Experts explore making IT more available to disabled students
More than 40 faculty and staff from 24 Massachusetts and Rhode Island colleges and universities gathered in Sturbridge Oct. 16 to discuss ways to make the computer science and information technology fields in higher education more accessible to students with disabilities.
Symposium organizer Renee Fall, Computer Science, the project manager of the Commonwealth Alliance for Information Technology Education (CAITE), and colleagues designed the day-long capacity-building event to allow networking opportunities. A panel of students with disabilities shared their experiences in pursuing computer science careers. Another panel focused on how campus professionals who serve students with disabilities can better coordinate efforts to improve access and overall success.
Another session reviewed best practices and assistive technologies for students with cognitive disabilities, presented by Steven Fadden, vice president for research at Landmark College of Putney, Vt., a two-year institution for students with learning disabilities. Also, Terrill Thompson, assistive technology specialist for AccessComputing at the University of Washington, addressed ways to teach these fields in ways that students of all abilities can learn, using principles of universal design. Thompson and Fadden also participated in a panel, “Advancing Diversity & Access in STEM,” the following day at the Massachusetts STEM Summit, where they reached a broader audience of about 30 science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) educators, industry leaders and government representatives.
Fall said institute organizers were pleased with the high turnout and broad participation from around the region. “Clearly, there is an unmet need for information and places for focused work on these issues. Disability service professionals have their own meetings, and computer science and IT faculty regularly gather to talk about research and teaching, but we think this is the first time the two groups have been brought together in Massachusetts with an aim to better serve college students with disabilities who are majoring in computing and IT.”
W. Richards Adrion, professor of Computer Science and director of CAITE, said, “We are working to spread the message that computing, and science and technology fields in general, will benefit from the talents and perspectives that people with disabilities can bring. There are good resources to help schools and colleges meet and then go beyond the legal accessibility requirements for students. With these two events, we take a first step in making the Commonwealth a leader in educating students of all abilities to be successful contributors to our innovation economy.”
In addition to the Computer Science Department, the CAITE workshop was supported by AccessComputing and the National Science Foundation’s Broadening Participation in Computing program. CAITE is led by UMass Amherst in partnership with BATEC, CITI, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth and UMass Lowell as well as Bristol, Bunker Hill, Cape Cod, Greenfield, Holyoke, Middlesex, Northern Essex, Roxbury and Springfield Technical community colleges and Bridgewater and Worcester state colleges.
October 28, 2009.
E-mail story to a friend
Printer-friendly version
/more talking points/
