Rewiring Inclusion: Strategies, tools and techniques to promote barrier-free learning, Feb 8-9, 2010, Nottingham

Developing a retirement plan for the magic fairy of digital inclusion:

identifying the challenges for digital inclusion practice

Dr Jane Seale

My Digital Inclusion Journey

Rewiring = Examining our conceptualisation of digital inclusion

• Digital inclusion is more than just access to and accessibility of technologies

• Digital inclusion is more than just use of technologies and ability to use technologies

• Digital inclusion involves meaningful use

• Who determines what is meaningful?

• For some learners, it may be meaningful and appropriate NOT to use technologies

Strategies, tools and techniques = Examining digital inclusion practice

• Strategies, tools and techniques on their own do not constitute a digital inclusion practice

• It’s the rich descriptions and shared understandings around HOW WE use the tools that constitutes a practice

• It is from these descriptions and evaluations that understanding of “best practice” will be derived

• Practice involves all stakeholders

• Practice will be interdisciplinary

Barrier-free learning = Examining notions of success and failure:

• How do we decide whether our digital inclusion efforts are successful? And, perhaps more importantly, who decides?

– A plea for empowering learners

• Can we tolerate perceived “failures”?

– A plea for “organisational slack” and “positive risk taking”

There is NO magical solution to Digital exclusion. Today is not about me or you dressing up as the magic fairy of “digital inclusion” and waving our magic wands. Today is about rewiring our conceptualisations and assumptions and through collaborative and empowering partnerships with all stakeholders, especially learners, seeking to promote equality of opportunity and outcomes which are meaningful and relevant but also embrace, where appropriate, the possibility of failure and success in equal measure.

References• Seale, J (2006) E-learning and Disability in Higher

Education: Accessibility Research and Practice. Routledge. Oxford.

• Seale, J (2009) Digital Inclusion. A research briefing by the Technology Enhanced Learning Phase of the Teaching and Learning Research Programme. Available: http://www.tlrp.org/docs/DigitalInclusion.pdf

• Seale, J., Draffan, E.A & Wald, M. Digital agility and digital decision-making: Conceptualising digital inclusion in the context of disabled learners in higher education, In press, Studies in Higher Education, 35, 4

Contact: J.K.Seale@soton.ac.uk