Kent, Mike. “Disability, Mental Illness, and eLearning: Invisible Behind the Screen?”. The Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy. 8(2015). Web. 25 February 2020.
Open Universities Australia offers the option of disclosing that they have a disability so that the specific schools can tailor the program to their needs, but admissions are finding that many students are hesitant to reveal their disability. This has divulged that a high percentage in the country’s population reported suffering from a mental illness, but because it was not disclosed in the application process, those with disabilities were highly under-represented, which also restricted their opportunity to learn. Students with disabilities felt their impairments were made even more invisible in an online context because of universities’ decisions to under-represent those with invisible disabilities. Open Universities Australia decided to conduct a study by giving a survey to its students. The questions consisted of students’ demographics, studies, accommodations, issues around disclosure, accessibility of technology and services as well as opinions of the university and free-response suggestions.
There were notes from the study that those who reported having a mental illness struggled with online accessibility, but they offered suggestions for improvement like “breathing space” during exams. The study also revealed that the most common mental illnesses among the students were depression, anxiety and PTSD. Many students conveyed their frustrations with the stigmas attached to these mental illnesses, as it was part of the reason they may have chosen not to disclose the information originally. The different types of impairment must be accounted for in the design of these institutions, which can be a tricky task, but that is why the study was conducted. Researchers wanted to know what can be changed to improve students’ experiences. The conclusion of the study was that online learning provided an easier learning environment for students with disabilities, but there were still areas that could be improved.