Blog Post #3:
This week, we learned about universal design for learning and inclusive learning design. I was interested in the readings’ contents since I’ve always believed that the educational system, especially high school, is catered to a particular personality and learning style. Not having adequate pictures to aid my understanding, I tried to follow instructions that made no sense to me. I always felt like a failure and insufficient if I was unable to study a new subject using the materials that were made available to me.
There was a video of the “selective attention test” that I watched as I read the inclusive design part. A gorilla walked through this crowd of people while I was ordered to observe and count how many times the individuals wearing white t-shirts passed the ball. It was interesting to observe that I was quickly sidetracked from the subject at hand, and this has frequently happened to me throughout my academic career. This part of the reading helped me understand the value of attention and engagement when creating a learning design and the need to support realistic work durations for people who are easily distracted.
The contrast between equity and equality really stood out to me. Even though I’d seen it before a long time ago, when I started to think about the educational system, it made more sense to me today. It demonstrates to us that because each person is unique and has distinct requirements, we cannot all be given the same things. UDL aims to do away with obstacles to learning right away. A sort of support for developing the abilities and knowledge a learner may already possess or is attempting to acquire is scaffolding. It is applied till the student is more assured. A clear vocabulary and definition list or step-by-step instructions are two examples of a scaffold.
Video for better understanding:
The interactive learning resource for my group will be delivered through a website and will be centred on the four distinct lobes of the human brain. We selected a website because it is accessible from a variety of electronic devices. We will strive to include several pictures, videos, and clear definitions throughout the learning activities we plan to provide in order to guarantee that it is inclusive for all learners. We’ll make sure the content and all the exercises are simple to understand. The student may complete the readings and exercises in any sequence and at any time. Along the process, there will be brief tests to keep the learner interested and inspired to put their new skills to use. The content we produce will be a combination of written, audio, and visual elements that may be accessed using a screen reader if they wish. Since we’ve chosen that our learners won’t have any prior understanding of our subject, we’ll give straightforward introductions to each of the four lobes.
References:
Universal design. (2022). https://edtechuvic.ca/edci335/universal-design/
Inclusive design. (2022). https://edtechuvic.ca/edci335/inclusive-learning-design/
AHEAD. What is Universal Design for Learning (UDL)? (2022). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGQ_7K35ysA
Thank you very much for sharing such a personal story! I am really sorry to hear that the instructional strategies used by the teachers made you feel this way! I am glad, however, that it did not stop you from moving forward and reaching your goals! Well done, and many more good things to come! From what you’ve learned, what would make you feel more inclusive and help to increase your self-efficacy?