Tech levels the playing field for students with disability

At a recent stakeholder engagement on the implementation of digital learning in higher education institutions students with disabilities shared their experiences on the use of technology.

Diana Muwanguzi, a first year student at Kyambogo University with visual impairment, said stigma, low self-esteem, lack of enough learning materials and their accessibility slow down her learning pace.

The Counselling and Guidance student continued to reveal how students with disabilities suffer with inadequate resources and wonders how technology-based education will work, especially for people like her.

“Today’s education is technology-driven but the materials at hand are not enough for us. What becomes of the technology that requires laptops, phones, data among and the like to be useful,” she added.

Inclusivity

Talking about inclusivity students in Uganda, particularly those with disabilities especially the deaf and blind, are yet to benefit from education technology (EdTech).

According to GeneralAssembly, in EdTech, digital technology is devoted to the development and application of tools including software, hardware, and appropriate technological processes intended to promote education.

Partnering with Cyber school solutions, Anthology, the EdTech leader based in Florida, America, has introduced software as a service (Saas) solutions in Uganda to power the evolving needs of today’s learners and institutions.

Through the power of together, Nicolas Albouze, the Africa regional president of Anthology, revealed that they are using innovation that is meaningful, simple and intelligent to redefine what is possible and create life-changing opportunities for people everywhere.

This, he said, caters for students with disabilities, since the installation of more affordable digital braille is also among the solutions, especially for those with visual impairment.

“Our systems have been built in a way that students with disabilities such as hearing impairment can access digital textbooks and other learning materials in all fonts and languages. Those with visual impairment can also access the same materials through audiobooks powered by artificial intelligence,” Albouze said.

On education and technology

Marrying education with technology, Albouze believes will create life-changing opportunities for everyone everywhere, while inspiring student’s success and institutional growth.

Amina Namukose, a second-year student at Nkumba University, who is hard of hearing, said the use of telephones, especially social media platforms such as WhatsApp where lecturers create groups to communicate has eased her coursework.

“Even submitting the coursework is easy because sometimes I just finish my part and send it to our group leader through WhatsApp or email to print and submit. That way, it eases my learning,” Namukose said.

Some students who are also hard of hearing revealed they use technology to research topics before lectures. Reading ahead of the lecturer helps them not lag behind.

Easing coursework, quick communication and research are the three major things the majority of the students living with different disabilities pointed out about technology in education.

Enhancing education in tech

John Mukibi Katende, the project manager at Cyber School Solutions, said they have embarked on sensitisation to ensure that many people understand and appreciate this initiative since it is more efficient. He said today’s fast-paced world is a hub where artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more indispensable.

Generative Al has the potential to reshape higher education. However, delivering on that promise requires ensuring that the technology is accessible to the entire academic community. For that reason, many colleges and universities are now taking steps to ensure that people with visual, hearing, physical, or other disabilities can still use the same tools and technologies available to everyone else.

During an executive breakfast on Intelligent Education technologies organised by Anthology Technologies, in the context of Uganda’s Digital Agenda Strategy last week, stakeholders in the education sector, students and tech experts discussed how best Uganda’s high education institutions can adapt and implement digital learning with ease.

Statistics

The 2016 Demographic Health Survey (DHS) indicated that 12.4 percent amounting to 4.5 million Ugandans have disabilities, although it did not reveal how many of these are in schools.

The latest statistics from the Ministry of Genderindicate that 5.82 percent of Ugandan children are estimated to be with disabilities, this translates to 2,027,148 children with disabilities, according to the National Action Plan for Children with Disabilities 2016/2017-2020/2021.

On internet usage, the latest January 2024 statistics from DataReportal, a global website that runs the countries’ phones and internet usage indicates that Uganda had 33.3 million phones, 13.3 million internet users and 2.6 social media subscribers.

Catering for the stigmatised

Some students with disabilities said lecturers who teach through virtual platforms treat them like their non-PWD counterparts, yet they need extra consideration. With challenges such as expensive gadgets, high internet costs, and poor network connections, Muwanguzi appealed for help, since this affects everyone, especially from low-income and peasant families.

“We already have low self-esteem and before others stigmatise us, we have already stigmatised ourselves. We need a deliberate mindset change campaign,” she said.

Through Anthology’s ecosystem of flagship solutions and supporting services,Blackboard, and Anthology Reach, Ugandan students will be a part of more than 80 million countries using the technology to support their education.