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policy & reform from different health disciplines within that subject .
We did a lot of surveying . We did a lot of checking in with the staff and also the students just to get their feedback , and then that really helped us to develop our project plan and professional development plan , and also our communication strategy . So we already had a reasonable idea about some of the intricacies . We already had some lessons learned , and then that really helped us , I think , to deliver the project relatively smoothly in the first six or seven months of this year .
What are some of the program ’ s achievements thus far , in terms of student engagement with the course materials ? The great thing about Blackboard Ally is that it allows students to access their digital learning materials – like a Microsoft Word or PowerPoint or PDF document , or an image that lecturers upload and add to the learning management system – in a range of different formats .
For example , a HTML format , or they could access a PDF in an audio version , if they wish . Students have really engaged with the ability to access those learning materials flexibly in ways that work for their devices , and also just for their learning styles as well . Previously , if a lecturer uploaded a Word document , for example , they could really only access that document in a Word format . So they ’ d need to download it , and perhaps print it out . Now they can access that file in a whole range of different ways .
For the first six months we had over 63,000 downloads of the alternative file formats , which we think is exceptional , and students are particularly accessing HTML and tagged PDF versions . That lets us know that a lot of students are using mobile devices , either their phones or iPads , to access a lot of their learning materials . It just gives them a lot more flexibility in how they want to access materials .
In the last few months we have noticed increasing use of access to audio files , as well as EPUB versions . So again , that lets us know students are using different kinds of app readers , and also tells us about the flexibility that they have in being able to listen to text , as well as read text as well . We think that ’ s been really great , and we ’ ve got some fantastic feedback from students as well about just how much they enjoy having that flexibility now .
You also mentioned that JCU staff were involved in supporting lecturers and academics to review their course materials through the Fix Your Content program . Can you explain that ? Each year , Blackboard runs an international Fix Your Content Day . That happens in May every year and aligns with the Global Accessibility Awareness Day . Since we had implemented Blackboard Ally only a few months earlier , we decided to participate . We were able to get good uptake of participation in the day , and we were able to offer prizes as an incentive for staff to become involved .
That was another great way that we were able to get really good staff involvement . We had a lot of communication and messaging prior to the day and also on the day . We had drop-in sessions and support that was available . We ended up coming second in the Asia Pacific region , which we thought was a great effort , and we received a bronze award overall . So we ’ ll certainly
We already had some lessons learned , and that really helped us to deliver the project relatively smoothly .
endeavour to continue to participate in that initiative .
How important will accessible , quality course materials and ongoing reviews be to a university ’ s standing in the future ? Some seem to do online learning much better than others . The competitive aspect in being able to provide accessible learning materials for students , and for students to have that flexibility around how they access their learning materials , all contributes to that student experience . So it ’ s definitely something that is important moving forward , from a competitive point of view , but also just from a student support point of view and ensuring that we meet policy and legislative arrangements as well . That ’ s very important for us to be able to do that .
We ’ re a regional university , and the cohort of students that we have at JCU and that are attracted to JCU are sometimes slightly different to some of the metropolitan areas . We have a significant number of students who are first in family to attend university , and they have diverse backgrounds and cultures as well . So we want to make sure – it ’ s one of our ‘ must dos ’ – that students have a really good experience , and providing those accessible digital learning materials is just one aspect of that . ■
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