Going beyond accommodations involves designing for flexibility, choice, and empowerment.
Support and empowerment I think are really important to inclusive design in education. Without a support system and people encouraging throughout your educational journey, there is a smaller chance of overall success. I'm curious, however, how is choice incorporated into courses?
For instance, at the assignment level, flexible deadlines and student-designed assignments and student choice about how to complete assignments are solid ways of practicing "designing for flexibility."
Flexible deadline shave been something that have helped me so much throughout college so far. Especially coming right out of high school and thrown into online learning during my first year of college, I think flexibility had really saved me. It was hard enough not being used to the style of college learning, never mind having it all online. When my professors are lenient and understanding with deadlines it helps me and a lot of students so much. It puts a lot less accountability on the student and allows for the process of actually learning the material to take place. It is better to give extra time on assignments, rather than have students rush through it and not understand it simply to turn it on on time.
In higher education, we should recognize that our educational designs have both benefits and burdens for students and we should embrace design processes that bring a more equitable distribution of benefits to as many learners as possible by centering the experiences and needs of learners who are marginalized by our educational designs.8
In high school and college especially, noticing differences in each and every student is critical to how they succeed in their courses and in life in general. Classes are taught in certain ways that do not accommodate each student's needs which may cause burdens on some, while benefiting others. The main ideas of all course material and teaching patterns should be universal and something that all students can adjust to and learn from. It is important to not direct teaching styles of the material taught to a class to a certain population of enrolled students.
Inclusive design is "design that considers the full range of human diversity with respect to ability, language, culture, gender, age, and other forms of human difference."4 It goes beyond accessibility, though accessibility is considered within inclusive design. Inclusive design celebrates difference and focuses on designs that allow for diversity to thrive.
Inclusive design is a very important part of how we learn and teach. A healthy teaching environment, a well-organized classroom, and improved teaching styles are important to achieve inclusive design. In any school, whether it be private or public, there may be a very diverse population of students. They can come from different religions, backgrounds, ethnicities, races, and many other differences could be relevant. It is highly important to use teaching as a way to sanction these differences and unite everyone through their learning.
With increasing numbers of instructors developing proficiency in and commitment to accessibility in online education, it will be easier to call colleges and universities to account for the crucial next steps on this path
I have definitely noticed a different in the quality of my education from the beginning of online learning when COVID first began to now, where is is not as big of an issue. In the beginning, online education had me struggling to keep up with material and keep track of my assignments and such. Now, I feel mass especially has a very proficient way of teaching, whether it be open zoom fully or partially.
But our recent data collection suggests that a lack of guidance, infrastructure and accountability across institutions means that these practices are not being widely implemented.
Most teachers and professors come up with their own lessons plans and teaching/learning techniques over the years as their experience grows more. I think having the right guidance in all teaching environments is very important to the outcome of how students process their material and curriculum. When there is no proper structure to this, it may have a negative impact on students. I think this was especially relevant during the beginning of COVID when nobody was really used to teaching online. In some scenarios, this was very problematic and impactful.
The concept of universal design for learning (UDL) expands this idea to the design of learning experiences and environments. CAST developed three guiding UDL principles to assist educators in developing accessible learning experiences: Multiple Means of Engagement refers to designing learning experiences based on students’ interests and motivations (e.g., giving students choice in their learning experience, the content, and the technologies they use). Multiple Means of Representation means providing more than one way to access and learn the content (e.g., an e-book that features text, embedded videos, and virtual manipulatives). Multiple Means of Action and Expression provides students with multiple ways to show their understanding of the content (e.g., giving them a digital media choice board).
The framework of CAST is very important. All three components in this guideline for a universal design for learning is great for those with different experiences and environments. The three points help outline the 'Why?', 'What?', and 'How?' of accessible learning experiences for everyone. There must be different modes of engagement, representation, and action/expression. This created a flexible and multimodal wya for all to learn together.
'There’s an ingrained societal suspicion that intentionally supporting one group hurts another.
There must be a way to counteract this. Though I feel like in the world we live in this is a very unfortunate norm, I do not think it should be prominent in learning or in schools. If someone is of a different color, race, ethnicity, speaks a different language, or if they have any kind of disability, there should not be this underlying suspicion in society that supporting some people means automatically discriminating against others.
As educators, we must strive to create fully accessible learning environments for our students. This requires designing inclusive learning environments and evaluating the accessibility of digital tools and apps before using them in the classroom to ensure all learners have the same opportunities to access and engage with course content.
I think this is very important - all students do deserve a fully accessible learning environment regardless of their disability. It should not matter if they have a physical, cognitive, sensory, or any other kind of disability. A fully accessible learning environment means everyone benefits from the space the content is taught and the manner/process through which it is taught to students. It should in no way, shape or form, be more geared towards those who are considered "normal" or "not impaired."
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.
In almost every class I have taken throughout high school and college, there have been technical difficulties, regardless of how minor or major they are. Whether it be a presentation does not connect to the smart board, or if an interactive game is not cooperating. There are so many new technologies that I never know about until I am introduced to them in the classroom. To grow as both a student, and a future educator/teacher, I think staying up-to-date with all of these evolving tools is very necessary and important.
When evaluating a digital tool, keep in mind the associated costs of using the tool
Cost of digital tools and technologies of the 21st century are very costly, but also very necessary. Schools and teachers need to consider the high costs of these kind of devices and tools and should offer alternatives to buying them or renting them. I thinks schools should be able to provide some sort of payment plan or other alternative so families do not feel obliged to spend absurd amounts of money. For example, at my elementary and middle school, we had IPAD carts that were rotted throughout the classrooms that students could use throughout the day when needed to complete certain assignments and activities. I think this was a great idea.
Adobe Spark (graphic and video designing tool)
I used Adobe Spark this past week for my PLN (Professional Learning Network) project. I used it with my group members to create an interactive website to help people build their PLN. We were able to insert links, photos, and many helpful sources, along with text about important information regarding each point made. There were very helpful instructions on Adobe Spark which helped us learn how to design the website in a timely manner. It was easy to use and had clear instructions.
Before using a tool in the classroom, you should examine whether it supports diverse learners
I think it is extremely important to make sure all tools can be used by all people. There is a very diverse group of learners in the world and not all tools suit all people. Some people have learning disabilities, some people have language barriers, along with many other possible scenarios of diversity and language situations. We have to make sure that all tools being used in classrooms are appropriate and fit the needs of all kinds of students. Students need to be helped in a timely and kind manner which means digital tools need to be provided to prevent problems in the school.
The next time you come across a new digital tool or app for your classroom, ask yourself the following questions: How will students learn to use the tool? Does the tool provide multimodal instructions (e.g., images, text, and video)? Does the tool provide interactive instructional tutorials? How much class time would be spent on students learning to use the tool? Do you need to provide additional instruction to students?
I think these are five very general, yet very important questions when trying to gage if a digital tool is going to be useful or helpful to you."How will students learn to use the tool?" would be important depending on the age of the student using the tool and how simple it is. "Does the tool provide multimodal instructions?" meaning will it get the job done that you need done depending on if you need images, text, or videos. And so on and so on. By following these questions it will really help the user spend time more usefully and proactively by not wasting any time.
User instruction is the guide provided to new users that accompanies a tool. It contributes to the user’s first impression of a digital tool when it teaches the user how to find, use, and manage its functions.
Whenever I begin to use new technologies, I typically look for a user guide or manual to help me learn more about it. Otherwise, I simply get frustrated and cannot figure out how to navigate the new tool I am using. I think user instruction and user experience are very important because it fulfills the user's needs and gives them (or at least tries to give them) a positive experience. You want users to have a good time interacting with any given business, which makes it very important for the guide that accompanies any which tool to teach how to use, find, and manage it.
Who do you go to for advice about teaching, learning, and/or technology? A classmate? A colleague? A Pinterest board curator? A YouTuber?
When I need advice about learning or teaching technology I usually approach one of my friends. I feel like they are the most reliable people to help me with technology because it is more common to our age group. We grew up with much more technological andvaces just at the tip fo our fingertips. My mom is also helpful sometimes but she is not that familiar with the tools I use for school like moodle, spire, and zoom.
Twitter is a popular social media space among educators. You can connect and engage in conversations with others located across spatial and temporal boundaries (e.g., around the world!).
I have never really gotten into twitter. I realize we will have to become more interested in it throughout this class but I have never really understood the purpose of it. I guess I didn't know that there were learning tools embedded into that type of social media. I am looking forward to learning more about this.
Which tools have been the most beneficial for you in finding new digital tools and apps for teaching and learning?
Some tools that have been the most beneficial to me in finding new digital tools and apps for learning are google docs/slides. I also have found zoom extremely useful. I have been using zoom since my senior year of high school and I am really comfortable using it now because it is so accessible and easy to navigate.