ConnSENSEReview Attending NECC

Attending NECC-What Happened to Universal Design?

By Margaret Kardos

28th National Educational Computing Conference
Atlanta, GA
June 24-27, 2007

I recently attended the 28th National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) held in Atlanta, GA this year. NECC claims to be the world’s largest educational technology conference and I do believe that to be an accurate description of the event. For five days workshops, demonstrations, presentations and networking took place from early morning to late into the evening. I was looking forward to the conference as it was going to be my first time at a “regular ed” technology event.

The conference was everything it was predicted to be and then some. It was BIG, it was well attended (some 18,000 people attended), it was busy and it was informative. I was amazed by what is being done currently and what is being planned for in the future in the field of educational technology. Hot topics included high stakes testing, accountability, evidence-based reading, on-line collaboration, e-learning, distance education, Moodling, podcasting, digital media, blogging, project-based learning; are you getting the picture? The list goes on and on.

I had made appointments with a number of vendors to see new products. Clearly a hot item was the remote control designed to have students participate with an interactive white board. There were a number of companies demonstrating these devices that were extremely cool. It brings the capability of “ask the audience” seen on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” into the classroom. Initially, I thought, wow, what a great means of access. As I asked each vendor about alternative access such as switch use or scanning the response was enlightening; but not in a good way. It became clear to me as I made my way through this enormous exhibit hall, that I was not in Kansas anymore, and there is a great divide between technology made for students without disabilities and technology made for students with disabilities. As I made my concerns known, representatives tended to end their conversations with me and offered me phone numbers and email addresses of people in the company who would “certainly be interested in hearing what I had to say.”

To say that I came away from these conversations disappointed and disheartened is an understatement. I kept asking myself “But what about universal design?” I thought the field of education was gung-ho on moving forward with this concept, but apparently I was wrong. As I met with vendors who were debuting new and improved scientifically based reading programs I was saddened to realize that No Child Left Behind has created a mega-dollar industry that will continue to ensure that the achievement gap grows even wider. Companies have poured millions of dollars into designing computer-based reading programs that (according to the industry) have research to show that they are successful in improving the reading skills of kids across the country. The majority of these programs have sophisticated internal data collection systems that can track the progress of each student individually and can run an array of statistical analyses to demonstrate progress at the grade and district level. However, I found that the programs that I previewed from major manufacturers of educational software were inaccessible to students who needed alternative access, which would of course leave “our kids” out of yet another trend in the general education classroom.

As if I was not feeling badly enough, on Tuesday, day 2 of the conference, I visited the “AT Playground” an exhibit of “special technology” presented by the Special Education Technology Special Interest Group (SETSIG). Where was this exhibit located? In the exhibition hall? Nope. On the main floor? Nadda. Rather, it was up two escalators and down the hall, placed far away from the “mainstream” technology that this conference was all about. When I saw that the display was small and confined to an area that was not very well lit, I had a flashback to a scene I witnessed this past year in a public school; as I rounded a corner in the building I saw an absolutely adorable little girl with Down syndrome being taught in a dim hallway; over her desk was hung a laminated sign that read “Thank you for not disturbing me when I am working or in time out.” The name of child was written below the edict. Despite the segregated setting, the members of SETSIG, put together a great display of their knowledge and devotion to the field of assistive technology; true testament to the adage “bloom where you are planted.” There was a great deal of information as well as great conversation, networking and a chance to catch up with old friends. There were also some great “freebies” not Tee shirts or lapel pins with flashing lights, but a great compilation of resources in print and on CD.

I know that I must be sounding negative, so I want to stress the NECC was an amazing conference chock full of fabulous presentations, innovations and endless opportunities for anyone in the field of education. And to be fair, there were a few vendors there who DO incorporate universal design into their products. I keep wondering, however, why we can’t just all get it together; I had thought and still do think that universal design is the way to accomplish this. Why doesn’t every company just build in accessibility from the design phase in everything that is made for the purpose of educating a child? Will there ever come a time when AT and IT will hug and sing Kumbaya? Call me, I would be happy to bring the s’mores.

muncie@connsensebulletin.com