E-learning for the visually impaired

(Left) Reverend Datuk Dr Charles Samuel with Dr Koh (second right) and Dr Zoraini (right) watching S. Gomathi on the e-learning system.

TO make education more accessible and equitable for the blind and visually-impaired (BVI) students, Wawasan Open University (WOU) and St Nicholas Home for the Blind have signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) to make web accessible e-learning educational resources available to BVIs.

WOU acting vice-chancellor Prof Dr Zoraini Wati Abas said that WOU was committed to provide knowledge transfer services to St Nicholas Home through technical support on server-related issues and consultations on Learning Management System (LMS) related issues.

She said this would enable teachers of the home to share their learning resources with the visually-impaired students to enhance their knowledge and skills in attaining higheracademic qualifications throughout Malaysia.

“With the LMS, learners can have discussion with their peers, tutors and course coordinators.

“Besides that, the LMS will also facilitate administration of courses, documentation, as well as tracking and reporting of learner behaviours,” she said.

St Nicholas Home’s executive director Daniel Soon said there were several challenges faced when setting up the system two years ago.

He said that the home had a hard time getting materials such as large print or Braille as they were not available or accessibleto the blind and visually-impaired people.

“We also faced difficulty in translating the resources from text to Braille as the process of scanning the books was tedious and efforts to translate required help from trained members,” he said. He also pointed that the constant change of materials by the Education Ministry had made it hard for them to source for informations.

Former Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, who is WOU board of governors chairman was also present to witness the MoA signing.