Kurzfassung

The main objective of SEN-IST-NET is to support the development of a culture of pedagogical and technological innovation in Europe, for the benefit of stakeholders in the area of IST and for all learners, including those with Special Educational Needs (SEN). Through the SEN-IST-NET, the knowledge resources of a wide range of researchers, professionals and practitioners will be made available to all actors through a variety of media and carefully structured activities. Most networking...The main objective of SEN-IST-NET is to support the development of a culture of pedagogical and technological innovation in Europe, for the benefit of stakeholders in the area of IST and for all learners, including those with Special Educational Needs (SEN). Through the SEN-IST-NET, the knowledge resources of a wide range of researchers, professionals and practitioners will be made available to all actors through a variety of media and carefully structured activities. Most networking activities will be mediated through the "virtual" space of a dedicated SEN-IST-NET web portal. A range of core services will be established on the web-site, including the SEN-IST resource guide and a digital, full-text virtual library. A high level of service on the internet web site will ensure that data communication, collaboration in the web space, and dissemination activities are made accessible - also for persons with disabilities, complying with widely accepted accessibility guidelines. In the context of SEN-IST-NET, ITA is a subcontractor to one of the project members, FORTH-ICS in Heraklion / Crete, Greece. ITA supports FORTH-ICS in the design and evaluation of the web portal. Specifically, ITA participates in the requirements specification phase to collect users´ needs and expectations regarding access to information and communication in the field of Special Needs Education and Information Society Technologies / Information and Communication Technologies. Furthermore, ITA elicits technologies available for use by the SEN-IST-NET project, and identifies preferred modes of interaction in relation to users´ experience with Internet technologies. The outcomes will be used by FORTH-ICS designers to create the appropriate interface and functionality for the Web Portal. This specification will be based on surveys in different European members states among individuals from the SEN and the IST / ICT fields, who are members of the SEN-IST-NET target groups. According to the principles of design for all, the process of designing and implementing the communication portal will have continuous evaluation in all phases. The project will pay specific attention to the design of the user interface because most users attribute a system´s overall utility with the usability and acceptability of its interface. Furthermore, the user interface will have to conform to the same guidelines, that will be promoted through the portal, e.g., ease of use, ease of learning, accessibility or usability for the largest possible audience. In this context, ITA will evaluate prototypes and first dem-onstrators of the Web portal and assess them with respect to the requirements specification. Both qualitative and quantitative measures will be provided to inform the technical development in relation to the requirements of the users.» weiterlesen» einklappen