Assistive Technology

Distance education helps meet the educational needs of individuals with disabilities. With distance education various learning styles are able to be reached. The key components of offering distance learning and assistive technology are distance learning and distance teaching. Distance teaching is defined by the instructor not being physically present to deliver instruction to a student while distance learning is must have access to the technology that allows them to interact with the instructor and benefit from the instruction. They both go hand in hand.

Distance teaching may be delivered through two methods: real-time teaching and asynchronous teaching. Real-time teaching allows students to participate from home, hospital, or another location while the activities occur. Asynchronous teaching allows students to learn at their own pace in their own time.

With distance learning poses both benefits and problems for students with disabilities. Technology can be designed to fit the needs of individuals with disabilities but it can also be a tedious endeavor to fit for distance learning. There are several things to consider such as the equipment needs, training for faculty, and accessibility issues. To meet the equipment needs for students with low-vision needs a text-to-speech software may need to be utilized. If the student has a motor skill impairment then a adaptive keyboard may need to be considered.