I explain how even if all students could get the same hardware and software, it would fail to even the academic playing field.
This is a very important point, and it is something that we need to take into account especially in the time we are living in, where the majority of teaching is being done online.
The second principle of UDL reminds educators to provide multiple means of representation to build knowledge and comprehension in all learners.
This is really important for teachers to think about because some people learn in different ways, and if the material is only presented in one way, it will be very hard to learn for some people.
UDL is a framework for designing learning experiences so students have options for how they learn, what materials they use, and how they demonstrate their learning.
I think that this is such a cool way for students to be able to feel included and confident in what they do. If they feel like they can express themselves in a way that they feel comfortable doing so, they will learn more.
Backward design (or backward planning/mapping) is about designing with the end in mind.
I feel like this is a cool way to design a lesson that we don't think about often.
As you explore the app from the perspective of the learner, it is important to assess the information that is presented to determine whether it will effectively support, facilitate, and enrich students’ content knowledge.
This is also true to think about to realize that it is not worth it to use a tool that doesn't teach the student anything new or reinforce anything they already learned.
Given the rapidly shifting technological landscape of present-day society, students need technology-rich learning experiences that can prepare them “for work and life in this uncertain future”
This is very true, and relates heavily to the life we are living right now in the COVID-19 pandemic. With most classes online, and doing more things virtually than we ever have before, it is very important to give students a very great experience online so they can still get the best of out of learning in this unprecedented time.
When selecting digital tools and apps, look for ones that support multiple types of social learning (beyond just reading text written by others).
This is very important to make sure each student can learn in the best way that suits them.
The design of the tool plays an important role in understandability as well. Tools and apps should not provide too much information at once (causing cognitive overload) or feature advertisements or extraneous materials that can distract the learner.
This makes sense and also reminds me of a website that we looked at in class the other day. This website was ScribbleMaps, and the home page was very crowded with so many things to click on. It can be overwhelming to have too much going on on a particular website, and can turn people away from using it.
For example, you could setup QR codes that students can scan based on how they want to learn about a topic (e.g., view a virtual tour, listen to a podcast, or read an e-book).
This is a great way to offer choices about how they can learn a certain topic. Although remote learning can be a bother in many ways, there are also so many ways that you can enhance your learning both as a student and a teacher being remote. This is one of those many ways that students might be more enthusiastic about learning something if they can choose the way that they learn it.
Learning experiences and environments that are flexible, multimodal, and student centered are more equitable, accessible, and inclusive.
This is very important, and I hope that these flexible and multimodal learning environments are being implemented everywhere. Every child deserves to feel included, and needs to feel as though they have access to all learning tools. Making sure that all students are included should be the main goal in every learning environment.
Access Across Devices and Platforms
This is an important point to look at especially during this time in the pandemic. Students are required to go to school remotely in most situations, and this means that students will be opening up tools on many different computers. It would be difficult if a teacher wanted to use a certain tool for their class, and it wouldn't work on all devices. This would mean that some students wont be able to use it.
When students feel a tool is easy to learn to use and navigate, they are more likely to engage with it, enjoy the learning experience, and focus their learning on developing knowledge and skills.
This can definitely have something to do with the way a teacher introduces the tool as well. When the teacher tells the students how to use the tool, if they have prepared their explanation and looked at it before, the students are more likely to understand and feel comfortable using that tool. The teacher's explanation of the tool can make a huge difference in how the student understands it.
We have all been there—wrapping up a class feeling frustrated, just like the students, because the technology did not work out as planned. In this case, the problem was the tool did not provide students with a good user experience.
It's definitely something to think about the fact that technology doesn't always work the way that we plan for it to. Sometimes there are technical difficulties that we are not able to see, and it makes it frustrating when you might be trying to teach students. It helps to have more experience working with tools online, and there might be more things that a teacher could do on the spot if needed because of technology not working properly.
We designed the rubric to be practical for everyday use.
This is something that I would use as a teacher, and I will incorporate it in my job in the future. I want to be able to help students learn in the best way that I can, and through finding E-Learning tools that work, that can happen. This rubric will be a great way to find these helpful tools.
Postsecondary classrooms vary in format and size, ranging from small seminars to large-enrollment courses. In larger courses, creating small groups increases contact among students, fosters cooperative learning, and enhances social presence among learners.
This is very true, and I feel like it is a very important point to look at especially in a school as big as UMass Amherst. Many classes are larger, and would need tools that are able to accommodate the large amount of people on it at once. The ability to put students in small groups as well is important so that the students are able to speak to each other in a smaller setting. This feels more like a classroom especially when we are on Zoom constantly.
In addition to peers, family members, and people in your immediate school or community, you can use social media to reach out to a wider network of people committed to supporting each other and sharing information about teaching.
It is really interesting to see how many ways social media can be used for education purposes as well. Many people think of social media as something that is only used for communication, but there are a lot of ways that social media can help enhance classes and teaching as well.
Include specific details in your initial search, then add or remove terms to adjust the results (e.g., if “augmented reality” gives too many results, use “augmented reality map of national parks”).
This is a very helpful tip in searching for things online. Sometimes when you search something on certain search engines such as Google, the results you come up with are so broad it is very difficult to find what you are looking for. By narrowing your search and including specific details, the results will not be as overwhelming and confusing. You will be able to find the answer to the question that you had so much easier.
Adding hashtags to your posts (e.g., #K12) helps group them with similar posts on a topic and allows you to reach a broader audience (e.g., anyone exploring that hashtag rather than just your followers)
I have a Twitter, but never knew about this feature. This might be a cool way to learn about how other people think about certain things and to share ideas and tools for people to use. We can also share the tools and apps we learn in this class to others using Twitter as the platform!