Developing, Using and Organizing Resources in a Specialist Area

This report discusses the usage and development of resources for teaching and learning in the specialist area of sight impairment. It covers the purpose of resources, evaluation of specific resources, principles of resource design, theories and models of inclusive curriculum design, ways in which resources can be adapted to enable an inclusive approach, and legal requirements associated with usage and development of resources. It also includes a reflection on personal strengths and areas for improvement, and a SMART action plan to improve skills in the use and development of resources in sight impairment teaching areas.

Developing,
Using and
Organizing
Resources in a
Specialist Area

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Define and explain purpose of resources in teaching and leaning........................................1
1.2 Evaluation of effectiveness of specific resources in meeting individual needs of students .2
2.1 Analysis of principles of resource design ............................................................................2
2.2 Evaluation of resources which inform resource development in sight impairment area .....3
2.3 Analysis of theories, principles and models of inclusive curriculum design which can be
resource development in specialist area of sight impairment ....................................................3
2.4 Analysis of ways in which resources can be adapted to enable inclusive approach in sight
impairment area...........................................................................................................................4
2.5 Evaluate design resources including emerging technologies to engage and meet individual
learner needs ...............................................................................................................................4
2.6 Evaluation of specific resources to meet and engage individual learning needs in area of
sight impairment .........................................................................................................................4
3.1 Explantation of ways in which resources can be classified and stored ................................5
3.2 Review ways in which resources can be shared with other learning professionals .............5
4.1 Review of legal requirements and responsibilities associated with usage and development
of resources ................................................................................................................................5
4.2 Analysis of implication of intellectual property rights in resource use and development ...5
5.1 Evaluation of own design and resource usage in meeting individual student needs ...........6
5.2 Reflect on practice with identification of own strengths and areas for improvement ..........6
5.3 Development of five point SMART action plan to improve skills in use and development
of resources in sight impairment teaching areas ........................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
The specialist area of sight impairment in teaching and learning revolves around dealing
with students with visual impairment and sing resources to help students become successful
members of their communities (Bandalaria, 2019). This report looks at usage and development
of resources for teaching and leaning in specialist area of sight impairment. The purpose of
resources and evaluation of specific resources in meeting students is included in this report.
Resources which inform resource development, theories, models and principles of curriculum
design and ways in which resources can be adopted inclusive approach can be adopted to enable
inclusive approach are provided in this report. In addition to this, design resource and emerging
technologies to meet and engage individual leaning needs is provided in this report. Legal
responsibilities, implication of intellectual property rights on development and use of resources
along with evaluation of own design resource usage and development is provided in this report.
Finally reflection on own strengths and areas of improvement is included in this report along
with five point SMART goals is also provided in this report.
MAIN BODY
1.1 Define and explain purpose of resources in teaching and leaning
Teaching resources such as opportunities to develop ICT skills, diversified teaching
approaches, large print books, and material adaptations play an important role in ensuring
effective educational services are provided to visually impaired students. The purpose of
teaching resources is to provide a source of learning experience for students and act as
supporting tool in teaching (Bryson and Andres, 2020). This is done by giving students assess to
files and materials without the need of an instructor in an informal manner. Developing
independent learning, using different learning styles and special equipment such as refreshable
Braille Displays are examples of learning resource which are used for creating better
environment for visually impaired students. The purpose of learning resources is to help
students construct more superficial knowledge that is building in depth knowledge on a
particular subject and also developing their individual learning strategies, values, attitudes and
generic skills.
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1.2 Evaluation of effectiveness of specific resources in meeting individual needs of students
Particular teaching and learning resources such as Braille display and large print books
help staff meet needs of visually impaired students and improve their education experience
(Busulwa and Bbuye, 2018). The advantage of Braille display is that it enables students who are
blind and partially sighted students to gain an understanding of how text is formatted in a page.
This helps them read and understand lesson on their own which fosters independent learning.
The disadvantage of using Braille display is that the complexity of Braille signs can hinder
growth of students who have been recently visually impaired and toddlers. The advantage of
using large print books is that it helps students with sight impairment read at same pace other
students without any difficulties. The disadvantage of using large print books is that it is not
useful for for completely blind students and are expensive teaching resource.
2.1 Analysis of principles of resource design Respect: This design principle focuses on honouring intentions, expertise and experience
to achieve your goals by leveraging resources. The positive impact of this design
principle is that it leads to using experience to improve resource design while the
negative impact of this resource design is that expertise in specific field might limits the
ability to use innovative solutions as intentions and past experience are honoured. Iteration:This principle involves gaining early feedback to complete resource design. The
positive impact of this principles is that it supports goals of deign by improving process
of resource design. The negative impact of this principle is that it slows down the process
of resource design. Collaboration: Clear roles, effective decision making, documentation and process flow
support lead to collaboration in resource design. The positive impact of this principle is
that it leads to better resource design as different perspectives are used in the process. The
negative impact this principle is that it may introduce conflict as different individuals
have opposing perspective. Efficiency and Effectiveness: Developing a usable resources as quickly as possible in
order to learn, build and revise over time. The positive impact of this principle is that it
gives time for making further improvement in learning and teaching resource (Cañadas,
2021). The negative impact is that it introduces time constraints which increases the
stress of teaching professionals.
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 Sustainability: The final principle revolves around ensuring sustainability of resource.
The positive impact is that it leads to sustainable teaching while the negative impact is
that it increases expense of the resources.
2.2 Evaluation of resources which inform resource development in sight impairment area
Internet resources help inform resource development in specialist area of sight
impairment. Internet resource help gain detailed information on specific subject and latest
developments in teaching visually impaired which assist in resource development (Crawford and
Jenkins, 2018). The advantage of this source is that it is inexpensive. The disadvantage is that
internet resources are not highly reliable and finding authentic and reliable internet sources to
inform resource development in teaching visually impaired students is tie consuming. Taking
advice and guidance from industry professional bodies such as World Blind Union to improve
teaching and leaning resources for students with sight impairment is an effective teaching
resource development source. The advantage of this source is that guidance can be used to solve
specific problems with individual students and ensure that needs of every student are met. The
disadvantage of this source is that there is uncertainty that advice gained from industry
professional bodies such as World Blind Union will inform resource development.
2.3 Analysis of theories, principles and models of inclusive curriculum design which can be
resource development in specialist area of sight impairment
Addressing learning domains by application of Bloom's taxonomy helps in development
of teaching and learning resources in sight impairment specialist area. The advantage of this
inclusive curriculum design model is that it helps in create of learning resources so that desired
depth of learning for visually impaired students can be achieved. This is done by categorizing
learning objectives in different levels of complexity in three learning domains of cognitive,
affective and psychomotor leaning. The disadvantage of using this model; for resource
development in sight impairment area is that it depicts learning as linear process while for most
students it is an integrated process. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is another theory which can be
used to inform resource development by addressing different levels of need of students with
visual impairment (Fernández and et. al., 2019). The advantage of using this theory for resource
development is that it helps create teaching resources which help students achieve highest need
of self-actualization. The disadvantage of this need is that needs may not follow hierarchical
order for every student which will lead to ineffective resource development.
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2.4 Analysis of ways in which resources can be adapted to enable inclusive approach in sight
impairment area
Changing font size is one of the signifiant ways which helps introduce inclusive teaching
approach for students with visual impairment. This allows students with visual impairment to
understand teaching material easily (Herrero and Vanderschelden, 2019). The merit of this
method is that it changing font of learning material is an inexpensive resource for improving
teaching environment for students. The demerit of using this resource to increase inclusive
teaching is that it is not effective for completely blind students. Allowing students to use their
own resources at different levels is another method for developing inclusive approach. The merit
of this method is that it makes the students comfortable during at different learning levels while
the demerit of this method is that it may create difficulties in assessing students. This is because
students will be using their own resources to gain knowledge which might not be familiar to
professional or complicated to asses.
2.5 Evaluate design resources including emerging technologies to engage and meet individual
learner needs
E-learning study centre resources is piece of emerging technology which is used to met
needs of students with visual impairments. The advantage of this design resource is it provides
expert information on issues related to teaching students with visual impairment. The
disadvantage of this resource is that it introduces cyber security risks as E-learning is dependent
on usage of Internet. Resource packs of internet material also help in meeting needs of students.
The merit of this deign resource is that audio package help engage visually impaired students
while the disadvantage is that technical problems in using internet resource packs can halt
lessons (Jafri, Aljuhani and Ali, 2017).
2.6 Evaluation of specific resources to meet and engage individual learning needs in area of sight
impairment
The emerging technology which helps develop resources to meet needs of individual
learners are screen reading software. This software helps create audio version of screen text and
helps students easily understand textual information. This has helped meet the needs of students
with sight impairment including effective usage of time. The two resources which have been
developed with the help of this technology is textbook reading material. In addition to this class
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lectures are another resource which have developed because of this technology as it fosters
independent learning and enables students to understand various facts at their own speed.
3.1 Explantation of ways in which resources can be classified and stored
There are different ways through which resources can be classified. Maintaining archive
documents is an effective way of classifying learning and teaching resources (Mohan, Lingam
and Chand, 2017). This involves keeping historical data of various resources and it helps avoid
loss of data related to various resources. The most effective way of is by using computer devices
such as USB to store various teaching and learning resources. Limiting access to such storage
technology and maintaining a booking and issuing systems also helps protect loss of data.
3.2 Review ways in which resources can be shared with other learning professionals
Central resource bank can be created from which professionals can gain access to various
resources easily. The advantage of this method of sharing resources is that it is simplistic while
the disadvantage is that unauthorized individuals can also gain access to various resources.
Virtual learning environment an also be used to share teaching resources. This has the
advantage being accessible remotely with disadvantage of introducing cyber-security threats.
4.1 Review of legal requirements and responsibilities associated with usage and development of
resources
Data protection is an important legal requirement as student and staff data needs to be
protected from invasion of privacy by following Data Protection Law, 2013. The advantage of
this legal responsibility is that it helps maintains privacy of learners while the disadvantage is
that data protection is local and cannot enforce protection from global cyber-security threats.
Ensuring plagiarisms is not practice is another legal responsibility. The advantage of this legal
responsibility is that helps avoid legal action from original content creator. The disadvantage of
this legal responsibility is that checking plagiarism an slow other activities and decision making
regarding teaching students (Nilsson and Hauff, 2018).
4.2 Analysis of implication of intellectual property rights in resource use and development
The positive implication of copyrights and intellectual property rights in resource use and
development is that avoiding infringement of intellectual property rights is that it helps avoid
legal action. The negative implication intellectual property rights is that it limits development of
teaching and leaning resources without gaining permission from original creator.
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5.1 Evaluation of own design and resource usage in meeting individual student needs
Fostering independent learning of visually impaired students through resource design and
resource usage has positive and negative impacts. The positive impact is that it makes learning
active process and improves student engagement. The negative impact of fostering independent
learning is that it decreases cohesiveness in classroom and may alienate students from their peers
(Odame and et. al., 2021) . Usage of emerging technologies such has helped create inclusive
learning environment for students with visual impairment. The positive impact of using
emerging technologies is that it helps create verbal leaning environment for students while the
negative impact is that it introduces cyber-security issues such as hacking by outsider.
5.2 Reflect on practice with identification of own strengths and areas for improvement
My primary strengths are ability to utilize advanced technology such as E-learning
material experience for students and ability to change learning styles to ensure progress of each
individual student. My main areas for improvement involve usage of Bloom's taxonomy theory
to enhance inclusive learning and appropriate usage of time to ensure that every student is able to
learn from various sources effectively.
5.3 Development of five point SMART action plan to improve skills in use and development of
resources in sight impairment teaching areas
Objective Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Timely
To gain better
understanding
of Bloom's
taxonomy
theory
This is specific
objective as it
involves
understanding
Bloom's
taxonomy theory
This objective
can be measured
by determining
competence in
application of
this theory
This objective
can be attained
by taking online
classes on
Bloom's theory.
This is relevant
objective as
this theory can
be used for
resource
development.
3
months
To improve
data protection
of various
learning and
teaching
resources
This is particular
objective
associated with
protecting student
teaching and
learning
This objective
can be measured
by determining
improvement in
cyber security of
digital resource
This objective
can be attained
by taking
services of
cyber-security
experts to
This is relevant
objective as
helps complete
legal
responsibility
and develop
1
months
6

resources which
are stored
digitally.
resources. enhance data
protection.
resources.
To understand
good practice
for resource
sharing
This objective
aims to gain more
knowledge of
resource sharing
good practice.
The
measurement
criteria for this
objective is
ability to apply
resource sharing
good practice.
This objective
can be attained
by attending
seminars related
to resource
usage and
development in
teaching and
learning.
This objective
helps in
development of
resources as
resource
sharing
promotes
collaboration.
3
months
To attend
seminars and
conferences
organized by
international
professional
bodies in
teaching area
of sight
impairment.
This objective is
specific in nature
as it involves
participating in
seminars and
conferences by
international
professorial
bodies in field of
teaching students
with sight
impairment.
The
measurement
criteria of this
objective is
gaining new
knowledge
resource usage
and development
by participating
in various
seminars and
conferences.
This objective
can be attained
by attending
various
seminars by
international
bodies such as
World blind
Union.
This is relvan5t
objective as it
improves
expertise in
effective
resource usage
and
development in
field of
teaching
students with
sight
impairment.
6
months
To improve
time
management
in using and
enveloping
This is specific
objective as it
aims to enhance
time management
skill in relation to
The
measurement
criteria for this
objective is
improvement in
4-d time
management
tool can be
used to enhance
time
This is relevant
objective as it
helps in
effective usage
and
3
months
7

resources. usage and
development of
learning and
teaching
resources.
for using and
developing
teaching and
learning
resources for
benefits of
students with
visual
impairment.
management
skill and ensure
effective usage
and
development of
resources.
development of
resources in
timely manner.
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CONCLUSION
From the above report it is determined that the purpose of teaching and learning resources
in the area of teaching students with visual impairment is to support development of each
individual students and meet their needs. The five principles of resource design are respect,
iteration, collaboration, effectiveness and efficiency and sustainability. Internet resources and
taking guidance from international bodies are ways of informing resource development.
Inclusive curriculum design theories and models such as as Maslow's hierarchy of needs can help
in resource development. Changing font size and usage of internet resources are ways which
enable inclusive teaching and resource development for field of sight impairment. Maintaining
archive documents helps classify resources while USB can be used to store teaching and learning
resources. VLE helps in effective sharing of resources. SMART goals help individuals improve
their capabilities in using and developing teaching and learning resources by enabling them to
take quick action.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bandalaria, M. D. P., 2019. Massive open online courses as open educational resources in a
blended teaching and learning mode of instructional delivery in higher
education. International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 25(2). pp.156-169.
Bryson, J. R. and Andres, L., 2020. Covid-19 and rapid adoption and improvisation of online
teaching: curating resources for extensive versus intensive online learning
experiences. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 44(4). pp.608-623.
Busulwa, H. S. and Bbuye, J., 2018. Attitudes and coping practices of using mobile phones for
teaching and learning in a Uganda secondary school. Open Learning: The Journal of
Open, Distance and e-Learning, 33(1). pp.34-45.
Cañadas, L., 2021. Contribution of formative assessment for developing teaching competences
in teacher education. European Journal of Teacher Education, pp.1-17.
Crawford, R. and Jenkins, L. E., 2018. Making pedagogy tangible: Developing skills and
knowledge using a team teaching and blended learning approach. Australian Journal of
Teacher Education (Online), 43(1). pp.127-142.
Fernández and et. al., 2019. Application of didactic strategies as multisensory teaching tools in
organic chemistry practices for students with visual disabilities. Journal of Chemical
Education, 96(4), pp.691-696.
Herrero, C. and Vanderschelden, I. eds., 2019. Using film and media in the language classroom:
reflections on research-led teaching. Multilingual Matters.
Jafri, R., Aljuhani, A. M. and Ali, S. A., 2017. A tangible user interface-based application
utilizing 3D-printed manipulatives for teaching tactual shape perception and spatial
awareness sub-concepts to visually impaired children. International Journal of Child-
Computer Interaction, 11. pp.3-11.
Mohan, P. P., Lingam, G.I . and Chand, D. D., 2017. Teachers' perceptions of the impact of
professional development on learning and teaching in a developing nation. Australian
Journal of Teacher Education, 42(11). pp.18-33.
Nilsson, J. and Hauff, J. C., 2018. Reducing statistics anxiety using limited teaching
resources. Journal of International Education in Business.
Odame and et. al., 2021. University preparation and the work capabilities of visually impaired
graduates in Ghana: a tracer study. International Journal of Inclusive
Education, 25(11), pp.1287-1304.
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