Chapter 25: Designing for Inclusion - UDL & Strategies supporting variability

 Chapter 25: Designing for Inclusion - UDL & Strategies supporting variability

Date/Time: 7th September 2024 , Sunday 2:20 am

This has been an interesting dive into the  ISTEU online course "Designing for Inclusion". I was able to complete the first module and write about interesting concepts learned from the course. I would agree unintentionally we might be using some strategies that support variable learning among learners. To begin with reflecting on myself, I usually turn on. the captions while watching YouTube videos. I observed several times that I lose attention span after a few minutes, I have to rewind and replay the video. Some time back I started turning on the captions and I read along with the videos. The good thing is I grasp more concepts and I stay focused because my eyes are focused on reading the text on the video. The captions though support people with hearing disability but it supported me too and I can hear well loud and clearly.

I also observed while I am typing , the letters are typed in a different order. Though I can easily see the error, this has been consistent. While skimming through the content I explored a very interesting website about factors that need to be considered while planning for variability in learners and how these factors affect the learning outcomes. Details in link below:

https://lvp.digitalpromiseglobal.org/content-area/literacy-pk-3/factors

I really like the detailed list of factors, I did not even think the list was this long. It was an eye opener for me. And I am sure most teachers would not even consider all these factors while planning lessons for the learners. These were categorised as social & emotional learning , cognition, student background and language & literacy. These are further split into various categories. The interesting part is that once you select the factors, it gives you a list of strategies that can be used to enhance that factor. For example I was interesting looking for strategies that can be used for working on stereotype threats. The list included shadowing a student to know the student better, it's about observing the student during the day in different situations. The other was about having regular checkins with students. The students set their goals and meet with their teachers to discuss at least twice a day. The next was introducing mindful activities, for example a jar activity filled with little stars and water and the children shake them. Finally it settles down at the bottom. That is what happens to the brain when it is stressed. It is like a fog and nothing is clear or evident. And you can only see clearly when the fog clears away.

Similarly I explored another factor Cognition, and an interesting strategy was that learners explain their understanding in a visual form. There was an interesting video where a teacher asks questions about a picture, she begins by asking simple questions like what do they see in the picture and lets them explore the picture. She was then able to connect their ideas with each other. And they linked it to the concepts in different subjects like Science and Social Studies. I also liked the JIgsaw reading example, and how this can support deeper understanding of the text and comprehension, reduction in cognitive load. The teacher divides the groups into expert groups and home groups. The expert group members discuss similar topics in detail and when they come back to the main group, each shares their understanding of the topic to other members. And as a whole class they share what they learned in the end.

Almost all strategies support UDL, which is a universal design for learning which is based on 3 core principles to ensure every learner gets to learn. The learners learn the same concept in different ways, they stay motivated and engaged, every learner participates in the learning process, the teacher accommodates learning for all learners and classroom setup is flexible. All examples shared above support the universal design for learning. The teachers were cautious about what was taught and how it was taught. In the JigSaw example a lot of effort was visible by the teacher in preparing the resources for every learner and she kept conversing in groups and supported all learners. The classroom set up was flexible, the learners worked as a whole class, in small groups and even individually.

I remember teaching a lesson about nouns. I think the learners made tangrams to represent nouns, they made tangrams with paper cut outs, they could see the image of a rocket tangram on my laptop. They practiced creating different objects using tangrams online, the website had a rough layout of the image, the learners just drag the tangram shapes to complete the objects. They had different ways to express their learning. Similarly in my online training sessions with teachers, they have the option to participate in discussions during tasks by typing in the chat box, verbally sharing or posting in Jam board. It is flexible and the aim is to accommodate all learners.

This has been a very interesting read through the whole first module and I would definitely explore the UDL further. It gave me a good opportunity to reflect on myself, and my teaching & learning experiences.

Happy Reading :)

Regards and prayers

Sheeba Ajmal