E. Other issues
E.1 Needs of disadvantaged people
The attention given to ODL is designed to maximize the accessibility of
the courseware produced within the ACO*HUM network. This will produce benefits
over traditional teaching methods, especially for people who are disadvantaged
due to motor handicaps, where distance to classrooms would otherwise be
a problem. In addition, the teaching aids will, by their nature, allow
self-paced study, which offers benefits to people whose handicap is incompatible
with a traditional fixed learning pace.
E.2 Equal opportunities
In recent years, the humanities have generally had a majority of female
students as well as a rising percentage of female staff. Therefore the
present project opens up significant opportunities for the massive participation
of women in the field of computing, where they have been seriously underrepresented
in the past. Furthermore, the ACO*HUM network is committed to the extension
of advanced computing to the undergraduate student population, which up
to now, as a whole, has not been given access to the same computing resources
as graduate students and staff.