" is a multi-page resource suite that outlines different approaches for evaluating Web sites for accessibility. While it does not provide checkpoint-by-checkpoint testing techniques, it does provide general procedures and tips for evaluation in different situations, from evaluation during Web site development to ongoing monitoring of existing sites. The approaches in these pages are intended to supplement other content management and quality assurance procedures."

Evaluation of NLP and Speech Tools for Italian Following the success of Evalita 2007, we are pleased to announce Evalita 2009, the second evaluation campaign of Natural Language Processing tools for Italian, supported by the NLP working group of AI*IA. The general objective of Evalita is to promote the development of language and speech technologies for the Italian language, providing a shared framework where different systems and approaches can be evaluated in a consistent manner. This year in conjunction with AISV (the Italian Association of Speech Science), Evalita will also hold the first speech input technology evaluation for Italian.

The dizzy speed of technological development has driven the educational market to pile up a huge number of software programs without any serious methodological concern and consideration of the application to a variety of learners. This paper reviews current software evaluation tools and their problems, followed by further specific discussion of issues related to language learning software programs. Based on the critique of dominant bottom-up approaches of current software evaluation, this paper tries to take a holistic methodological framework into serious consideration and to provide a tentative framework which addresses key areas in evaluating language learning software programs for educators and learners.

This guide presents factors to consider in evaluating the practicality of tutorial CALL software for purchase and implementation. It is decision-based and is intended to be used in light of specific environments and populations in which the software will be used.

"In 2010, a team of approximately fifteen volunteers from seven different CSU campuses and one from the UC system to evaluate the accessibility of Google Apps. The team also recruited student volunteers and screen reader users to assist with the automated, manual, and screen reader testing. We discovered a number of accessibility issues during our testing. These issues are outlined in the report as well as "workarounds" that can be used to improve the user experience for persons with disabilities. When campuses choose to use Google Apps, they are required to provide an equally effective service for people with disabilities and it is critical for campuses to ensure that the "workarounds" meet the educational needs of the student and/or faculty. The March 15, 2011 USA TODAY online news article "Complaint: Google programs hard for blind students" illustrates possible legal problems that may result from adopting the Google Apps for Education suite. "

Instructor guide to videoconferencing, including preparation, logistics, as well as tips for course planning, material preparation, classroom management, activities, assessment and course evaluation.

The guidebook is intended to help educators who seek to design and conduct an evaluation of the learning gains they achieve in their own classrooms. It is designed to enable educators to tell a compelling story about their project's early impact, based on "emerging evidence" of both learning gains and fundamental changes to the classroom environment, and pointing to areas for ongoing program improvement.

"This Checklist should serve as a tool for evaluating the extent to which software applications are accessible to most people with disabilities. This document is based on the U.S. Department of Education's "Requirements for Accessible Software Design," including the technical guidance that appears as Appendix A to the "Requirements.""

"This platform is aimed at supporting university educators and mobility coordinators to organise and run online intercultural exchanges for their students. In these exchanges, students from universities in different countries collaborate together using online communication tools to carry out collaborative projects and to learn about each other's language and culture. By taking part in such projects, students can develop foreign language skills, intercultural awareness, electronic literacies as well as learning more about their particular subject area. If you are a teacher working at a university in Europe or elsewhere, this platform will help you to find partner teachers and classes in other countries, to read about tasks, successful projects and evaluation tools and to exchange questions and experiences with an experienced community of practitioners."

Collaboratively creating sharable information literacy tutorials. A set of video-based tutorials on info literacy topics, such as evaluating Internet sources, developing a topic, etc., shared with a creative commons license.

On Tuesday, after a year of public testing, the Skype team (now owned by eBay) released Skype 4.0 for Windows, which the company calls "the biggest new release in Skype's history." (Gives summary of features in Skype, what's new and some evaluation.)

Whether you're administering an ESL entry exam, evaluating the language and cultural skills of an offshore customer service representative, managing executive candidate assessments, conducting foreign language proficiency tests to students studying abroad, or teaching languages to students of ANY age, OWL Testing Software can simplify and expedite test authoring, administration, and scoring in ways you never thought possible. What's more, no technical or programming skills are required.

In this paper, we describe how Tablet PCs are being used at Georgia Tech Savannah (GTS) to improve student learning in a distributed classroom environment. The Tablet PC is an attractive technology for use in synchronous distributed learning environments because of its mobility, and its ability to not only serve as an effective note taking device but also as a high-resolution course content viewing device and a tool for interactive assessments. The research questions addressed here are: 1) "What impact does the Tablet PC have on student perceptions of their engagement in a distributed learning environment?" and 2) "Can the Tablet PC be used to improve student learning in a distributed learning environment?" In this project, the instructor and students were given a Tablet PC to use during the semester, and surveys were administered to evaluate student attitudes about the use of Tablet PC technology as a means of receiving, processing, and learning course material. The significance of this work is that it serves as a case study on the use of Tablet PCs as an effective technology for implementing established educational practices in distributed education environments.

"Language Acquisition and Technology is a course that surveys technologies currently in use in language instruction, and will be delivered using an important subset of those technologies under student management. The course consists primarily of four components: 1) creating digital media and integrating it into instruction; 2) creating and deploying learning objects based on principles derived from instructional design and second language acquisition; 3) managing technology in an instructional environment; 4) evaluating existing technology-based learning objects and applications. Primary outcomes will be based in each of these four categories and include produced media, language courseware, technology training experience and a publishable review. "

"This article is designed to help users who are new to NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) learn the basic controls for testing web content, and to serve as a reference for the occasional NVDA user. NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) is a free and open source screen reader for the Microsoft Windows operating system. It supports over 20 languages and can run on any computer entirely from a USB drive with no installation."

The International Journal of ePortfolio (IJeP) is a double-blind, peer-reviewed, open access journal freely available online. Subscriptions and fees are not required to access this journal; however, readers desiring hardcopies of issues can order them via our Current Issue and Past Issues links above. The mission of the International Journal of ePortfolio (IJeP) is to encourage the study of practices and pedagogies associated with ePortfolio in educational settings. The journal's focus includes the explanation, interpretation, application, and dissemination of researchers', practitioners', and developers' experiences relevant to ePortfolio. It also serves to provide a multi-faceted, single source of information for those engaging in projects and practices associated with ePortfolio. A refereed (blind) peer-reviewed journal, IJeP embraces inquiry into ePortfolio in educational settings holistically; therefore, manuscripts considering the following areas of investigation are welcomed: instruction and principles of learning that utilize and inform practical, effective ePortfolio methodologies; evaluation and assessment methodologies and practices supported by ePortfolio; case studies and best practices regarding applications of ePortfolio for learning, assessment, and professional development supported by scholarship of teaching and learning practices and research methodologies; theoretically rich accounts of the principles grounding ePortfolio work and its relationship to larger social and cultural phenomena; and innovative development and applications of technologies that enable new ePortfolio practices. IJeP employs a rolling submission process; however, those wishing to be considered for the next issue of IJeP should plan to submit their manuscript by December 1, 2011. Those submitting manuscripts to IJeP can expect the review process to take approximately 90 days.

Digital literacy is the ability to find, evaluate, utilize, and create information using digital technology. As a Cornell student, activities including writing papers, creating multimedia presentations, and posting information about yourself or others online are all a part of your day-to-day life, and all of these activities require varying degrees of digital literacy. Is simply knowing how to do these things enough? No-there's more to it than that.

OITP announces the release of two new online copyright education tools: the Fair Use Evaluator and the Exceptions for Instructors eTool. These great new resources-developed by Copyright Committee super member Michael Brewer-add to OITP's repertoire of copyright tools, including the Public Domain Slider and the Section 108 Spinner.

Exercises developed by the CLA Language Center GlossMaker: Allows the creation of on-line texts with annotations or glosses. EvalMaker: Creates an exercise where students can evaluate their own answers by comparing them to the teacher's. Also allows incorporation of sound or image files. MatchMaker: Creates a classic two-column matching exercise. Good provision for feedback. Also allows incorporation of sound or image files.