More Than Meets the Eye: A Canadian Comparative Study on PowerPoint Use Among Post-Secondary Students With and Without Disabilities

Abstract

The present study set out to explore effective teaching techniques using PowerPoint for post-secondary students with disabilities by comparing their views to those of students without disabilities. 284 Canadian post-secondary social science students, 75 of whom self-reported a disability, were surveyed about what aspects of PowerPoint use helps them learn. The good news is that the results indicate many similarities between the views of students with and without disabilities. Although all students felt that having PowerPoint available online was highly desirable, for students with disabilities this was perceived as an important disability accommodation. All students preferred that PowerPoint slides be made available before class in both PowerPoint and PDF formats; however, this was particularly important to students with disabilities. All students preferred that professors walk around some of the time rather than simply stand beside the lectern, that they select slides with good contrast rather than an interesting but busy background template, that they write concepts in full sentences as opposed to key words only, and that PowerPoint images be accompanied by text rather than presenting images only. Overall, our findings show that well-designed PowerPoint slides which incorporate accessibility features (easily included by using the Accessibility Checker feature of PowerPoint) can benefit everyone. Notably, fewer than half (41%) of the students with disabilities had registered with the college to receive disability-related accommodations; therefore, it is important that PowerPoint, as used by professors, be accessible to this large segment of the population of students with disabilities. Informative slides with a clear template and good contrast, along with an engaging presentation style, are likely to benefit everyone. Our findings also show that, contrary to the fears of many educators, students are unlikely to miss class if slides are posted online. Moreover, this is equally true for academically stronger as well as weaker students.

Digital Tools Faculty Expected Students to Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2021: Problems and Solutions for Future Hybrid and Blended Courses

“…One difficulty students encountered relates to the timing of posting documents. Some students like to prepare for the class and need more than a few hours' notice regarding documents that need to be read before class (Fichten et al, 2019). Another common complaint relates to professors not seeing questions asked by their students in Zoom and Teams chats.…”

Twenty Years Into the 21st Century – Tech-related Accommodations for College Students with Mental Health and Other Disabilities

“…Although it has been suggested that Universal Design for Learning can be used to minimize academic accommodations (Gidden & Jones, 2021), there is little data to suggest that this is actually feasible in many institutions. Moreover, data show that fewer than 50% of students with disabilities register to receive accommodations both in Canada (Fichten et al, 2018;2019a) and America (Cohen et al, 2020;McGregor et al, 2016;Newman et al, 2016;Parsons et al, 2021). There are a variety of barriers to registering, as reviewed by Toutain (2019).…”

“…Between 17% and 34% of post-secondary students in American (Canadian University Survey Consortium, 2020, 2021 and Canadian post-secondary institutions (Fichten et al, 2018(Fichten et al, , 2019a) have a disability. As in many other countries, Canadian four-year and two-year college students with disabilities are eligible for and utilize services and accommodations to provide them with an equal opportunity to demonstrate mastery of course materials.…”

Analysis of the Voices of Faculty Members Carrying out Inclusive Practices Using ICT

“…It also allows learners to rewind, slow down, and replay content when needed (Dinmore, 2019). Slide presentations can benefit all learners as long as they are properly designed and verified using PowerPoint's accessibility checker (Fichten et al, 2019).…”