Free Resources from the Net for EVERY Learner » universal design for learning

Celebrating Diversity

Paul Hamilton — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:21:26 +0000

Last week I co-taught a course on assistive technology to 43 teachers. Packing a full-semester course into 5 days made for an intense but rewarding experience. We introduced Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as the pedagogical framework for understanding and implementing assistive technology. Then, using Ira Socol’s “toolbelt theory“, we encouraged the teachers to think in terms of helping to equip all learners with a “toolbelt” of digital tools to serve as effective life solutions. Class members were impressed by the range of free tools that are readily available to anyone.

I want to share a video put together by one of the teachers who was enrolled in our course. Myriah relates her personal journey in overcoming some of her learning challenges. I find the arrogant ignorance of some of Myriah’s college teachers appalling. How do you respond?

Celebrating Diversity from myriahmichaux on Vimeo.

Navify for Multiple Means of Representation

Paul Hamilton — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:49:22 +0000

Multiple means of engagement and multiple means of representation are essential if there is any chance of connecting with all learners, or of meeting the diverse learning needs in any given classroom. With the rapid proliferation of digital resources, there is less excuse every day for educators who do not encourage learners to use resources and tools that work for them.

It is paramount that teachers recognize and remember that most of their students do not learn in the same ways that they themselves learn. Simply trying harder doesn’t work if you learn differently!

I’m especially pleased when I discover new resources that put multiple means of representation together in one place! Here’s one that gathers text, images, and videos into one place. Of course, you can add an audio version of the text as well, with one of many readily available text-to-speech options.

Navify is a service that combines Wikipedia articles with related videos from Youtube and online images. So, when a topic is entered into the search bar, it brings up the pertinent Wikipedia article along with videos and images on the same subject. With the multiple means of representation offered, there is a far greater chance of engaging a wider range of learners.

The first screen shot below shows the Wikipedia article that opens when ‘tiger’ is typed into the search box. You can see the tabs above the article for Images and Videos. The second screen shot shows what appears when the Images tab is clicked, and the third shows the videos.

It should be noted that it is up to users to select the images and videos that are associated with an article. For all of the search terms I entered, I was offered an extensive collection of images and videos to choose from. Since Navify is a relatively new service, there were relatively few videos associated with any of the topics I searched.

Two other features of Navify are also worth mentioning. The first is that users have the opportunity to comment on topics. Secondly, related topics are suggested with search results.

KidsNumbers.com (online resource)

Paul Hamilton — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:33:50 +0000

In a world more ideal than the one we have, the emerging principles of universal design for learning would guide curriculum and determine the range of learning tools available to all learners. In an ideal world, I don’t believe that children would be grouped by age for learning purposes. It’s obvious that children of the same age vary greatly in terms of aptitude, learning style, learning needs and learning “readiness”.

Teachers who adopt a UDL approach in classrooms where children are grouped arbitrarily by age, need resources that meet diverse learning needs. That’s why I’m encouraged by a math resource shared by Richard Byrne.

KidsNumbers.com is from the Kids Know It Network. The developers of KidsNumbers certainly have the right idea.

KidsNumbers.com is the absolutely free math resource designed by teachers, specifically for students and children of all ages. A place where students can practice all aspects of math, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, in a fun and pressure free way.

KidsNumbers isn’t the answer for everyone; but it does offer a systematic approach to learning and re-enforcing fundamental math concepts and skills. This approach will be helpful for some learners. There are activities, games, and even worksheets that can be printed and completed with a pencil.

This is a great example of the kind of resource that I believe teachers need to have available to help meet the range of learning needs in their classrooms.

Kerpoof (Online Resource)

Paul Hamilton — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 04:53:22 +0000

I’ve been aware of this terrific resource for a couple of years, but I’ve never written about it here. I’ve held off because it is not 100% free. There is more than enough that is free, however, to make it well worth sharing. In the language of Universal Design for Learning, this engaging resource facilitates multiple options for learners to express themselves.

Kerpoof offers children between the ages of 4 and 14 endless opportunity for creative expression in a variety of formats. Kerpoof is an online multimedia “studio” that facilitates drawing, story writing, creation of animated movies, and card making.

Tutorials are available for getting started with using Kerpoof to make pictures and movies. An extensive library of scenes and objects is available for use in stories, pictures, and movies. User interfaces in Kerpoof Studio are intuitive and easy to use, as illustrated below in the screen shot of the drawing palette.

With paid Kerpoof memberships there are additional features–more objects for use in Kerpoof projects, chat, group galleries, buddy drawing, etc. Some of the features available with memberships are also available on free teacher accounts. Teacher accounts include administrative tools that support use of Kerpoof with an entire class. Helpful classroom ideas and lesson plans are also provided on the Kerpoof site.

Supporting Every Learner in the Classroom

Paul Hamilton — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 15:06:53 +0000

Recently, work has kept me away from my Google Reader, so this weekend I’m catching up with the blogs I subscribe to. I’ve just read something that I wish every educator and parent of school age children would read. So, even if you read no further in this post, please go directly to The Perfect Storm by Lisa Parisi and read what she has to say.

Lisa has summarized very well much of what I have come to believe about effective education. Lisa and her teaching partner Christine Southard approach learning in a way that facilitates success by every learner in the classroom, no matter what an individual class member’s learning needs may be.

In a more recent post, Lisa says something else that I’ve come to believe: “…every child has special needs.” So, in Lisa and Christine’s classroom, supports and tools are made available to all learners. This is key; and it accomplishes two important objectives. First, learners who require tools feel less centered out when other classmates are using the same tools. Secondly, and of even more significance, this encourages children to take ownership of their learning. Learners have the opportunity to try learning support tools and then adopt them if they find them helpful.

Lisa and Christine intentionally encourage learners to take ownership of their learning in other ways as well. When an individual takes ownership for his/or her learning, it can only result in increased engagement and much greater success. Almost all teachers would like to see more engaged and successful learners in their classrooms, but for too many this remains an unattainable ideal because too many learning needs are not even being addressed.

Please read what Lisa has to say about UDL (universal design for learning) PBL (project based learning) and about providing supports that enable ALL learners in a classroom to be successful.

Leveling the Playing Field with Free Digital Resources

Paul Hamilton — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:56:12 +0000

I hope that anyone who reads this blog regularly knows that I am a passionate proponent of universal access and of universal design for learning. EVERYONE deserves the opportunity to learn, regardless of learning style, and no matter what learning challenges are experienced–including physical “disabilities” and learning “disabilities”. Fortunately, assistive technology exists today that can help make learning truly accessible and possible for ALL.

Many fine commercial products are available on the market to help learners overcome barriers that have too often been insurmountable in the past. These products are wonderful for people who can afford them. Unfortunately, lack of money is an additional barrier that is often faced by individuals with learning challenges. This sad reality is one of my prime motivators in writing this blog.

Free tools and solutions that are readily available on the internet have tremendous potential to help overcome the additional barrier of material poverty that prevents learning and restricts basic access to learning. Today is Blog Action Day 2008 where the focus is on poverty. Please join me in spreading the word about free learning tools that can help individuals succeed as learners and potentially escape the cycle of poverty.

Simple English Wikipedia (Online Resource)

Paul Hamilton — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:02:54 +0000

You would have to have had your head in the sand for a long time not to at least be aware of Wikipedia, an amazing online reference resource that is used every day by countless learners and teachers around the world. You may not be aware that there is an alternate version of Wikipedia that is more accessible in terms of language and grammar.

“Simple English Wikipedia is for everyone!” This bold declaration is contained in the opening paragraph on the home page. In other words, the Simple English Wikipedia is by design a resource that facilitates universal access and supports a UDL (Universal Design for Learning) approach in the classroom. Writers have been encouraged to “use easy words and shorter sentences”. In my experience, there are learners in classrooms at all levels who benefit from this approach.

Simple English Wikipedia is part of the Wikimedia Foundation. In appearance and layout, Simple English Wikipedia is exactly the same as Wikipedia. Simple English Wikipedia currently contains 36,599 articles. We are all invited, of course, to contribute new articles or to edit existing ones. I see great potential here for teachers who are looking for meaningful and motivating projects.

Web 2.0: Cool Tools for Schools (Online Resource)

Paul Hamilton — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:50:33 +0000

Here’s another resource wiki that absolutely deserves to be highlighted and shared. Here again, we see the power and the potential of the wiki. This one came to my attention via Kate Ahern.

Web 2.0: Cool Tools for Schools is a wiki that links to an extensive and well organized collection of Web 2.0 tools that can be used to facilitate learning and teaching. Many of the tools linked here offer multiple alternative options for engaging learners. These tools also provide multiple options for learners to express themselves and to represent what they learn. These are tools that make it possible to effectively support many of the diverse learning needs in our classrooms. (See: Universal Design for Learning)

Web 2.0: Cool Tools for Schools is organized by the function of the learning tools it lists and links. The image below shows the buttons on the wiki’s home page that take you to the set of links. Each listing is accompanied by a concise description.

101 Free Learning Tools from ZaidLearn

Paul Hamilton — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:19:18 +0000

Here in British Columbia, we start back to school this week. In honour of the occasion, I’m passing along a gift that came my way (via Richard Byrne) from Zaid at ZaidLearn. Zaid has put together a terrific list of “101 Free Learning Tools” and shared it effectively in visual format on Slideshare. I’ve embedded the slide show here for your convenience.

In the spirit of UDL (universal design for learning) Zaid has also shared his list in text format on his blog. Actually, there are 140 free learning tools listed in the text version. Zaid’s blog is worth checking out for other free digital educational resources that he shares, especially his list of “101 Free Edugames“.

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: thinking tools)

udl4all (online resource)

Paul Hamilton — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:08:04 +0000

udl4all is a wiki that I have started recently. I hope it will serve as a resource for anyone with an interest in Universal Design for Learning (UDL). I’m especially keen that it be useful for teachers who are looking for ways of better supporting ALL the learners in their classrooms.

Since I work with technology, the focus of my wiki is on free digital tools that I believe can help ALL learners succeed in today’s classrooms. I focus on free tools because lack of money is a significant barrier that stands in the way of far too many learners who already face other daunting challenges.

In response to my previous post, Ira Socol rightly pointed out that ultimately UDL must be about much more than technology. Still, in today’s world, technology is a critical component in facilitating successful learning for all students. For many, there is virtually no hope of success in school without access to an appropriate range of tech tools that should be readily available to all.

So, please check out the wiki I’m putting together, and let others know about it. I welcome your comments, suggestions, and constructive criticism. I’ve included a link right at the top of the home page to facilitate feedback via email. (I am not using the normal feedback option of the wiki platform because it uses ‘captcha’ that is not accessible to everyone.)