Target Groups and Required Skills
This course is targeted towards those wishing to learn more about assistive ICT in the domain of intellectual disability (ID). It will also be useful for developers of assistive ICT who should engage in user-centred design, to include those with intellectual disability as co-designers in the development of applications to meet their requirements. The course does not require any specific skills.
Learning Platform
It will be run on the Coursesites by Blackboard Platform.
Course duration and efforts
The course will be a five-week self-paced course. Students will be expected to spend 3 hours per week following the materials and doing exercises and assignments.
Short Description
In this course, you will learn about assistive technology and intellectual disability. You will be introduced to topics around design. In particular, you will learn about the inclusion of people with intellectual disability as co-designers in the development of assistive ICT.
Long Description
In this course, you will learn about Intellectual Disability and the uses that people with intellectual disability have for technology. The course will explore the range of assistive technology for people with intellectual disability with a specific focus on assistive ICT.
The challenges of using this technology will be discussed. You will be introduced to topics around design and will especially consider how design impacts on the usability of products and technology.
The course looks at the inclusion of people with intellectual disability as co-designers in the development of assistive ICT. In order to develop products that meet their requirements, it is essential that that the users are part of the development process. This discusses an approach for developing applications using a community based co-design framework.
Course Team
John Gilligan (Dublin Institute of Technology).
Course Structure
Week 1: Introduction to Intellectual Disability, Challenges and Opportunities
- A broad introduction to intellectual disability
- People with intellectual disability
- Technology and intellectual disability
Week 2: Assistive Technology
- Technology for everyday living
- Assistive technology and intellectual disability
- Mobile technologies
- Technology challenges for people with ID
Week 3: Using Technology – Challenges involved in using technology
- Unusable technology
- Aiming higher for the best user experience
- User first
- Approaches to design
- Standards
Week 4: Designing for people with Intellectual Disability
- General principle
- User-centred design
- Community-based co-design projects: a case study
Week 5: Opportunities
- The evolving world
- Simpler processes for independent living
- The challenges of this brave new world
- Review and conclusions
Certification
No certification has been planned.
How to Register
Click on the enrolment and login link.
If you are a first-time visitor, you need to enrol:
- Click on the self-enrol option.
- A: If you have a CourseSites account click I have a CourseSites Account Option.
B: If you dont have a CourseSites account click I need a CourseSites Account Option. This will take you through Account Registration.
For all subsequent visits to the course, use the course link (the same link as above).
Open Educational Resources
The content from this course is available as a set of open education resources.