working with the participants in advance, reviewing culturally relevant examples and selecting experts and collaborators from those cultures will improve the impact of activities.
Phase 3 In addition to the cultural considerations from Phases 1 and 2, understanding the working environment, communication systems and knowledge sharing parameters is essential in the final phase of activities. To ensure participation in follow-up activities and encourage ongoing exchange, design systems that respect the cultural realities of participants, including holidays and working hours, for example. Provide relevant tools and tips for participants to share the information upon their return and formulate questions and reflections in an appropriate manner.
Additional factors The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization produced a series of multicultural considerations and possible verification approaches for the design and implementation of multicultural learning events. The full list is available in Annex 12. Universal design People concerned with accessibility for people with disabilities often advocate “Universal Design”. This is an approach that considers all participants, regardless of diverse forms of sensory and physical limitations. After identifying participant disabilities in the assessment, invite them to express their needs and preferences, and then take the time to validate the preferences personally. When developing the distance components of blended learning consider that participants with special needs likely have adapted workstations and special software to enhance accessibility, such as screenreaders57. Often, it is just a matter of adapting the workstation at home, the design of the web tools or sometimes also the software. A great example of a website designed with this in mind is http://www.un.org/disabilities/. Try to consistently use large fonts and high contrast pages to avoid redesigning material across different editions of the same course. Here is a list of tips shared by one of ITC ILO‟s activity managers Alessandra Molz: Some people might insist on the strict use of the right "politically correct" terminology - it is important to point out that not everyone uses the same terminology or considers the same terminology to be the "right" one or the most "correct" one. A degree of flexibility should be permitted and it is important to remind each other to always give the "benefit of the doubt". Ground rules can help to establish terminology. Someone who frequently starts discussions on terminology can be ask to draft a glossary after course hours, to be distributed the next morning. Always ask the disabled person what kind of assistance they need and also ask them to proactively point out when they need help - they are the ones who know best. Avoid being patronising or over-caring, treat disabled participants like everyone else. Try to guarantee accessibility everywhere, according to the disability: physical access for wheelchair users and people with walking difficulties (including accessible classrooms, vehicles for study tours, accessible toilets nearby, etc.). Make sure that the classroom set-up allows for them to move around freely. Take into account similar considerations for visually disabled participants. Consider using an extra course assistant who can assist a disabled participant whenever there is need, for example, assisting a blind person to move around during a world cafe, fishbowl or other exercises. 57
For more information see http://www.readthewords.com/
