Learning Objects

How to use this blog section to find Learning Objects

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December 1, 2019

12:53 pm

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Learning Objects

The blog section of this site is where learning objects/assignments are listed. Each learning object/assignment has been assigned overall subject “categories”. You can select to group specific subject category learning objects/assignments by selecting from the drop-down “categories” menu. In addition, users can by click on the subject/category link under each post to pull up all posts with the same subject/category.

Each learning object/assignment will also have more specific “tags” to provide more detailed information on each learning object/assignment. Users can select to view a group of specific “tags” by selecting them in the “tag cloud” on the site. In addition, just like with the category links, if a user selects a “tag” under a specific post, the system will pull together all other learning objects/subjects with the same tag.

Accessible Zines

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January 16, 2020

9:08 pm

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Art, Coding and Programming, English Composition, History, Library and Information Studies, Museum Studies

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A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published unique work of minority interest, usually reproduced via photocopier. – University of Texas at Austin Library

Although zines defy definitive categorization, certain elements set zines apart from other printed publications. Zines tend to be handmade paper publications with small print runs, are sold at or slightly above cost, and are intentionally nonprofessional. Authors write, edit,and publish the material themselves, which makes the material unique and personal to the author. This also means zines are complicated ephemeral materials for library collections—their authors are often hard to track down, issues come out irregularly, they often contain no bibliographic information, and they come in various paper sizes. Almost nothing about zines makes them easy for librarians to codify, yet dedicated zine collections are on the rise in libraries and archives across the United States.

Hays, A. (2018). Zine Authors’ Attitudes about Inclusion in Public and Academic Library Collections: A Survey-Based Study. LibraryQuarterly, 88(1), 60–78. https://doi.org/10.1086/694869

Zines are a popular DIY print format, but mainly only visually accessible. The Nashville Feminist Collective’s Zine Accessibility Workshop project draws on the methods of multi-modal critical design, collective image description, and collective access to reorient the zine genre (and in some cases, to reinvent it). 

Here is the workshop handout on how to transcribe and convert zine’s into different formats to broaden their accessibility.

Projects example: Esoteric Zine (December 3, 2016)

Mapping Access

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January 16, 2020

8:29 pm

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Learning Objects, Statistics

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Mapping Access is a great resource and place to get ideas and help on wonderful mapping projects which can incorporate accessibility. According to their website they are a “participatory data-collection and accessibility mapping project of the Critical Design Lab. Informed by Disability Justice, intersectionality, environmental humanities, and critical GIS frameworks, the project uses mapping as a critical tool for iterative world-building.” Their broader body of work includes a podcast, experimental protocols, and workshops.

One main aspect I like about Mapping Access is their take on crowdsourcing, which they describe as “Critical Crowdsourcing”. Crowdsourcing is popular in DH as a way to gather information and data but mapping access asks additional questions:

  1. How do typical modes and structures of data collection condition who participates and who is left out?
  2. How can we understand participants as critical thinkers, and not only as those who record objective truths about the world?
  3. How can distinguishing between types of expertise in crowdsourcing enable us to work toward social justice?

Mapping Access can provide information and help in several areas if you are interested in getting involved with them. They can help in the following areas:

  • Campus Mapping: Creating rich visual and textual maps of university and organizational campuses
  • Urban Activist Mapping: Mapping public spaces and developing spatial stories about public belonging
  • Teaching and Learning: Integrating mapping pedagogy into the classroom, the lab, and public experiments.

Some projects Mapping Access projects:

  • Nashville Feminist Collective partnered with Mapping Access to work toward more accessible meeting spaces and events. The collaborative project has two goals: first, to encourage critical dialogue about disability and access among members of the Collective; second, to understand and challenge the role of built and social environments in the exclusion of marginalized people.

Self-paced Accessibility course (canvas)

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January 8, 2020

7:34 pm

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Coding and Programming, Computer Science

In today’s world accessibility has to be part of the conversation when discussing computer science and technology in general. Understanding how to make work born accessible is vital.  This 2 module course covers accessibility basics, WCAG, POUR, why accessibility matters, legal issues and evaluating website accessibility. There are quizzes and assignments to help you learn and think about accessibility in your life. 

This brief “Accessibility 101” canvas course consists of 2 modules.  The first module will give students a general understanding of why accessibility matters, general accessibility issues, legal accessibility issues, WCAG (Web Content Accessibility guidelines) and P.O.U.R.  The second module will go more into detail on how to create a website with accessibility always considered and how to evaluate a website. There are videos, audios, quizzes and assignments to help you put accessibility into practice. Go to: Web Accessibility 101 CUNY CS

Building the African American Civil War Soldiers Database

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January 3, 2020

8:29 pm

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English Composition, History, Learning Objects, Library and Information Studies, Museum Studies, Statistics

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The African American Civil War Soldiers is a Zooniverse is a crowd-sourcing transcription project. It is a collaboration between historians, social scientists and the African American Civil War Museum.

The stated goals of the project are to “improve our knowledge of the African Americans who fought for freedom in the American Civil War, to provide descendants of the soldiers with access to information on their ancestors, and to present students of history with primary documents from a pivotal moment in African American history.” To create this database they are using the platform Zooniverse to gather information on an estimated 200,000 soldiers who formed the United States Colored Troops (USCT). The completed database will be placed on African American Civil War Museum website, allowing teachers and students to explore African American history, present them with interactive maps and a searchable database of all the soldiers. The database will help users to identify ancestors who fought in the Civil War.

While not one of their stated goals, by transcribing the scanned, pdf non-accessible images of their records, users are creating accessible documents which can be accessed using assistive technology and by people with disabilities.

Describe It! Alt-text assignment

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January 1, 2020

8:10 pm

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Art, Coding and Programming, Computer Science, English Composition, ESL, Museum Studies

Describe It! is a Zooniverse project created by The Frick Collection and Frick Art Reference Library. In this project, online volunteers write short descriptions for works of art in the Library’s Photoarchive collection. In order to obtain a variety of descriptions, each image is described three times before it is retired. Once an image is retired, the submitted descriptions are evaluated by library research staff who select the best description for each image. Each of the descriptions are then converted into alt-text (alternative text) which make its collections accessible to all users. Volunteers can help anonymously or create an account. The project includes a tutorial, instructions, tips and detailed metadata information about each work of art.

  1. Art History classes can use it to teach art and how to write concisely about art.
  2. Museum Studies courses could use the project to reinforce the need for alt-text and accessibility in museums.
  3. Computer Science classes could participate in Describe It! as a way to teach about alt-text.
  4. Disability studies courses could use the project to teach how to write concise alt-text.
  5. ESL classes could participate in this project as a way students could work on their English writing skills by describing art.
  6. English composition courses could use the project as a way to practice writing short concise sentences.

Technical Documentation creation

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January 1, 2020

7:15 pm

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Coding and Programming, Computer Science, Learning Objects, Library and Information Studies, Statistics

Students create documentation on how to use assistive/adaptive technology to access a software program and/or school/library/business database.

What type of course could incorporate this type of assignment?

  • Coding classes to teach developers usability awareness.
  • Numerous Library and Information Science courses.
  • Numerous Disability Studies courses.

Example:

Documentation created by SAS Institute Inc, on how students with visual impairments could use their free SAS software for teaching and learning statistics and quantitative methods. “SAS® University Edition Quick Start Guide for Students with Visual Impairments.” [pdf]