University of Portsmouth
EIA Final Report Form
Item:
E-Learning Strategy
Department:
Curriculum and Quality
Enhancement
Faculty:
Central Services
Purpose:
To advance the use of e-learning across the University
Does, or could, the policy adversely affect any of the following equality
target groups?
Age
No
Disability
Yes
Gender
No
Race
No
Religion / Belief
No
Sexual Orientation
No
Does, or could, the policy actively promote equality to any of the
following equality target groups?
Age
Race
No
No
Disability
Religion / Belief
Yes
No
Gender
Sexual Orientation
No
No
Does the item contribute anything to any of the following?
Promoting good relations between different racial groups?
Eliminating harassment of people?
No
No
Promoting positive attitudes towards disabled people?
Encouraging the participation of disabled people in public life?
No
No
Providing for the needs of disabled people?
Yes
The Impact Assessment Panel's feedback
- Some parts of the policy were vague and could do with 'fleshing out'.
Perhaps by taking generic statements on the positive uses of e-learning and
replacing them with actual examples of what would happen in certain
situations.
- It's also felt that it's important to ensure ongoing monitoring to check elearning is meeting the needs of all student.
Continued overleaf…
Page 1 of 3
University of Portsmouth
EIA Final Report Form
The assessor’s original decision as to whether the item
should face full Equality Impact Assessment:
Yes
The reasoning behind this decision:
The University has in the order of 19,000 students. Of these approximately
1,500 (8.1%) are classified as disabled. 50% of disabled students suffer with
dyslexia, 4.5% are mobility impaired and 3.3% (approximately 50) are sight
impaired.
The e-Learning strategy and the anticipated increased use of e-learning could
have both positive and negative impacts on disabled staff and students.
The greater electronic availability of learning resources and guidance is likely
to benefit individuals with impaired mobility or some severe chronic conditions
(e.g. ME) as they will be able to engage in the learning from home. It might
also benefit dyslexic students or students with other learning disabilities in that
they would have access to teaching materials and be able to revisit them on a
number of occasions as well as printing material onto coloured paper to assist
their learning.
Students with severe sight impairment might be disadvantaged by the greater
use of e-learning. Assistive technology will go some way to mitigate. However
sight impaired individuals might also be assisted by the ability to print
resources using larger fonts, being able to use the accessibility resources in
Vista, being able to replay audio/video clips more than once and being able to
use text to speech technology. Indeed the provision of as much written
material as possible in electronic form is recommended for sight impaired
individuals.
Students with disabilities that affect keyboard skills might be adversely
affected by some activities e.g. participation in on-line tutorials. Again
assistive technology and reasonable adjustment should mitigate against the
impact.
On balance, the increased use of e-learning is likely to provide more
advantages than disadvantages to students and staff with a wide range of
disabilities.
The preliminary EIA panel’s advice as to whether the item
should face full Equality Impact Assessment
Yes
If this decision differs from the policy owners, the following are the
reasons why:
The assessor’s final decision as to whether the item should
face full Equality Impact Assessment:
Page 2 of 3
No
University of Portsmouth
EIA Final Report Form
If this differs from either the original assessment or the panel’s advice
the following is the reason why:
Incorporated into the learning, teaching, assessment and student support
strategy
This item was not sent for full EIA. The following people were involved in that
assessment:
Dr Valda Bunker, Dr Peter Starie, Ms Sue Sayce, Mr John Fielding
considered the strategy and its impact on the target groups. We were not able
to consult with an Assessment Group as these have yet to be established.
Leading this investigation was:
Valda Bunker
Please note that this item was also seen by an EIA Assessment Panel and
their feedback (if there was any) is shown at a on the first page of this
document. The Equality and Diversity Unit co-ordinates Assessment Panels
made up of staff and students from equality target groups. This ensures that
every preliminary and full impact assessment has involved disabled, LGBT,
BME staff and students, and individuals with a range of religious faiths, ages
and genders. The staff panel members are also a mix of academic and
support staff. For more information on Assessment panels pleased see the
document: information on EIA Assessment panels.
Date of preliminary EIA completed:
Date seen by EIA panel:
Date of final decision:
Date of publication
Page 3 of 3
2/26/2007
9/3/2007
11/13/2009
12/04/2009