Week 3 is finding me just as confused, but with a little more hope. The principles set forth in the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) have been very enlightening. Understanding how to incorporate the three brain functions supporting recognition, strategic, and affective learning into a lesson plan allows me as the teacher to address the needs of diverse learners. (Rose & Meyer) The pretense of the UDL model and principles is flexibility. By following the UDL model, the goals are clearly identified, yet allow for the teacher to incorporate different methodologies to address the goals.
Flexibility to address the needs of today’s student is reiterated in the book Web 2.0 New Tools, New Schools by Solomon & Schrum (2007). Christopher Johnson reflects on the use of blogs in his middle school classroom, stating that “perhaps most importantly, students are engaged in an ongoing metacognitive process in which they are reflecting upon their thinking and strategies.” Solomon, p. 93) Metacognitive processes and strategies are critical for 21st century learners as these skills enable the student to cope with new ideas, concepts and situations.
These work together and even thought I don’t teach in a k-12 classroom, I do teach from time to time adult learners and assist in the development of technical educational programs in various organizations. These skills will help me as I progress, in not only my evaluation, but my implementation of educational plans.
Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology web site, http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/
Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.
No comments:
Post a Comment