EDTC 5773

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Project Manager: Miguel Llovera Da Corte, Education Access Center Counselor REQUIREMENTS DOCUMENT Main Functions: The online training program being designed for Tulsa Community College will educate approximately 1,000 employees (administrators, faculty, and staff) on disability laws, academic accommodations, and universal design. Individuals that participate in this training will be able to: Effectively refer students to TCCs Education Access Center to begin the accommodation process registration process, documentation guidelines, and student intake. Assist Tulsa Community College in complying with Federal and State Disability Laws ADA, Section 504 / 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, State Law 2197. Ensure that Tulsa Community College continues to be an educational environment where cultural, educational and extracurricular activities are physically and programmatically accessible universal design: equitable use, flexibility in use, tolerance for error, intuitive use, low physical effort, perceptible information, size and space for approach and use. Create policies and procedures that encourage the inclusion of persons with disabilities in education and employment. As end-users navigate the online training program via Blackboard, they will be able to search and access diverse educational resources (handouts, videos, and links to external resources) related to disability issues and their impact on students performance at the post-secondary educational level. Administrators, faculty, and staff will also be able to network, discuss professional strategies, and share best practices with other participants by posting comments on the discussion board section of Blackboard. Wikis will be created to facilitate another form of discussion and allow administrators, faculty, and staff to form and lead a professional learning community. As a means of measuring the success of the instructional goals that have been set for this training program, end-users will be required to complete a quiz with multiple-choice and true and false questions.

User Characteristics: Tulsa Community Colleges Administrative Cabinet (President, VicePresident of Academic Affairs, Dean and Director of Student Development): these individuals have a need-to-know the different laws and regulations that govern the world of post-secondary education in terms of disability. The VicePresident of Academic Affairs is responsible for ensuring that Tulsa Community College complies with local and state laws, and that all the barriers to education are removed from those students with special needs. By participating in the online training program, administrators will design strategies for programs and services that are dynamic and user-friendly; thus, increasing citizen participation. After surveying five cabinet members, they all reported that they know how to use the basic features of Blackboard (logging-in, accessing course site, locating

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information posted on course site). They also feel comfortable completing online assessments. However, they may require training on how to participate in Wikis.

Director and Counselors of the Education Access Center: these individuals oversee the provision of accommodations and provide advocacy to students in the areas of consultation, counseling and conflict resolution. In addition, the EAC professional staff members provide information and referrals to community resources as well as TCC student organizations and activities. Although the Education Access Center professional staff advocates for students, these individuals are provided with tools that help them advocate for themselves. It is imperative for the EAC professional staff members to work as a team in an effort to effectively facilitate/moderate discussions during the deployment of the online training program. EAC Director and Counselors possess a wealth of knowledge in terms of web accessibility which will be a powerful tool to ensure that end-users have a positive experience while participating in the online training program. Faculty and Staff working in different student services areas: these individuals are responsible for: o Referring students to the Education Access Center to have the disability documented and appropriate accommodations determined. o Allowing students to use auxiliary aids, such as, note-takers, recorders, interpreters, etc. o Providing advising, counseling and instruction to students with disabilities in a fully accessible environment. o Showing confidence in students abilities to achieve their intellectual, personal and professional potential. o Keeping disability-related information confidential, discussing it only with people who have a valid reason to know. o Discussing all student-related information directly with the student.

Therefore, participation in the online training program will guarantee consistency in the different practices, policies, and procedures employed by the college. Although computer literacy rates among faculty and staff vary, the Education Access Center IT Administrator, Mark Bielefeld, will conduct workshops to explain the basic features of Blackboard. Mr. Bielefeld will organize five workshops (one at each of the four TCC campuses and one at the Central office) for key faculty and staff. The IT Administrator will appoint a committee (at each campus) who will be responsible for facilitating subsequent training to other TCC stakeholders.

General Constraints: After doing research on the Blackboard Faculty Support section of the Milwaukee Area Technical College website (http://edtechnews.matc.edu/bb_support/index.htm), the following operating systems and browsers are compatible with Blackboard:

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For PC Operating Systems: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7: 1. Mozilla Firefox, Versions: 3.6, 4.0, 9.0, provisional support for latest stable release. 2. Internet Explorer, Versions: IE 8, IE 9 3. 3. Google Chrome, Versions: 10, 16, provisional support for latest stable release For Mac Operating Systems: Tiger (10.4), Leopard (10.5), Snow Leopard (10.6): 1. Mozilla Firefox, Versions: 3.6, 4.0, 9.0, provisional support for latest stable release. 2. 2. Safari, Versions: 4.0, 5.0 3. 3. Google Chrome, Versions: 10, 16, provisional support for latest stable release.

Tulsa Community College uses Windows 7 and every single computer is equipped with this platform. Administrators, faculty, and staff should not have any problem when accessing the online training program. Mark Bielefeld, IT Administrator, and Meghan Burns, Academic Support Technician, will ensure that all required plug-ins are installed so that videos and pdf files display correctly. Although Blackboard is taken down periodically for maintenance, end-users will have the opportunity to complete their training between regular hours of operations without any interruptions. TCCs Internet system is secure and with a reliable speed which will expedite the downloading of documents and viewing of videos. Assumptions and Dependencies: please refer to previous section for additional details. The Education Access Center will have a user-friendly and innovative training program for administrators, faculty, and staff implemented by the fall semester of 2013. By implementing this plan, the EAC will aide Tulsa Community College in developing a communication plan that provides a resource for organizational information (Goal # 2 of Strategic Plan). The program will be delivered through the Internet and be compatible with Microsoft products. At least 75% of participants in the online training program have accessed, at least once, a course site supported by the Blackboard Learn platform. The Blackboard 9.1 platform supports interactive teaching and learning by allowing participants to access their content on a variety of devices including Android, Blackberry, and webOS. Blackboard was selected as the most efficient/effective instructional management system to deliver the online training program based on the following assumptions previously made by the Project Manager, Miguel Llovera Da Corte: o Accessibility and legal compliance o Scalable interface o Customer service and support o Multi-platform support, extensive functionality, and learning repository and leverage interoperability

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3.1 User Requirements: End-users required to complete the online training program will use their personal computers or any computer located in a TCC Computer Lab. The training program should be completed during regular business hours. It is estimated that each participant will spend 45-50 minutes going through the various videos and other educational materials, and 10-15 minutes completing the assessment tool. Users want an interactive and dynamic training that will be informative and concise at the same time. Administrators, faculty, and staff are already familiar with Blackboard which will ease the tension/hesitation that participants tend to exhibit when asked to complete additional duties. A response team will be available to assist those individuals who may require additional (technological) assistance.

3.2 System Requirements: Blackboard should be compatible with screen readers such as Jaws and ZoomText. It also should be compatible with Windows 7 Operating Systems and a bandwidth Internet connection, and support interactive media and pdf files. Additional system requirements include, but are not limited to: Social Learning: discussion boards and Wikis compatibility Assessment: creation and administration of online assessments, standards and goal alignment, and performance reporting Course Management: SIS integration and user authentication

3.3 Interface Requirements: Course Theme and Structure: the following specifications will optimize usability and enable non-technical users to access web content. By removing technical barriers, users will be more motivated to participate in the online training program and lead a learning community: Content Organization: each tab in the site will contain didactic materials in the form of videos, power point slides, and interactive applications. Videos will be closed-captioned and handouts will be easy to read by assistive technology software. Editing tools allow users to resize and compress images. It is estimated that the Blackboard site will contain between 3-4 tabs to facilitate access to the information with a few clicks Color Scheme: vivid colors such as green and blue will dominate the appearance of the Blackboard site created for the online training program. These two colors work well with black fonts which is what accessibility regulations suggest. Fonts: Aerial or Berlin San Serif, 14 to 16 point font. Headings and subheadings will be bolded and will be bigger in size compared to regular text. By doing so, end-users will be able to search for specific information/educational materials.