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What are the Technological Needs of Disabled Students in Turkey?

What are the Technological Needs of Disabled Students in Turkey?

Fethi A. InanThe University of Memphis

Celal Sezer Iller Bankasi

Claire Thomas OzelMiddle East Technical University

Esref Armagan :• born both unsighted • never received any formal schooling or training• draws and paints by using his hands and primarily oil paints.

Facts about turkeyFacts about turkey

• Population of Turkey : – 67.8 million (as of 2002)

• Number of PC s :– 1.4 Million

• Number of cellular phone holders : – 27,887,500 (2003)

• Yearly income per capita : – $3,500

• Current Internet Users :– 5.5 million (2003)

• Literacy rate (2003)– total population: 86.5% – male: 94.3% – female: 78.7%

Proportion of disabled peopleProportion of disabled people

Proportion

Male 11.10

Female 13.45

Urban 12.70

Rural 11.67

Total 12.29

Proportion of types of disabilitiesProportion of types of disabilities

Proportion

Orthopedic 19.65

Seeing 30.81

Hearing 20.84

Speaking 2.46

Literacy statusLiteracy status

Literate

Male 71.86

Female 51.99

Urban 70.42

Rural 56.56

Total 63.67

Completed Education levelCompleted Education level

Primary Sch. (K 1-5)

Middle Sch. (K6-8)

High Sch. (K9-11)

Higher Edu.

Male 47.21 6.98 8.98 3.10

Female 32.22 3.78 3.97 1.45

Urban 42.75 8.00 10.62 4.36

Rural 39.17 3.31 3.16 .47

Total 40.97 5.64 6.90 2.42

Approaches to special educationApproaches to special education

• Individualistic approaches– Functional inabilities – Separate schools

• Social approaches– Inappropriate environmental and social

conditions– Regular Schools

Countries and approachesCountries and approaches

Italy USA Fin Turkey Hungary

Regular class 95 55 5 12 0

Special class 1 27 11 8 0

Special school 4 18 85 79 100

Italy USA Finland Turkey Hungary

Regular Class 96 68 61 44 0

Special Class 0 17 0 0 0

Special School 4 14 39 56 100

Blind and partially sighted pupils by type of facility (%)

The Deaf and partially hearing pupils by type of facility (%)

Legislation in USALegislation in USA

• Rehabilitation Act of 1973 – Mandated that people with disabilities have access to

programs and services that receive federal fund.

• American Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 – Required that people with disabilities have access to

public programs and services, regardless of whether or not they are federally funded.

• Specially, individuals with disabilities enroll in distance learning program, course content must be accessible to them.

Legislation and constitutional issuesLegislation and constitutional issues

• 1982 Turkish Constitution – Outlaws any kind of discrimination and advocates

equal rights for all citizens– Pupils with disabilities should share the same

statutory entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum

– Provide free primary education and to supplement and aid private and corporate initiatives.

– All state schools must be financed entirely by the state through the Ministry of National Education to meet the needs of children.

Special Education Structure in TurkeySpecial Education Structure in Turkey

• Primary school (K 1-8)– Mandatory– Directed by Government– Separate schools

• High School (K 9-11)– Directed by Government– Separate schools

• University– Facilitate by Higher Education Council– Each university has its own SED politics– No legal requirements

Implications of legalities Implications of legalities

• The government has special schools for children with hearing, visual, mental and physical difficulties

• High risk of repeating or dropping out because of environmental reasons and lack of resources

• Although Turkey recognizes the rights of children with disabilities to receive a suitable (comparatively equal) education, the right to special education has not been upheld in practice as required by the legislation

SED Problems in TurkeySED Problems in Turkey

• Lack of resources• Lack of expert teachers, professionals and

administrators who are expert • Lack of information exchange among

external services and institutions • Lack of collaboration between

administrators, professionals, teachers, parents and external services

Assistive/Adaptive TechnologiesAssistive/Adaptive Technologies

• Assistive Technology: Any device or method which makes the environment more accessible to a person with a disability

• Assistive Computing : A method which incorporates any method or device which makes the computer more accessible for a user with a disability.

Assistive technologies can doAssistive technologies can do

• Personal satisfaction• Career opportunities

• Share information • Study and work independence• Fast reliable and flexible learning environments• Compensate for the disabilities• Environments for communication and

Socialization• Prepare people for employment

Assistive tehnologiesAssistive tehnologies

• Speech synthesis (Text-to-Speech)

• Voice recognition software (Speech to Text)

• Organizational programs

Universal Design of InstructionUniversal Design of Instruction

• Inclusiveness • Physical access• Delivery method• Information access• Interaction• Feedback• Demonstration of knowledge (assessment)

We need to use the new technologies not only to overcome existing barriers to learning, but to design environment for learning that have fewer barriers right from the start (Rose, 2001)

Classroom implication ProblemsClassroom implication Problems

• Schools don’t know what technology is available and in what way these technologies can apply

• Teachers/instructor are not trained sufficiently (Actually no training)

• More costly equipment compare to regular• There is not enough computer and

computer with special educational technology No regulation for accessibility issue

WWWWWW

• “The power of web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect “ (Tim Lee-Berners, W3C)

• “Assistive technologies make it possible for individuals with a wide range of disabilities to gain access to computer. However, most of the internet resources are still not accessible to individuals with disabilities using these technologies” (Burgstahler, 2002)

Problem AccessibilityProblem Accessibility

• Seeing graphics

• Hearing audio

• Movement (mouse)

• Connection speed

Suggestion for accessibilitySuggestion for accessibility

• Maintain simple, consistent page layout

• Legitability

• Captioning or transcribing audio/video

• Make links clear and descriptive

• Use informative tag (ALT)

• Make available short cuts

Professional establishmentsProfessional establishments

• SIG in TBD• Founded in 2002

– Activities• Create standards• Prepare manual and documents• Examine new developments

• Educations Centers– 20 education centers– 3 internet cafe

Professional establishmentsProfessional establishments

• OKU : Turkish screen reader– Voluntarily developed

• Provides – E-mail– Internet browsing– Writing (notepad)– Clock, calendar and calculator

Universities and disabled studentsUniversities and disabled students

University Entrance Exam (OSS) – Application– Exam format and process – Questions

• Most of the students attend social science programs (Political science, Law schools)

• Only voluntarily services are available

Bogazici UniversityBogazici University

• Audio unit at library– Partially class books are made audio

(Voluntarily created)

• Reader equipment • Computers• Each disabled student is provided with

– Talking dictionary– Braille and speaker– Braille calculator

Middle East Technical UniversityMiddle East Technical University

• Audio library

• Computer

• Reader equipment

• Student club

• PROJE detaylari, activities you can add what you are doing now

ConclusionsConclusions

• Equal opportunities

• No separations

• Universal design of instruction

• Preservice teacher training program must become more familiar with assistive technologies

Recommendation for universityRecommendation for university

• Accessibility of document, syllabus, lecture notes

• Presentation of content in different format

• Directing SED activities from main office

• Universal design of instruction

QuestionsQuestions

Planning Study: PurposePlanning Study: Purpose

• Investigate the technological needs of disabled university students in Turkey and examine how assistive technologies can help them to obtain equal opportunities in tertiary education.

Planning Study: QuestionsPlanning Study: Questions

• What type of technologies are currently been using by disabled students in Turkey?

• To what extent are these technologies used by disabled students?

• What are the barriers which impair disabled students utilization of technology?

Planning Study: InstrumentsPlanning Study: Instruments

• The subjects of this study will be the students from four universities in Ankara

• Technologies for students with disabilities Survey was developed and will be administered

ReferencesReferences

• http://www.bigglook.com/biggtraveleng/infotips/population.asp • http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/tu.html• http://www.turkishembassy.org/countryprofile/inbrief.htm • Morrison, G., Lowther, D. L. & DeMeulle, L. (1999). Integrating computer technology into the

classroom. • Jonsson, T. & Wiman, R. (2001). Education, Poverty and Disability In Developing Countries• SIS (2002). 2002 Turkey disability survey. Ankara:Turkey• Rose, D. (2001). Universal design for learning. Journal of Special Education Technology. 16 (4),

pp.64-67• Guvenir, A. (2004). Oku 3.0.1. http://www.cs.bilkent.edu.tr/~guvenir/oku• Sari, H. (2000). Development of special education provision in Turkey: From the inclusive

perspective. Proceeding of international special education congress. • Dogan, C. (2004). Ozurlulere doping: Bilisim teknolojileri. http://www.cagridogan.com/bilisim.htm• Mendels, P (1999). Barrriers online for those with disabilities.

http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/11/cyber/articles/04disability.html• Comden, D. & Burgstahler, S. (2002). World wide access: Accessible web design.• Burgstahler, S. (2002). Universal design of instruction. (BUNU ALLLL)• Elibal, I. , Enguclu, A. , & Turkeli, S. (2002). Informatics an blinds. • Forgave, K. E. (2002). Assistive technologies: empowering students with disabilities. The

Clearing House, 75(3). • Burgstahler, S. (2002). Distance learning: The library’s role in ensuring access to everyone.

Library Hi Tech, 20 (4), pp. 420-432 .