Needs of blind and visually impaired people for the integration into information society in the Baltic States
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Abstract
In April–June 2007, interviews with 106 blind and visually impaired people (VIP) and five experts from the Baltic States were accomplished. The purpose was to identify the needs and opportunities for eLearning for VIP in the Baltic States. It was found that Baltic States provide a favourable environment for eLearning development in the community of VIP. Involvement of VIP into eLearning process is impeded by insufficient program diversity, unrecognized need for modern training forms, low motivation for integration especially peculiar to elder generation and uneducated people, non-adapted digital environment, insufficient ICT availability and computer literacy and information deficiency. Consequently, an existing eLearning market for VIP at the moment is slender in Baltic States. Despite the present situation and existing obstacles, the Baltic eLearning market for VIP is rapidly growing. The growth is preconditioned by intensifying integration of VIP into an open society and open market and increasing requirements for professional knowledge and general skills and developing diversity of eLearning programs corresponding to the needs of potential students.
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Articles
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