The Impact of Flipped Classrooms on Students with Disabilities

Trends in technology have made their way into classrooms over the past decade or so, providing more creative and convenient methods of teaching and learning. Some of these tools have become regularly integrated into college classrooms such as iClickers, online webinars, or even heavy readings that have been posted to online discussions. As institutions of higher learning, colleges pride themselves on being at the forefront of developing and utilizing advanced methods of teaching, however, this same pressure to be a leader in education requires institutions to consider the impact such advances can have on its students.

In her article, "As High-Tech Teaching Catches On, Students with Disabilities Can Be Left Behind, Casey Fabris discusses the implications that online tools have on students with mental or physical disabilities. The issue became a hot topic this past month after Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology were sued for failing to provide closed captioning for online courses and materials (Fabris, 2015). This creates a dilemma for the increasingly popular method of "flipped-classroom" teaching where students are asked to watch video lectures outside of class. A recent study showed that 46% of professors surveyed have tried this technique.

The article highlights the particular challenges for students who are deaf, encouraging professors to caption their videos so they are not leaving out an important student group. Aside from online captioning, the increased use of Clickers creates a problem for students who are blind. Many classrooms use these tools as a competition to earn extra points in class, but there can often be a lag time when a student is lacking the ability to see the questions posted for the class.

Other topics that were a concern involved PDF versions of texts and class readings, as well as class blogs and discussion boards. This article raises important questions about how we can continue making educational tools more efficient and accessible to all populations. I felt that this was an extremely important topic once I began to think about all the ways in which I use my vision or hearing to accomplish my required assignments for class. Technology can be a wonderful classroom tool, as long as it is accessible.

http://chronicle.com/article/As-High-Tech-Teaching-Catches/190341/