Week 5
Online learning platforms are a vital part of today’s education system. Now more than ever, students have access to helpful sources of technology that equip them to develop systems, conduct research, and submit assignments. In an article about Universal Design for Learning by James Basham, Sean Smith, and Allyson Satter, this increase in technology for classrooms is discussed in detail.
Unfortunately, there has not been a vast amount of research conducted on technology’s impact as a fully online K-12 learning experience. However, Universal Design for Learning itself is based on a lot of scientific research. In the study conducted in this specific article, the guidelines, rubrics, and guiding principles of Universal Design for Learning were evaluated closely. The results of this testing indicated that not only was the research successful, but additionally that it is vital for teachers to have better understanding of instructional design processes and Universal Design for Learning itself. With technology being more prominent every single day, the need for educators to have a full picture understanding of this form of technology could be beneficial for many students. With districts having more access to technology, knowledge of Universal Design for Learning principles can help ensure that they are making sound decisions when going forward with new products and programs.
There are many CAST Universal Design for Learning strategies that could potentially be helpful in my classroom. One regards the opportunity to “optimize individual choice and autonomy.” For me, this is huge in the classroom. I work with middle school and high school students. Oftentimes, these students do not feel like they have many choices in a lot of ways. However, when I able to, I love to give them some form of autonomy. In my specific lesson plan, this CAST strategy could be useful when it comes to allowing students to choose the design of the videos that they create for our book project. As students are filming and editing their projects, I would love to give them the ability to choose what they’d like to do when it comes to graphics, design, and scripts. There are a variety of design choices that they will have when using the Flip video program online. I love that this is one of the strategies that is available, and I think it would work great for our lesson on our class novel.
Alongside this vision of autonomy, I will also draw on the strategy that suggests the need to “offer ways of customizing the display of information.” I hope to create some form of project for the students to use Canva with. I allow my high school (yearbook) students to use Canva on a daily basis. However, I haven’t given my middles school students much ability to use this platform. I am now wondering if I could possibly use Canva for students to create character backgrounds on, and then have them upload those designs to Padlet. I do feel like the Padlet aspect of our lesson is going to also incorporate this learning strategy as well. I am very excited about it!
Sources:
https://udlguidelines.cast.org/
Hi Kayla,
ReplyDeleteI agree whole heartedly with giving students some autonomy in the classroom to prove what they have learned. Not all student learn the same so it makes sense to let them prove it in their own way. I too plan on trying to incorporate more autonomy for my students in the future.
-Benn Beutler
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Kayla!
DeleteYou mention possibly bringing Canva to your middle school students as a tool to use in the classroom, and I thought it might be reassuring to hear that my 6th grader has used it in a couple of her classes, and she LOVES it. I think there's something to be said for having so much freedom over what her finished products, and because she can utilize the premium features of Canva with her school email, she's able to do a lot to make assignments personalized and fun. In her choir class recently she had to create a presentation over three of her favorite music artists, and she and her peers spent a couple of days in class researching and discerning pertinent information to share about their chosen artists. My kid was so excited about her project that she made my wife and I sit and look over her Canva designs. I don't feel like that really happens with apps like Google Slides and Powerpoint, you know? Maybe at some point Canva will feel monotonous like those applications, but for now it's something new and fun for students.
Hi Kayla:
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like both of the articles we read address similar topics. I completely agree that educators need to have better a better understanding of instructional design processes. I like you give your students the opportunity to choose their own graphics, design, and scripts. I have not used Canva in the classroom, but also plan to incorporate it into my lesson plan because I feel like it gives the students a lot of freedom in their final product.
Hi Kayla,
ReplyDeleteI agree that educators need a better understanding of the instructional design process. I love that you are giving your students a choice when completing their project. I feel that the final product is always more creative and students are fully engaged when they can control the outcome of their assignment. I love the freedom students get with Canva and am considering integrating it into my lesson plans.