Martin Littler MD of Inclusive Technology recently posted this paper in which he suggests researching Learning Platforms for children with Severe and Complex SEN.

They could, for the first time ever choose and load the resources they use. The complex set-ups they each need (e.g: post acceptance switch delay or font size and colour) could be communicated to each programme to so the teacher or speech therapists expertise would follow them, through the ether, when they used the same resources at home. The most used aspect of LPs, the calendar, plays a huge part in the lives of many learners with SEN from CP to Autism as they plan their day and think ahead.

John Galloway posted this summary of the SENIT collaborative work on:

Characteristics of a fully inclusive Learning Platform

The learning platform is seen as a means of accessing learning content, as distinct from the content itself. It also provides tools for independent, social and collaborative learning such as bulletin boards, blogs, wikis and e-portfolios. In functionality and purpose it may be viewed as providing access to tools and resources in a similar way to a web-browser.

There are three aspects of a learning platform that contribute to its accessibility, viz:- Appearance, Language & Usability (user friendliness). Customisation of any of these aspects for individual users should be consistent across all sites and devices where they log on. Changes, once made, should be in effect for all subsequent log-ins, until the user chooses to make further adjustments.

Appearance

A number of aspects of the user interface needs to be highly configurable.
Pupils need to be able to change several aspects of the appearance, including;

• font, including size and colour;
• colour scheme;
• layout, such as where tools, links and buttons appear on screen;
• re-scaleable images, with or without text descriptors.

There are a number of ways in which these modifications may be brought about such as;

• Cascading style sheets, whereby any alterations to the presentation of a web-page or portal, are applied consistently to all subsequent pages viewed.
• Pages constructed on a range of templates, each designed to address different aspects of users needs.

Language

The interface will need to be flexible in its use of language. Some users may have limited literacy skills, be visually impaired, or reliant on
symbols for access to text. The learning platform should therefore be:

Supported by audio

• A screen-reader built in
• All images, diagrams and illustrations to have verbal descriptions
• User controls to include volume, pitch, and start/stop,

Accessed in other ways including

• Symbols
• Other languages
• Signing

Usability (User friendliness)

The way in which the user interacts with the learning platform needs to be adaptable to their access preferences. Its functions, such as
altering the appearance or uploading materials to the portfolio, need to have minimum training for learners to use.

The learning platform should be accessible using other devices in addition to the keyboard and mouse, for instance;

• Switches
• Touch screen
• Voice.

When adding content to their portfolio users should be able to select items and upload, or download, these in an easy and intuitive way, such as;

• Using an icon driven, visual interface,
• Drag and drop to add/remove items
• Using a range of content formats, such as video and voice,
• Tag items in a way that is meaningful and useful to themselves, i.e. when adding items to their portfolios they can choose to add descriptors that will make them easy to retrieve.
• Use alternative security features to username/password, such as fingerprint recognition.

Users must be able to participate in assessment and learning activities provided by and through the learning platform. These might include;

• Self-review of on-going learning,
• Submitting work to teachers and receiving feedback,
• Participating in standard tests, whether in-school or statutory,
• Contribute to social learning activities for example through wikis or blogs,
• Post materials to websites or bulletin boards as part of a learning activity.

See John's post on SENIT

I worked for the Rix Centre @ UEL and various of the other partners on a 2 year PACCIT (DTi/ESRC funded) research project looking into a range of issues surrounding virtual learning environments and eportfolio for students (16-25) with cognitive disabilities - specifically focussed on those with severe and complex LD but also including learners with PMLD to a limited extent. I can't adequately summarise findings and output in a single post, but I'd like to contribute here if we can break the discussion down a little.

There's more info and background to this research which finished early in 2006 here:

http://www.paccit.gla.ac.uk/public/projects/apple.php

http://www.thebigtree.org/roots/html/projectapple/index.htm

Simon