Universal Design for Learning

Rather than looking up definitions, and writing them down to learn some concepts that may have been new to us, we were emerged into an activity where we learned to collaborate, problem solve, investigate, be creative, finish and present a product. With this assignment we learned the definitions thoroughly because each group presented in a new and creative way. That is Universal Design. Students learning in different ways to meet the needs of all the different types of learners. It was engaging, but it also took us out of our comfort zone and that is when great learning can take place. Most of us felt apprehensive and unsure of our final product and probably over thought the process. When we saw the final projects, we realized that everyone tried their best and wanted to produce the best possible product that they could. All of us learned from each other which is quite exciting because we did not know how to use the APPs a week ago. We learned and then we taught. Through the process we learned that it is ok to “tinker” around with the APPs and see what features they have. You can always delete what you don’t like and start over. You can’t really learn the features of APPS without taking some risks and most of the APPs are quite user friendly.

Lots of great points were discussed in the “Assistive Technology Today” powerpoint. Everything has changed so dramatically with technology and continues to change. With students having access to handheld technology, teachers need to take advantage of this resource and become proficient enough to keep up with most changes.  If we don’t learn what is available to us, we become stagnant and Universal Learning is definitely not taking place.   The powerpoint slide that showed the different types of students you could have in the classroom, was powerful. We all have students that are LD, ADHD, ASD, physically challenged etc. As teachers, if we teach to one type of learner, we are probably not meeting the needs of most of our students in the classroom. I find the “invisible disability” of LD can easily be disregarded, because teachers don’t see anything physically wrong, so they assume these students are not trying hard enough. Giving out a handout to all students (which happens more often than not) is not Universal Design. At the very least digitize the document so students can have it read to them from the computer and enlarge print if needed.

Matching up appropriate AT was something I never really thought about before. With something like speech to text, I just assumed anyone can learn to talk to the computer. I tried using Google Read and Write with one of my grade twelves and he kept saying it was junk and didn’t work for him. I was perplexed because it seems to easy to use. I just assumed he was using it correctly, but now I will sit with him and see if maybe it just isn’t a good match.

Technology is changing everything. Students can get documents in seconds, which means easier access. When looking at technology we need to take into consideration that students, the environment and the task will change as they get older. I think of the LD students I see that have much different expectations put on them academically in high school than junior high and also the changes in their lives outside of school. Part time jobs, relationships  and trying to be more independent, add a new dynamic to juggle.