Human beings are described by many spiritual traditions as ‘blind’ or ‘asleep’ or ‘in a dream.’ These terms refers to the limited attenuated state of consciousness of most human beings caught up in patterns of conditioned thought, feeling and perception, which prevent the development of our latent, higher spiritual possibilities. In the words of Idries Shah: “Man, like a sleepwalker who suddenly ‘comes to’ on some lonely road has in general no correct idea as to his origins or his destiny.” In some religious traditions, such as Christianity and Islam, the myth of the ‘Fall from the Garden of Eden’ symbolizes the loss of the primordial state through the veiling of higher consciousness. Other traditions use similar metaphors to describe the spiritual condition of humanity:

The Human Condition.

The present report is submitted in response to General Assembly resolution 61/106, by which the Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol thereto. As requested by the Assembly, a brief overview of the status of the Convention as at 3 August 2007 is presented. The report also contains a brief description of technical arrangements on staff and facilities made necessary for the effective performance of the functions of the Conference of States Parties and the Committee under the Convention and the Optional Protocol, and a description on the progressive implementation of standards and guidelines for the accessibility of facilities and services of the United Nations system. Recent efforts of the United Nations and agencies to disseminate information on the Convention and the Optional Protocol are also described.

わかりやすい障害者の権利条約 : 知的障害のある人の権利のために = Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities

Extracted from text ... 509 
Title: Finding your way in qualitative research 
Authors: E. Henning, W. van Rensburg and B. Smit 
Year: 2004 
Publisher: Van Schaik 
ISBN: 0-627-02545-5 (paperback, 179 pages) 
'It's like trying to navigate a dangerous, and mainly uncharted raging river, full of hidden currents and submerged rocks, only no-one will give you a boat that doesn't leak.' This quote, taken from the diary of a postgraduate student attempting to conduct qualitative research for the first time, succinctly and trenchantly summarises the frustration and confusion often faced by 'novice' qualitative researchers. 
Whilst the use of qualitative methods in conducting research within ..

Finding your way in qualitative research, E. Henning, W. van Rensburg and B. Smit : book review

Acting with Technology: Activity Theory and Interaction Design

The idea of using computers in education has a fairly long history, but the role they play has changed over the years. Early uses often involved using a computer in an instructional capacity, effectively playing the role of the teacher transferring knowledge to an individual. Over time, common use has involved many more collaborative and online elements. The ability for students to work together and to receive quicker feedback from instructors in a classroom setting shows promise for improving the acquisition of knowledge. There are additional benefits that come with the ability to use the same technology outside of the classroom to maintain interaction with classmates and access to external educational resources. Apple tried to take advantage of the rapidly developing educational technology market in the late 1990s by introducing the eMate 300, but the technology was still too expensive to take off. The eMate was discontinued just one year after its release. The more recent One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project has, however, seen some success with its inexpensive XO-1 laptop. OLPC is targeting education, but is focused on developing nations and other underdeveloped regions. As the technology continues to get cheaper, such products will only become more accessible to those in need. —Finn Kuusisto their accounts restored or updated. This adds convenience to the customer who is no longer constrained by timing and distance, and reduces the costs of the network operators tasked with handling cash payments. This integration typifies the kinds of innovations that are set to bring about dramatic changes in the way businesses model themselves, while opening up immense new opportunities for entrepreneurs. Where Internet access is limited, such feature phone applications can do for developing countries what online payment methods did for the developing world. As FabFi seeks to expand, bringing WiFi connectivity to remote areas, the stage is indeed being set to channel the demonstrated innovative ability of higher bandwidth applications to address developing country needs—all served by open source ware and open source techniques. The impact could indeed be significant. My experience working with the DLab class and FabFi project has given me the opportunity to learn about extending advanced technologies using low cost techniques, and also to meet innovative young entrepreneurs implementing their visions, which has been a great inspiration. It is perhaps most interesting to see how engineering innovation from students in the U.S. can be combined with locallygrown innovation in Kenya to create new business models that can be exported globally. I hope educational programs such as these help foster stronger collaboration between engineering students, entrepreneurs, and ICT organizations around the world.

ICT for education

Background:  This article emanates from a study funded by the KwaZulu-Natal chapter of South Africa’s National Research Foundation on the ‘Archaeology of Ubuntu’. It explores the notion of ubuntu and disability in a group of Zulu people from four communities within KwaZulu-Natal. The study is based on the notion that ubuntu is humaneness. Being human is linked to notions of care, respect and compassion. Objectives:  The article explores the treatment of people with disabilities from the elders’ perspectives in this community. Method:  This article is based on qualitative data resulting from structured interviews conducted in the KwaZulu-Natal Province between February and March 2015. Results:  The results reveal that society considered the birth of a disabled child as a curse from God and punishment from the ancestors. The results also indicate that people with disabilities were excluded from community activities; marrying a disabled person was unthinkable because they were stigmatised and dehumanised. The work of Hannah Arendt is used to interrogate people’s perceptions of others with disabilities in their communities. Conclusion:  The article posits that treatment of people with disabilities is not cast in stone but can be renegotiated and restructured through community engagement to represent genuine inclusion.

http://www.scielo.org.za/pdf/ajod/v7/28.pdf

Ubuntu considered in light of exclusion of people with disabilities

/pdf/information-and-communication-technology-as-a-learning-tool-2h548ilq8u.pdf

Information and communication technology as a learning tool : experiences of students with blindness

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools provide an ideal mechanism by which students can interact closely with their lecturers in an open distance learning (ODL) context This is especially true for students with disabilities who require access through alternative formats This paper demonstrates teaching and learning practices in an ODL institution in South Africa, with a focus on the indispensable role of lecturers and tutors in an online learning setting The paper employs the Community of Inquiry, which sees the effective online learning environment through three elements: cognitive, social, and teaching presence The findings shed light on the use of vision-based approaches in course design; limited implementation of open-access policies, and the academic faculty’s lack of knowledge on how to facilitate inclusive learning The paper concludes by presenting a proposed student-centred framework that seeks to facilitate inclusive teaching and learning towards positive and inclusive learning experiences for students The proposed framework could be beneficial during pandemic situations

https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/11/4/152/pdf

Using Community of Inquiry (CoI) to Facilitate the Design of a Holistic E-Learning Experience for Students with Visual Impairments

Innovative teaching is a concept based on student-centred teaching strategies. Access to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects has not been equitable due to use of traditional teaching strategies. These strategies tend to exclude students with disabilities who can effectively learn in environments that appropriately and innovatively integrate technology. Better use of technology in teaching also requires teachers to have the relevant skills to take advantage of the devices in their disposal. This article provides an overview of the literature and experiences of lecturers on the use of technology to facilitate access to STEM subjects at Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions. Using two TVET colleges as case studies, it seeks to clarify how technology is currently used in vocational training. Data gathering was done through in-depth e-interviews and observation of classes. Purposive convenience sampling was used to select the most accessible teachers that teach students with disabilities for this study.  Understanding of prior practices and current teacher technological competency are the initial points in the development of TVET technology integration model. In this article, the experiences of teachers were used to guide the development of an inclusive and equitable technology integration model.

/pdf/lecturers-experiences-of-teaching-stem-to-students-with-2hyg63ovym.pdf

Lecturers’ Experiences of Teaching STEM to Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities have been going through different forms of discrimination and exclusion. These include inaccessible learning materials and learning platforms, negative attitudes from lecturers, fellow students and more. This paper comes from a qualitative study that sought to explore how Covid-19 deepened these educational inequalities at an Open Distance Learning institution in South Africa. The results of the study reveal that institutions of higher learning had to quickly adjust their teaching and assessment to online mode. This led to heightened exclusion of students with disabilities as their examinations had to be postponed to second semester due to lack of preparations for special examinations. Students also reported experiencing extra pressure as they had to write double the examinations at the end of the year. Some students reported lack of access to assistive technologies which they normally borrow from the library, this was because the Post Office was not operating during the National Lockdown Level 5. The novel nature of Covid-19 is such that the real barriers it caused on people and students with disabilities in particular and it will keep revealing itself gradually. This paper ends by making recommendations on how an ODL institution could accommodate the needs of students with disabilities to enhance their learning experiences during pandemics or natural disasters. © 2021. Ngubane-Mokiwa and Zongozzi;Licensee Lifescience Global. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.

/pdf/exclusion-reloaded-the-chronicles-of-covid-19-on-students-19epd7sn6f.pdf

Sindile A. Ngubane-Mokiwa

Papers

Ubuntu considered in light of exclusion of people with disabilities

Information and communication technology as a learning tool : experiences of students with blindness

Using Community of Inquiry (CoI) to Facilitate the Design of a Holistic E-Learning Experience for Students with Visual Impairments

Lecturers’ Experiences of Teaching STEM to Students with Disabilities

Exclusion Reloaded: The Chronicles of Covid-19 on Students with Disabilities in a South African Open Distance Learning Context