Inclusive Design

As a new educator we are constantly being taught and prompted to always be considering inclusive learning design. So this topic is not new, but still something I am constantly learning and shifting my ideas and the ways I can teach to help my students.

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is something we should be considering throughout planning for lessons and designing new ones where we work towards minimizing and eliminating the barriers. Some strategies and ways I’ve learned that doesn’t only help the individual child but can help all students are: flexible seating, visuals about steps of instructions, scaffolding when teaching a lesson, using technology. Some of these modification might be there for an individual student but can help benefit all. Educators need to teach to the diversity and understand how it is not more work but it is different work (Moore, 2019). Shelley Moore in her 5 Moore Minutes, provides a great explanation about inclusion and shows how we can teach to the diverse learners and how we can shift our thinking in learning design.

Considering this video and what I have learned, for my interactive resource to ensure that all students have success is to plan for the potential learners first and then think about my activities. For example, to explain about mindfulness, I can find a video that provides subtitles for those who are hard of hearing or provide audio description for those people with blindness. When it is time for learners to share their knowledge, I can provide multiple mediums they can access for me to see what they learned like a voice message, written option or let them draw a picture to show what they know, for English Language Learners, I can also provide a text that they can translate or have them write in the language they are most comfortable and I can translate it myself. To remove barriers, I can provide multiple was learners can access the material and share their knowledge. Using multi modalities allow for learners to have agency over how they learn the material and how they want to share it.