Digital inclusion and accessibility considerations in digital teaching and learning materials for the second-level classroom

This article aims to explore the challenges associated with providing digital resources to stakeholders and identifying the obstacles and barriers to the successful design and exploitation of digital resources in the classroom and a wider learning environment. As a direct consequence of Covid-19 and the physical closure of schools we can now identify three specific content-producing cultures emerging within the educational community (Marcus-Quinn, A., T. Hourigan, and S. McCoy. 2019a. “‘The Digital Learning Movement: How Should Schools Respond?’.” Economic and Social Review 50 (4): 767–783). On the top tier we can see the independently developed resources by private educational companies that have been designed with accessibility hardwired into the resources. Such accessibility caters to the widest range of user needs. The second tier provides digital materials that have been produced by teachers in schools that have a ‘tech-driven’ agenda; such schools do not make it mandatory for teachers or students to use privately produced books. The third tier comprises teachers, outside of a formal community of practice, who use privately produced resources but modify them to suit their student needs better. There has been a rapid migration to digital learning as a direct response to the challenges posed by Covid-19 in schools (Mohan, G., S. McCoy, E. Carroll, G. Mihut, S. Lyons, and C. Mac Domhnaill. 2020. “Learning for all? Second-level education in Ireland during COVID-19.” ESRI Survey and Statistical Report Series 92 June 2020.). As schools have scrambled to adapt to this ever-changing environment, digital inclusion has never been more critical as school communities now navigate these new learning experiences (Hall, Byrne et al. 2021; Marcus-Quinn, A., and T. Hourigan. 2021 Hourigan, T. 2021. “Reflections on the impact of Covid-19.” Ireland’s Yearbook of Education 2020, pp. 130–133 https://irelandseducationyearbook.ie/downloads/IEYB2020/YB2020-second-level-3.pdf [Google Scholar]. Handbook for Online Learning Contexts: Digital, Mobile and Open: Policy and Practice. Cham: Springer.; Murphy, C., A. Marcus-Quinn, and T. Hourigan. 2021a. “Exploring the Ripple Effect of ‘Always On’Digital Work Culture in Secondary Education Settings.” In Handbook for Online Learning Contexts: Digital, Mobile and Open, edited by A. Marcus-Quinn and T. Hourigan, 339–353. Cham: Springer, Murphy, C., A. Marcus-Quinn, and T. Hourigan. 2021b. “Technostress in Secondary Education Settings.” Coping with COVID: Advancing Education. The Naace Journal 89: 17–23). To comply with European legislation passed in 2019, public sector organisations and private companies and organisations need to check the accessibility of their websites, mobile apps, and media content (Oncins, E., and P. Orero. 2021. “Let's put Standardisation in Practice: Accessibility Services and Interaction.” Hikma 20 (1): 71–90. https://www.pdsttechnologyineducation.ie/en/Planning/Digital-Learning-Framework-and-Planning-Resources-Post-Primary/Digital-Learning-Framework-for-Post-Primary-Schools.pdf). The educational publishing sector should also adhere to these common accessibility standards ensuring that digital content conforms to digital equity, diversity, and inclusion principles (Mihut, G., S. McCoy, and B. Maître. 2021. “A Capability Approach to Understanding Academic and Socio-emotional Outcomes of Students with Special Educational Needs in Ireland.” Oxford Review of Education.). During the Covid-19 pandemic it became clear that there is an appetite for high-quality open-access digital teaching and learning materials (Eivers, E., J. Worth, and A. Ghosh. 2020. Home Learning During COVID-19: Findings from the Understanding Society Longitudinal Study. Slough: National Foundation for Educational Research.). To improve the consistency and reusability of such resources the education community would benefit from easy access to shared quality templates that are professionally designed and usability tested. Such an initiative is unlikely to happen without buy-in from publishers in conjunction with the Department of Education. Such collaboration was behind the successful establishment of Scoilnet: Ireland’s national repository for shared digital teaching and learning materials. During the pandemic Scoilnet compiled a list to highlight the Open-access resources available to stakeholders and requested that teachers make recommendations and upload such resources to the Scoilnet portal. It is clear that such resources need to be designed and developed, and this requires professional time and resources. We cannot expect this to happen without cost.