Journals @ Ontario Tech
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Exploring the Perceptions and Concerns of Canadian International Students (IS)
No full textHigher education institutions in Canada are facing new challenges in addressing the needs of international students (IS), such as housing, mental health, and discrimination. A better understanding of the change dynamics associated with the internationalization of higher education will be necessary to better respond to these challenges. The present study looked at factors that influence IS’s decision to study abroad using a push-and-pull framework. We conducted surveys of IS at Ontario Tech University (OT) and Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). Ninety-five students completed an online questionnaire, and ten were interviewed for more details. Our findings suggested several factors that might influence IS’s decisions to pursue higher education in Canada. Information collected will be used to shape policies and practices at participating universities and may have possible implications for the broader higher education community in Canada
Assessment of Accessibility in High-Traffic Facilities on Midwest College Campuses in the United States: An Awareness Study
No full textIndividuals with disabilities encounter many barriers while engaging in everyday activities within the community. This study aimed to evaluate the accessibility of existing facilities of six colleges and universities within West Michigan to help promote greater awareness of accessibility and inclusive learning environments from a public health perspective. This study may also suggest that national and international campuses could benefit from considering accessibility evaluations of their own. The study utilized the ADA Checklist for Existing Facilities (on the parameters of reasonable accommodation as defined in Title III of the ADA). The four structures were chosen based on which college students most frequented buildings. Results revealed that none of the six colleges and universities evaluated were 100% ADA compliant, with the entrance to buildings being the predominant ADA issue. These inadequate areas need to be acknowledged and modified to allow for inclusivity among all students in attendance. It is suggested that accessibility plans be incorporated into future building and landscape architecture to accommodate students best. 
Disability Data Justice from the Ground Up: A Practice-Led, Participatory Co-Design Approach to Building an AI Search Engine and Data Repository for Local, National, and Transnational Disability Organizations
No full textDisability advocacy organizations need access to disability data to advocate for human rights, disability justice, and sustainable development goals. Health informatics and Artificial Intelligence that has been developed through an equity-focused process provide important tools that can help address these needs. AI is prone to bias and might exacerbate discrimination and data ableism. A critical disability lens and community collaboration can help to address these biases, and multidisciplinary collaborations with grassroots and community-based organizations are crucial for advancing disability data justice. We have been engaged in a practice-led approach to building a disability justice-focused AI search engine. In the first section of this paper, we report on our co-design process, which included community consultations about disability data justice with local, provincial, national, transnational, and supernational disability organizations and advocates. In the second section, we demonstrate how we applied a transnational disability studies framework during our process of training a search engine AI to function from a disability justice perspective. We demonstrate the semantic and conceptual differences between a transnational approach and a disability rights approach, as a concrete example of how AI bias emerges. We argue that our participatory approach allows us to experiment with data repositories and search engines that confront AI bias and data ableism and reflect community needs
Including (My) Disability
No full textThe second installment of the Including (My) Disability special feature from the editorial board of Including Disability
Exploring Ethical Issues with Using Wearable Technology in K-12 Classrooms: A Review of the Literature
No full textSmartwatches and other miniaturized wearable devices are continuously evolving and are being used to capture and analyze the body data of young students. The body data being captured includes physical location and body movement, heart rate, stress and arousal, as well as academic emotions. With this information teachers are incorporating student-generated body data into creative learning activities to make learning student-centred and more engaging. However, there are unique challenges for teachers. These challenges are premised on applying sound pedagogical practices when implementing wearables and being informed about ethical considerations when using the personal data generated from student bodies. Our systematic review combines the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach with a thematic narrative analysis to review 29 articles from 2003 to 2019. Our findings include three major thematic sections dealing with ethical issues when using wearable technologies in K-12 education. The ethical issues we discuss are awareness of unintended outcomes, ethics of data ownership, and the risk of statistical solutionist management of student bodies
The #ActuallyAutistic community and métis autistic rhetoric on Twitter
No full textThis paper examines how pervading normative discourses show how able bodies and minds produce identity, knowledge, and power, and the ways that disabled bodyminds resist and through métis. This study examines tweets from the #ActuallyAutistic hashtag in the wake of the trailer and film release of Sia’s film Music. I analyze the ways that autistic Twitter users responded to the anti-autistic rhetorics of the film, as well as non-autistic Twitter users’ ableism and defense of Sia. Findings demonstrate how autistic Twitter users perform métis online to create an autistic rhetoric and reclaim rhetoricity. The success of this activism is seen through negative film reviews, which cite the film’s ableism, and other popular media rejections of the film. I argue that as a virtual and textual kairotic space, Twitter helps autistic people retake agency and provides a space to use métis rhetorics to center autistic experience and create an autistic rhetoric
Improving Mathematics Learning Through Computational Participation
No full textComputational Participation (CP) expands upon Computational Thinking (CT) by incorporating themes of problem-solving, creativity, and digital collaboration and communication. In the Fall of 2021, we partnered with two school boards to facilitate Professional Learning (PL) sessions with a broad community of educators and co-facilitated learning sessions with select classroom teachers. Both PL and co-facilitation learning sessions related to curriculum expectations for mathematics and coding. Instead of teaching coding for coding’s sake, our goal was to prepare teachers to use coding to help students understand mathematics under the pedagogical framework of CP. The questions guiding our overall research were to identify ways teachers can integrate CP while teaching mathematics in a meaningful way and identify the various learning opportunities that students gain when CP is integrated. Our research indicated that CP results in learning environments supportive of collaborative learning, communication, increased student engagement, and perseverance. In addition to this, teachers experienced a positive shift in their mindset toward cross-curricular planning. One persistent challenge in infusing digital coding with mathematics in this study was the lack of 1-to-1 technology in classrooms, which could interrupt momentum and disrupt student motivation
University is Not for the Weak: Student Communication of Mental Health on Twitter
No full textWell before the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated postsecondary students\u27 mental health challenges, students were already struggling with issues that were pervasive in higher education, including anxiety, depression, overwhelm, burnout, and difficulty accessing mental health supports. This paper examines 1007 Twitter posts pertaining to higher education students\u27 mental health between February 2019 and March 2021. Students expressed feelings that their institutions did not care about sound mental health and that higher education is an environment primed for anxiety and depression. Students also expressed a desire for timely, online counselling and closer contact and communication with their instructors. Online/virtual therapy/counselling was particularly valuable for students, and they appreciated accommodations that faculty made for them during the pandemic. Students also used Twitter to offer support and encouragement to one another. This study has implications for pedagogical developments and revisions to mental health supports available to college and university students in both online and face-to-face environments
Advocates Assembly Notes
No full textEvelyn Folake Kissi and Samantha Walsh provide their insights from years of conducting community-grounded disability research, with a focus on how to intersectionalize the work and de-centre whiteness