What Strategies Ensure Accessibility in Digital Learning Materials?
EdTechBrief.com
What Strategies Ensure Accessibility in Digital Learning Materials?
In the quest to make digital learning accessible to all, we've gathered insights from top professionals in the field, including CEOs and Edtech experts. From decluttering content for cognitive ease to deploying adaptive learning technology, explore the four strategies these leaders have successfully employed.
- Declutter for Cognitive Ease
- Personalize to User Needs
- Engage Multiple Learning Channels
- Deploy Adaptive Learning Technology
Declutter for Cognitive Ease
Keep content flow clean and segmented. When content on a page or course-module page is too cluttered and dense, it can really serve to overwhelm working memory. Declutter and make content segmented and more practical; this improves efficiency and reduces cognitive overwhelm.
Personalize to User Needs
We start by putting ourselves in the mindset of our users—the hospital clinicians actively searching for learning materials. Accessibility is more than just giving them the materials they're looking for; it's about understanding that they might not know what they need and being proactive in offering those materials. Through personalization tools and considering other contextual factors (like provider location or daily schedules), we can accurately predict what information they need and surface it in our platform when they need it.
Engage Multiple Learning Channels
At ICAgile, we encourage the creation of digital learning materials that engage visual, auditory, and kinesthetic channels and cater to a variety of learning styles. When creating videos for digital learning materials, closed captioning and written transcripts should accompany them where possible, and today's learning platforms and technology are making this easier to accomplish. By providing learning experiences that meet various learning preferences and needs, participants can grasp and retain the information more effectively, leading to greater engagement and positive outcomes.
Deploy Adaptive Learning Technology
In my approach to enhancing the accessibility of digital learning materials, I've focused on deploying adaptive learning technology. This method stands out by providing a personalized educational experience, which adapts to the individual learner’s needs and pace. Utilizing comprehensive data analytics, the content and assessment approaches are fine-tuned for each learner's profile. This not only makes learning accessible to those with disabilities by incorporating features like text-to-speech, captioning, and sign language videos but also customizes the educational trajectory to support various learning styles and speeds. This ensures comprehensive accessibility, enabling every learner to fully participate and benefit from our digital educational resources.
