UDL, a shift in Educational Paradigms, NO Hyperbole!

653 Students... As I can't make the links to the various content items work perfectly in Blackboard, I'm pasting them here in the blog... You will find it more convenient to 'right click' on the links and select 'open in a new window'... and (If you come a cross an item that still simply won't work, then try copying and pasting the title into Google, which should find it for you)...

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M.G.
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Universal Design for Learning (UDL)  – This IS a shift in Educational Paradigms, NO Hyperbole!

PLEASE Start your understanding of Universal Design for Learning with this excellent video that presents UDL's most core idea through a thought provoking narrative!


Focus: How does/can UDL change lessons/instructional activities?
Give an example of UDL in action -

Assignment:
In Part A -  (Essay/narrative):  address/discuss the numbered focus questions below (approx. 450 words)

In Part B – Describe / Illustrate / Detail HOW a lesson/instructional activity would be something that we could describe as and agree is a “UDL Lesson” (an activity with ‘Flexibility” designed into its goals and implementation, sufficient to address the individual students’ needs). You may do this either by describing actual lessons you research or simply by imagining an activity and giving some details about it that relate to UDL.

Use a table similar to the one below to accomplish this. Feel free to add rows and columns as needed.

Instructional Activity Dimension	Ways that flexibility are designed to be part of the experience.
a) The activity from the point of view of what the students will do to come to the information, ideas, and skills that are targeted – how will this be made flexible?
b) The resources from the point of view of individual students capabilities/needs to “access it” – how will these be made flexible?
c) The “proving behavior” (tests, products, performances, presentations, etc.) by which students will demonstrate what they have learned – how will you introduce flexibility into this?

1) What is UDL?

UDL At A Glance https://youtu.be/bDvKnY0g6e4

2) How did UDL Come About?

a)      About Universal Design for Learning http://www.cast.org/our-work/about-udl.html#.W_LIt7jUd-Q Universal design for learning (UDL) is a framework to improve and optimize ... Your browser does not currently recognize any of the video formats available. b)    OCALI | Learn about UDL | History of UDL  Universal Design for Learning (UDL) emerged from the architectural concept of universal design. ... These principles established a framework for developing design standards that permit the greatest degree of access and usability for the widest range of individuals.

3) What are the core principles of UDL?

c) UDL: Three Principles - Kurzweil 3000 https://www.kurzweiledu.com/udl-three-principles-p4.html Based on the three neurological networks, UDL's three principles are: Multiple means of representation-give learners various ways of acquiring information and knowledge. Multiple means of expression-provide learners alternatives for demonstrating what they kno d)    CAST: About Universal Design for Learning www.cast.org/our-work/about-udl.html Universal design for learning (UDL) is a framework to improve and optimize ... Anne Meyer and David Rose, who first laid out the principles of UDL in the 1990s, ... ‎The UDL Guidelines · ‎Free Learning Tools · ‎Research & Development · ‎What's New e)  Guiding Principles and UDL Connections | Universal Design for ... https://udlhcpss.wordpress.com/guiding-principles-and-udl-connections/ The guiding principles garnered from the findings and the research in the field and from our synthesis workshops can be easily connected to the principles of ..

4) What shift in Educational Thinking is presented and embodied by UDL?

f)       Introduction: Teaching in Diverse, Standards-Based Classrooms – ASCD http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109011/chapters/Introduction@_Teaching_in_Diverse,_Standards-Based_Classrooms.aspx  (Scroll down the page… to UDL segment) This shift in thinking has been a challenge for educators. ... This enhanced access to a general education curriculum should include Universal Design for Learning (UDL) ... As is shown in Figure I.1, the overarching goals of standards-based reform, ... The ideas embodied in movements such as inclusion and teaching for ...

5) What’s UDL’s relationship to technology? f)       How to Use Technology to Support the UDL Principles in Reading ... corwin-connect.com/2016/07/use-technology-support-udl-principles-reading/  Jul 12, 2016 - What is Universal Design for Learning (UDL)?. The Universal ... How Can Technology Help with Multiple Means of Representation? Multiple Integrating Technology: UDL Principled Learning Environment https://www.linkedin.com/.../integrating-technology-udl-principled-learning-gardner-cd-... Oct 22, 2015 - Integrating Technology: UDL Principled Learning Environments ... What benefits does the technology bring to the environment or learning objectives .... Allow for the utilization of related personal interests to the subject matter. Technology in the UDL Classroom | UDL Resource udlresource.ca/2017/12/technology-in-the-udl-classroom-2/ Costs related to purchasing, maintaining, repairing and replacing technology are ... Technology is not necessary to implement UDL in your classroom but what it ... 7 Ways to Introduce UDL into your Classroom | Texthelp https://www.texthelp.com/en-us/.../7-ways-to-introduce-udl-into-your-classroom/ Aug 9, 2018 - While UDL is a common phrase in many schools today, it can be difficult ... students their preference doesn't always equate to what's best for them. .... other technology-related tools, it's important to know that technology is not ..

The History and Function of Technology in the Curriculum: From Learning ABOUT Technology to Learning WITH Technology… and now, back again.

The return of Technology (itself) to the curriculum; the ascendance of Coding and Computer Science in the overall course of study.

Over the past few years a significant change in direction, a reversal in fact, has happened in the field of EdTech.  I’m speaking about the trend to make learning ABOUT Technology an important part of the curriculum.

To fully understand this development, a bit of EdTech history is needed.

In its very first phase, EdTech was established by a very small group of restless innovators; teachers who became aware of the emergence of personal computers, their availability to the general public and to schools, and who decided to experiment with using them in th4 context of their classroom teaching.

They made a big splash; computers were a major novelty back in the early 1980s and anyone involved with them was sort of instantly considered something of an innovator celebrity; this was certainly true of teachers.

Close on the heels of bring a few personal computers into the classroom, these teachers began to wrestle with the “What can we do with them?” issue, which was thoroughly related to the “How do I justify using a computer in my teaching?” issue. Bear in mind there was no software that was specifically intended for use in teaching and learning in the very beginning; that would take a few years to emerge. But clearly, there were applications for the computers. For instance, students could transcribe their handwritten work to a word processed document, something that was infinitely clearly, astoundingly easier to edit and revise than the handwritten version, and they could print out as many copies of something that looked vaguely professional as the wanted… Eureka, Student Publishing!

In math, too, common business applications like the spread sheet had immediate application to traditional classwork. After a short while, computer using teachers had identified and shared among themselves a body of such solid applications and what resulted was an understanding among those who cared about it, that students could learn WITH technology.  However, there was also a competing stand of thought during this period, that students should learn ABOUT the technology itself.

“Hey, computers are important in the world right? So we should be teaching kids about computers: how the work, how to program them, how people use them in the real world, etc!”

This went on for a good while. I remember how once, one a learning junket to San Diego, as the head of Instructional Technology for the NYC schools, I was taken to see an exceptional  Computer Class at one of the very best schools in that city. I was shocked when the teacher handed me a copy of the syllabus that was posted on the wall and taped to the desktop next to every computer in his lab. It was a sequence of lessons on such topics as "how computers work."Basic file management, Keyboarding, Word Processing, Spread Sheets, eMail, PowerPoint, and on and on. There was no attempt, whatsoever, to INTEGRATE those skills into the curriculum that the rest of the school was teaching and learning!

For a good while this split in orientation of what to do with school computers and what was worthwhile having students learn and do with them continued. Eventually, the field agreed that the overarching true value of technology in our schools was technology’s power to support students in learning across the curriculum. In other words, Learning WITH Technology, NOT Learning ABOUT Technology.  And, of course, classes and programs to learn about the technology itself persisted (in small measure), although they were conceived to be part of Career and Technical Education or as an enriching, broadening ‘minor’ or ‘interest’ subject, like Art and Music.  By consensus, it was conceded that Technology Across the Curriculum would be the field’s principal thrust.

FAST FORWARD 3 decades and onward: the trend described above has begun to reverse with the emergence of several strands of instructional thrust in which learning about technology is the focus, among them:

- Coding (for all)
- Computer Science
- Maker-based Learning
- Student Robotics

I) CODING for ALLA good overview article on this movement:

Coding for All - Harvard Magazine

https://harvardmagazine.com/2015/03/coding-for-all

With schools more eager to welcome coding in the classroom, some advocates now push to make it a public-education priority. In her 2014 book Connected ...

Note: some of what’s considered “Coding” actually has to do with programming (writing instructions for a computer) that is accomplished not truly by writing code, but by using alternatives,  like object (or icon) based programming, block programming, etc.

http://www.klientsolutech.com/why-is-programming-important/ A general article; not specific to education

https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurencebradford/2016/06/20/why-every-millennial-should-learn-some-code/#5b335f5a70f2

https://hourofcode.com/us

https://code.org/learn

https://www.theedadvocate.org/why-learning-to-code-is-so-important-for-children/

https://www.idtech.com/blog/5-reasons-your-child-should-learn-to-code

https://www.businessinsider.com/khan-academy-instructor-explains-why-coding-is-important-2014-10

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/12/apple-ceo-tim-cook-learning-to-code-is-so-important.html

https://www.tynker.com/blog/articles/ideas-and-tips/10-reasons-kids-should-learn-to-code/

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/07/year-of-code-dan-crow-songkick Why every child should learn to code

https://www.fastcompany.com/3060883/why-coding-is-the-job-skill-of-the-future-for-everyone

https://techcrunch.com/2016/05/10/please-dont-learn-to-code/ Dissenting opinion!

II) Computer Science… Many now consider Computer Science a must learn element to be added to the curriculum for all...

A Gallup report on the state of Computer Science in our schools... https://news.gallup.com/reports/196379/trends-state-computer-science-schools.aspx 

-                      https://marketbrief.edweek.org/the-startup-blog/early-early-teach-computer-science/

-                      https://www.edutopia.org/article/computer-science-all-starting-kindergarten

-                      https://k12cs.org/pre-k/

-                      http://www.computingkids.com/

-                      https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=2105&category=Computer-Science

-                      https://www.edutopia.org/blog/teach-kids-coding-resources-parents-matt-davis

-                      https://csfirst.withgoogle.com/en/home

-                      https://cds.nyu.edu/children-taught-computer-science/

-                      https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/02/teaching-computer-science-without-computers/517548/

-                      https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-op-0208-computer-education-20180207-story.html All kids should have a computer science education

-         
III) Student Robotics

Student Robotics has been around for decades. However, it has in recent years made its way into the general, daytime instructional program in subject classes. I reported on a number of good examples of this half a dozen years back in the book Getting Started with LEGO Robotics and recently in a post on my Classroom Robotics blog http://classroomrobotics.blogspot.com/2018/09/great-advice-from-lego-education-master.html

By the way, Robotics, as a subject is a broad based STEM theme. However the use of technology is largely in programming (coding or its alternative, object (icon) based programming) the computer to direct the robot in its behaviors.

IV) Maker-based Learning
Not strictly speaking an area of technology education, Making address students’ needs to explore, create, build, etc. and the cognitive impact of these as well as their connections to the standard curriculum. Nevertheless, some of the very most popular resources and materials employed in this area technology items, including:

- 3D Printers (and other computerized fabricator devices) (e.g. https://www.makerbot.com/ )
- Student Robotics, like LEGO Robotics (e.g. Mindstorms, EV3, etc. https://education.lego.com/en-us/shop/mindstorms%20ev3 )
- Little Bits (electronics, circuitry, etc. )

*(article) Resources for Maker Education
An excellent, very comprehensive article on Maker Education for Edutopia
https://www.edutopia.org/article/maker-education-resources

   Do you agree that this trend is a good thing?

Do you see evidence of it, personally?

What more about this would you like to know?

This material was created by Mark Gura and should be considered as copyrighted 2018