Reimagining Open, Flexible, and Distance Learning in the Age of Academic Ableism
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Abstract
This editorial interrogates the current state of accessibility within Open, Flexible, and Distance Learning (OFDL), arguing that the sector is grappling with "academic ableism", a structural force that privileges normative body-minds while actively disabling others. Moving beyond the "retrofit" model of legal accommodation, the piece advocates for a framework rooted in epistemic justice and critical disability studies. The editorial synthesises contributions to this issue, including research on the faculty labour required for Open Educational Resources (OER), the application of Design Thinking and personas in MOOCs, and the decolonising potential of Ubuntu-based co-creation in the Global South. It explores culturally responsive storytelling and Pacific methodologies, such as Talanoa, as essential for ensuring psychological safety. Finally, the author addresses the paradox of Generative AI as both a potential "cognitive orthotic" and a threat to human connection, concluding with a manifesto that reframes culture as infrastructure and accessibility as a relational imperative.
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