LRNT 526 – Marshall's Blog

Advances in UDL Knowledge and Application

In my last blog post I noted that I wanted to focus on getting up to speed on what universal design for learning (UDL) was. More specifically I stated: “I wanted to look at research into UDL that was not specifically tied to MOOCs or apps. Essentially I wanted to know what the research about UDL had to say about learning in general” (Hartlen, 2018). In my experience as a secondary educator, UDL was not explicity mandated by any school I worked at, but through differentiated instruction (DI), and assessment for learning (AFL) practices it was indirectly applied as best practice teaching, unbeknownst to me.

Now that I have delved a little deeper into UDL, and have a firmer grasp of the seven principles, my plan now is to evaluate these various principles further as I continue the investigation started in my team Awesome Sauce’s inquiry into various edX courses delivered through an app.

In addition to the seven principles of UDL outlines by King-Sears (2009), in my last blog I referenced three core components that drive UDL:

Multiple means of representation to give learners various ways of acquiring information and knowledge
Multiple means of expression to provide learners alternatives for demonstrating what they know,
Multiple means of engagement to tap into learners’ interests, challenge them appropriately, and motivate them to learn (Edyburn, 2005).

Having now explored edX101: Overview of Creating an edX Course as part of team Awesome Sauce’s critical inquiry for this course, I hope to apply my new understandings of UDL to more content driven courses aimed at the general public, rather than a course directed at prospective instructors to see if UDL is embedded into course design. I noted that although universal accessibility is addressed in the accessible content section of the course (edX101, 2018a), the website accessiblity policy does not specifically reference any UDL principles (edX101, 2018b) so it will be interesting to see how UDL is addressed in other courses offered by edX, and how strictly this policy in general is enforced.

From a secondary education standpoint, I can see the value in UDL, and it where educators generally have a great degree of flexibility in determining assessment strategies, which often include a variety of options to demonstrate learning for learners, I have a difficult time envisioning how this works in a MOOC where there are potentially thousands of learners.

I am left wondering, is UDL a viable framework for delivering a MOOC through an app, or even just in delivering a MOOC? To what extent do UDL principles potentially impact the value of course content? And finally, do these principles impede delivery by making it more difficult to administer?

References

edX (Producer). (2018a). edX101: Overview of Creating an edX Course. [MOOC]. Retrieved from https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:edX+edX101+1T2018/course/

edX (Producer). (2018b). Website Accessibility. edX101: Overview of Creating an edX Course. [MOOC]. Retrieved from https://www.edx.org/accessibility

Edyburn, D. (2005). Universal Design for Learning. Special Education Technology Practice, 7(5), 16-22. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download doi=10.1.1.552.9700&rep=rep1&type=pdf

King-Sears, M. (2009). Universal design for learning: Technology and pedagogy. Learning Disability Quarterly, 32(4), 199-201. DOI : 10.2307/27740372

Exploring UDL in a MOOC delivered through an Educational APP

Our team, Awesome Sauce, is exploring educational Apps, and looking more specifically at edX, which is a MOOC that features an accompanying app for mobile learning. I have decided to look at universal design for learning (UDL) in particular, and will be logging my experience through this blog to help me gather thoughts and drive what will ultimately result in a critically reflective paper.

In my learning plan, I stated that I would be rooting my analysis in relevant literature, and to begin I wanted to look at research into UDL that was not specifically tied to MOOCs or apps. Essentially I wanted to know what the research about UDL had to say about learning in general. An important note about what UDL is not: it is not designed specifically for people with disabilities, rather it is a framework to make learning as universally accessible to the most number of users possible, and has its roots in similar concepts in architecture (Rose & Meyer, 2007). Edyburn (2005) notes that UDL is driven by three core components:

Multiple means of representation to give learners various ways of acquiring information and knowledge
Multiple means of expression to provide learners alternatives for demonstrating what they know,
Multiple means of engagement to tap into learners’ interests, challenge them appropriately, and motivate them to learn.

In the growth and adoption of UDL, digital technology is an essential element. Digital technology offers learners choice as far as representation goes. I am curious to know the extent to which UDL is an applicable framework for a platform like a MOOC offered through an educational app.

Before I can do this, I need to have a firmer grasp on what UDL is in a broader sense, and if I can find literature that addresses UDL and mobile learning platforms, I hope to be better able to critique the offerings of the MOOCs offered through the edX app.

References

Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2007, October). Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning. Educational Technology Research and Development, 55(5), 521-525. doi:https://doi-org.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/10.1007/s11423-007-9056-3

UDL and the MOOC Platform: Does it Exist?

21^st century learning pedagogy is being re-evaluated in all avenues as we are consistently bombarded with new educational applications and digital resources. The effect of digital learning technology on children growing up in the digital age is having an unclear impact on their learning (Gordon, 2000). As online learning becomes more prevalent, an evaluation of how this learning is designed and delivered is important to make sure quality learning is happening online in the same way that it has traditionally happened in brick and mortar classrooms. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have brought higher learning to the masses, restricted, in theory, only by access to a stable internet connection. With the rise of MOOCs comes many questions. Once viewed as a great education equalizer, new research now calls this into question, with MOOCs not reaching the audience that were once seen as a key advantage to the platform. With current demographics of these courses looking not too dissimilar to the typical university student (Hansen & Reich, 2015), their universal reach and equitability is called into question. Beyond this, my chief curiosity lies with the design of courses for maximum educational impact that addresses the diverse needs of modern learners through universal design for learning(UDL) approaches. Continue reading UDL and the MOOC Platform: Does it Exist?

Exploring Modalities: A Reflection by Team Awesome Sauce

Team Awesome Sauce are: Bobbi Donnison, Krista Frate, Marshall Hartlen, Steve Minten, and Nicolette Young

After much discussion and mind changing, Team Awesome Sauce has decided to explore edX, both as a massive open online course (MOOC) provider, and as an educational app for Android or IOS. We will outline the beginning of our journey by using a classic k-12 learning modality: the know, wonder, learn (KWL)) chart. A KWL chart is a way to guide inquiry. It assesses what you already know, (in this case our collective knowledge of learning modalities) what we wonder/want to know about our topic, and finally what we hope to learn in pursuing the inquiry further. For the purposes of this post, we applied this inquiry organising strategy to three guiding questions:

What type of modality did we choose?
What question(s) would you like to pursue as you examine or experience the modality?
What background reading did you do to learn more about the modality? (Blogs, websites, library journal articles). Write a summary of what you learned.

In each instance a degree of expansion and explanation is included, which, it is hoped, will help keep all of us on track as we individually and collectively delve deeper into specific issues and aspects of our modality, and the instance of edX in particular.

Continue reading Exploring Modalities: A Reflection by Team Awesome Sauce