Access to e-learning resources among pre-service teachers with visual impairment in colleges of education, Ghana

Abstract

This study examined the accessibility of e-learning resources among pre-service teachers with visual impairment at the Presbyterian College of Education and Wesley College of Education in the Akuapem North and Old Tafo Municipal Assemblies in the Eastern and Ashanti Regions of Ghana, respectively. Using a qualitative approach to inquiry with a case study research design, the study employed a semi-structured interview and focus group discussion guide to elicit data from 13 respondents from these two study areas. The data were analysed using themes that emerged from the data. The findings of the study revealed high availability of e-learning resources such as laptops, projectors, tablets and many more. However, the study revealed that e learning resources were inaccessible to some of the students or that they had difficulties in accessing them. It was recommended that the management of these two Colleges should, through their heads of Information Communication Technology, communicate to students the timelines for the closure of e-learning facilities during maintenance sessions. The government, through the Ministry of Education, should equip e-learning facilities with specially designed modern software and devices, as well as the technical units with tools needed to fix faults that are reported to facilitate e-learning.