Month: February 2025

Universal Design For Learning (UDL):

UDL and Inclusive Learning Environment: 

UDL is a framework that strives to create a more accessible and inclusive learning environment for all students. This framework recognizes that classrooms consists of diverse students that have different type of learning styles and different backgrounds. This framework provides ways to accommodate all types of students to make the classroom more inclusive. UDL provides multiple ways for engagement, representation, action and expression. For example, multiple ways of engagement provides several design options to create a more inclusive engagement process for students. UDL practices such as understanding the differences of students and welcoming different backgrounds  of the students also ensures an inclusive learning environment.

Applying UDL into Classroom: 

UDL process can be applied to both physical and online learning environments. The video below is a good example of how a teacher can incorporate UDL principles into a physical classroom. The practices incorporated by the teacher includes letting students show their knowledge through different channels such as songs or writings. The teacher also welcomes different backgrounds of the students and encourages the students to incorporate their background into their learning journey. He also uses multiple tools to teach and understands the different between each students. Overall, this practices discussed in the video are good examples of how one can incorporate UDL values into physical classroom.

Accessibility in Online Settings:

Inclusion in Online Learning Environment: 

Ensuring course content is accessible is vital in an online learning environment. People with disabilities, senior students, and students with limited resources can especially have difficulty accessing online content properly. To combat this, instructors should create course content clearly and organized. They should use icons consistently so it doesn’t confuse students. They should also add captions to their videos for clarity. They can also use screen readers and text-to-speech to make their content more accessible for people with disabilities and all the other students.

Equability in Online Learning Environment: 

To create a more equitable learning experience, instructors can provide free or low-cost resources and they can also make the course content in a way that can be viewed in multiple devices in multiple different formats. This way students with limited resources can also access course content.

Personal Experience with Accessibility: 

In my own learning experiences, having accessibility issues in an online learning environment affected my motivation and engagement for the course. If the course website and content were not working, I would feel less motivated to do the coursework because I had to figure out the accessibility issue first and do the course content which seemed very time-consuming. Therefore, I believe accessibility for all students is essential for students learning, as it would decrease student motivation and engagement if the learning environment is not accessible.

Photo by Compare Fibre on Unsplash

Ethical Challenges of EdTech:

Some Ethical Challenges of EDTech: 

There are several ethical challenges of Edtech that teachers and students should be aware of. Some of these challenges include,

Collection of Personal Data:  This data collection should be minimized to what is necessary and should be done to the knowledge of the students. If students want to be anonymous and not share any personal information, they should be able to do so.

Pushing Products: The second challenge is that the data collected from these can be used to analyze the learning patterns of students and can be used by EdTech companies to push products to students which limits their options.

Discrimination: The other challenge with this data collection is that it could be used to discriminate against students based on race, gender sexuality, etc. This can create inequality in online learning spaces.

How to Balance Ethics and Edtech: 

Teachers should use platforms that collects limited date. The teachers can also use platforms that informs students about data collection and the handling of the collected data. This way teachers can use EdTech and combat the ethical concerns. To avoid ethical concerns of the EdTech, the teachers should also inform the students and parents about the data collection and help them use the educational technology responsibly.

Photo by Maya Maceka on Unsplash

Ethical Considerations in Digital Interactions:

Ethics in Digital Environments: 

Ethical considerations in digital interactions are critical to learning about all people who use the internet. Most online platforms and social media require people to share their personal information to allow usage. This personal information is mostly used to personalize the experience of the user. These could cause some ethical issues such as products being pushed to the user based on their personal information and these data being used for discrimination. These issues happen both in educational environments and social settings. 

Responsibilities as an Online Participant: 

The responsibilities I have as a participant in these platforms consist of being aware of how my information is used and collected. I should safeguard my personal information and be careful when I share any of my personal information. The responsibilities I have as a user also include being careful about my privacy settings on the websites that I visit and being aware of the data that is being collected from me. This includes the personal information I share online and the consent that I give for entering the websites.

Ensuring Positive Digital Interactions: 

To ensure positive digital interactions, people should use respectful language and tone on digital environments. In addition to that, people should be culturally sensitive and inclusive on digital environments. This can be done by being aware of culture differences and making sure people are not excluded. Moreover, people should avoid spreading misinformation , when sharing online content. These are couple practices that can ensure positive interactions on digital environments.

Photo by Wes Hicks on Unsplash

Applying UDL and Accessibility Principals:

Reflection on Previous Online Courses: 

I feel like as a student so far my professors have addressed the issues of accessibility and adequately applied the principles of UDL. Most of the courses I have taken had multiple ways to engage the students and increase participation. Moreover, the courses I have taken have been very welcoming of different perspectives and ideas. The courses that I had also involved multiple ways to show what I have learned such as essays, tests, and group projects.

Recommended Improvements: 

I feel like some aspects of my courses could have been improved to make the course more accessible for all students. These practices would include

Adding more resources: These would help students with different learning styles to learn the material from different sources provided by the professor.

Giving more clear feedback: This would help students understand where they are struggling and where they need to work more. I think these would have helped and improved my classes.

Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash

Pedagogy:

Pedagogy is the art and science of teaching. It theorizes how teachers can help students learn better. It helps teachers develop strategies to teach better to students. When I reflect on my own experiences with learning, I can see that I like teaching styles where there is independent work and exploration. I feel like I learn better when I go through the concept on my own and practice with tests and problems.  I also really enjoy discussing problems with classmates and learning through group discussions. I believe it is really helpful to talk and discuss problems with classmates and learn from each other. In my own experience, these kinds of group work help me learn and retain information better. For me, individual projects and group discussions are the most effective learning styles.

Photo by Chris Saran  on Unsplash 

Networked Pedagogy:

Network pedagogy emphasizes the connections between people and information on digital platforms. Network pedagogy creates a more collaborative environment in the digital spaces and helps people connect with resources and instructors that they might need. I think network pedagogy can enhance my learning through the collaborative environment it creates. It becomes very easy to find a professional or an expert on a topic that you want to learn more about. This makes learning more accessible and fun. One example of how networked pedagogy helped me in my learning experiences would be helping me find tutorials and people online. During Covid-19, I wanted to learn more about oil painting and due to the quarantine, I wasn’t able to go anywhere or get lessons. I found this YouTube channel of an artist who was teaching oil painting techniques. This channel was really helpful, it taught me a lot and helped me improve my paintings. I also found an online community of people who wanted to learn more about oil paintings through that YouTube channel. This experience has really contributed to my improvement in oil painting and finding a community that had similar struggles when learning painting made me feel less lonely and motivated to do better. Therefore, I can say that networked pedagogy helped me and contributed to such great memories for me.

Photo by Chris Saran  on Unsplash 

Learning Theories:

Constructivism is the learning theory that indicates that learners construct their own knowledge through their experiences and knowledge about the world. This theory might be applied to online learning environments by creating more of an active learning experience for students to experience learning. These types of activities might include group projects and discussion forms. This type of learning encourages students to think about what they have learned and apply it to a project or write about it in a discussion form. I think doing these discussion forms and connecting course material with our own experiences through writing about it is one example of how one could incorporate constructivist ideals in the online learning environment. I see this theory shaping my learning in a positive way, as it helps make course content more real due to the connection to my lived experiences. This way, the course material and the learning are more permanent in my brain. That’s why, this theory is the one that I most connect with.

Photo by Alen Rojnić on Unsplash 

The Role of the Instructor:

I think, even in online learning environments the job of the instructor is very crucial. The instructor in an online learning environment should be active and attentive towards students. Also  the instructor in an online environment should have clear communication with students about what they are expected to do and how the course would be going. Due to the learning environment being online students won’t be able to ask questions and expect answers right away. Therefore, the instructor being attentive and answering student’s questions in a timely manner is really important. In addition, the instructor should be able to incorporate interactive elements into online learning, such as discussion boards or group projects so that the students can connect with one another. Most instructors I had when I took online courses were great and they were able to create a great learning space online. They were all attentive and answered questions in a timely manner. Most of them had office hours where I could go and ask questions. They also created opportunities for me to meet classmates through discussion boards and group projects.

Photo by Ibrahim Uzun on Unsplash 

Exploring Digital Spaces:

Learning in a digital environment can have its benefits and challenges. One benefit to learning in digital spaces would be the flexibility it provides. Another benefit of learning in a digital environment is that learning is more accessible, as it is in an online platform. One challenge to learning in digital spaces can be a lack of human connection. Due to learning being digital, it is very easy to get isolated and not meet people. Another challenge of learning online is that not all information provided online is accurate therefore, one must have digital literary skills to navigate information and select the ones that are accurate. Also, sharing accurate information with digital communities can be a great way to contribute. Being mindful and respectful towards the people in the learning community and being supportive of people who are struggling are also great ways to contribute to online learning communities.

Here is a TedTalk about the the transformation of education with technological advancements and how teacher should adapt to these changes for digital transformation in education to be more effective. This TedTalk is also talking about what is the instructors job in a digital learning environment.