Personalizing Education

Teaching diverse learners and students is guaranteed in our profession.  Whether you experience students of a different race or gender or learning preference of ability, teaching them all is still your job.  While it is our responsibility to teach every student, we do not and can not teach every student equally.  This is where the idea of Universal Design for Learning UDL, comes into play.  The idea of UDL is to make sure that each student in your classroom, regardless of abilities and preferences, can learn the information that is required of them.

There are many pros that I can see for educators teaching with UDL in mind.  For example, on the most general level, it requires teachers to personalize education.  Even for the most average of average student who needs no specialized instruction, by having a teacher constantly thinking about diversity in learning, that student will end up getting some kind of specialized or personalized education.

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 On a deeper level, it really plays in favor to those students who do need specialized education.  In my experiences, it is easier to be prepared for diverse learners in your classroom that to try to play catch up.  By keeping the idea that each student will learn differently, either by a unique disability or ability, a teacher can be prepared for what comes his or her way.

An example of a UDL model playing in favor of certain students who need specialized instruction as well as regular general education students would be a student who has a hearing disability.  If a teacher were to assign a video for his or her class to watch, it would behove the teacher as well as the student to add captions so that if the student has a hard time hearing the video, they can still read. This idea of captions, however, can really help students who are struggling with reading.  Captions in a video would work the same way as a read-along device, helping the students hear and read the words at the same time.

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I cannot find very many cons or downsides to differentiating learning for students.  I think it is a great habit for teachers to get in to because it helps personalize education not only for those who need it, but for everyone.  The only setback I could foresee would be in implementing a UDL with several different students who have disabilities and abilities and it being very time consuming for a teacher.  However, I don't think this should discourage anyone. I think that by considering the possibility of having a student with a unique disability or ability and preparing for that before hand, will help the transition to a real classroom where you have those students.

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Mixing Realities

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As technology grows, so do our abilities as educators to reach and teach our students.  Through a ton of new interfaces, such as standard QR codes to advanced Leap Frog Tag Readers.  These types of interfaces begin to connect our real physical world to the interactive online one.

My mixing realities between real and fake, students can experience their feelings, thoughts, and activities on a whole new level.  With the ever growing pressures for students and teachers to perform well in the classroom, it may prove to be beneficial for the classroom setting as a whole to break away from physical reality, where consequences matter, into the virtual world where we can suspend the physical consequences for a while.

In many youth, spending time online via social networking sites, live role playing games, or internet usage,  has allowed them to suspend their reality and adopt a new identity for themselves; an alter ego of sorts.  

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This new alter ego may become harmful if left to run wild, in which many cases of cyberbullying may appear.  However, this alter ego may prove to be a powerful tool, in which more shy children can be given a stronger voice to their ideas.

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While I have personally never seen nor experienced a successful classroom where their is intermixing of virtual and physical worlds, I plan on incorporating it in my classroom.  I see a lot of potential in giving my students the options to express themselves in another world.  As I see it, many teachers are open to the idea of assigning multiple options for a project, ex: a powerpoint, a speech, an art exhibit, etc.  It makes sense to me that by having the students participate in online worlds as an option for a project/homework/free time, just as those other options are there.

Gamers are the new Students

   Video games are another new media in which teachers are now experiencing at their disposal to reach out and educate their students.  I think using all sorts of things that children are interested in, whether gaming, music, sports, etc and using that information to better educate children is a great idea.  This trick in teaching is not new.  I can remember in my schooling where the teacher went to extra lengths to incorporate the things that we, her students, were interested in.  The new media, or thing a lot of students are interested in, is video games.

   Gaming, while it intrigues me, is not really my thing.  I have played a variety of video games throughout my childhood and adult life to know that I'm not very good at them.  I have a hard time focusing a lot of my time and focus at any given part of the day to play.  While I know this about myself, I do think I will try to use video games in my classroom.  The way I reason it is I don't like all the things that I know my students will like, but I still try to appeal to them through that source.



  

   One of my favorite modified video game lesson that I have read was done by a guy named Mr. Todd Nesloney.  He took the popular app, Angry Birds, and turned it into a real life game about geometry and physics.  The students created 3D figures of the "birds" and the "pigs" and set up their own levels to try and beat the pigs.

   This type of "gaming" in the classroom, as well as tangible board-like games, are ways that I think I can handle.  I'm not sure I'm quite as prepared to enter into the World of Warcraft interface, I'll stick to baby steps.