5364 Course Embedded Reflection Teaching with Technology

Our EDLD 5364 group scenario team included Julia W., Lynne B., Vicki Fruge and myself. Our team leader was Julia W. who is a current 5th grade science teacher. She was great at leading our group and coming up with snazzy ideas to “wow” our fictional classroom teacher in the scenario. She also had oodles of material available readily for the rest of the group to use in creating our UDL lessons. We chose to create lessons surrounding a unit of earth science that covered weathering, erosion, earthquakes and the rock cycle.

Personally, I had never learned about the Universal Design for Learning theory before; and I found it very practical in the sense that it gives teachers a method for meeting the needs of diverse learners. The two methods that the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) advances are individualized goals through a variety of media and individualized curriculum embedded with flexible supports. (Rose & Meyer, 2002)

My individual UDL lesson taught weathering and erosion through videos, a kinesthetic, an eBook on weathering, and a lab using TIC TACs to show the process of weathering rocks. After the students completed the lab, they were to create a Photo Story of the lab following a rubric. They could do the minimum requirements or they could expand of the rubric to do a longer and more elaborate Photo Story. “Specific, criterion-referenced rubrics let students know exactly what is expected of them” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 30). In creating the Photo Story, students engage in higher-level thinking. In the book, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, the authors state, “the most engaging learning comes from having the student create the presentation or movie themselves as a part of the learning process” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 104).

I found the theory of the Universal Design for Learning very interesting and yet overwhelming. This feeling partly comes from the current budget crisis our state is facing and witnessing the cost cutting measures already made in our district. I can totally understand why so many teachers leave the field after five years when the expectations to teach such a diverse group of students with varying abilities are so high. (Dana, 2009)

For professional development, the scenario teacher viewed online tutorials for Photo Story 3 and created her own Photo Story as a sample product. It is also useful for the teacher to be familiar herself with the software.

My sons and I contributed cartoons to create my eBook on weathering. I recorded myself reading the text using Audacity to give an alternative to the computer reader. I also put the text into a speaking box for one of the helpers “Monty”, so students could have the text read in Spanish. In the online book, Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning, the authors state, “providing multiple representations of patterns through a variety of media, formats, organizations, levels of detail, and degree of depth includes more learners by offering both choice and redundancy.” (Rose & Meyer, 2002) My weathering eBook works to do this through cartoon drawings, photos, and text in English and Spanish with an encouraging penguin along the way.

Our team Google site is quite professional. The layout and the organization are excellent and our topic lent itself to enjoying great visuals throughout our site. We all worked on the pages and added to both our individual work and group pages. We used Skype to communicate with each other and posted these conversations on our site. Instant chat messaging made our work fluid and constant.

Throughout this course, I found myself thinking about the needs of my own children in regards to the UDL framework. I have seven very different children. My fifth child has auditory processing disorder. An EEG at age seven showed the neurons in the left frontal portion of his brain to function at one-tenth the speed of the rest of his brain. Although he learns and gains knowledge, the slower speed of his “strategic” networks are quite noticeable. I could not help but think about how he is successful because of his persistence in school. In addition, I could be more helpful to him by breaking down the steps better.

I also, in some ways, found this course a little overwhelming. There were so many possibilities to fulfill the project scenario. My family believes I spent about fifty hours on this course each of the first two weeks. I began to hear mild then louder protests. It was information overload. I finally had to stop and access what I exactly had to do – not what would be nice to do – and go from there. However, I do appreciate the friendships I have made in this course. Moreover, those relationships make the coursework quite enjoyable.

In the future, I plan to research more on the recognition networks for my seventh son, born premature, who has short-term memory problems. He gets frustrated having to repeat so many things before they pass into long-term memory. I believe the UDL research on the recognition networks will give me ideas of how to meet his needs.

Dana, N. F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: the principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Retrieved February 28, 2011, from CAST: http://www.cast.org/teaching everystudent/ideas/tes/


ISTE Standards:
• National Educational Technology Standards: http://cnets.iste.org

Standard II. Planning and Designing Learning Environments and Experiences
o Tech Facilitator II.A - Design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support diverse needs of learners.
o Tech Facilitator II.B - Apply current research on teaching and learning with technology when planning learning environments and experiences.
o Tech Facilitator II.E - Plan strategies to manage student learning in a technology-enhanced environment.

Standard III. Teaching, Learning, and the Curriculum
o Tech Facilitator III.A - Facilitate technology-enhanced experiences that address content standards and student technology standards.
o Tech Facilitator III.B - Use technology to support learner-centered strategies that address the diverse needs of students.
o Tech Facilitator III.C - Apply technology to demonstrate students’ higher-order skills and creativity.
o Tech Facilitator III.D - Manage student learning activities in a technology-enhanced environment.
o Tech Facilitator III.E - Use current research and district/region/state/national content standards to build lessons and units of instruction.

Standard IV. Assessment and Evaluation
o Tech Facilitator IV.A – Apply technology in assessing student learning of subject matter using a variety of assessment techniques.

Standard V. Productivity and Professional Practice
o Technology Facilitator V. B - Continually evaluate and reflect on professional practice to make informed decisions regarding the use of technology in support of student learning.
o Technology Facilitator V. C – Apply technology to increase productivity.
o Technology Facilitator V. D – Use technology to communicate and collaborate with peers, parents, and the larger community in order to nurture student learning.

Standard VI. Social, Ethical, Legal, and Human Issues
o Technology Facilitator VI.B – Apply technology resources to enable and empower learners with diverse backgrounds, characteristics, and abilities.

Standard VIII. Leadership and Vision
o Technology Facilitator VIII.A – Identify and apply educational and technology related research, the psychology of learning, and instructional design principles in guiding the use of computers and technology in education.