One probable constant is that blended teaching approaches, combining distance and in-person learning will be the new normal for a while.
This post:
Let’s begin by considering our own distance learning experiences and reflect on what we value in an online environment.
Most of us have probably had a distance learning experience in our teaching career. We’ve taken a course, attended a webinar or participated in post graduate study where we’ve had to navigate Moodle’s multiple spaces, participate in discussion forums and submit work in unfamiliar formats.
Reviewing our experience of distance learning as adults, we’d probably give quite mixed feedback.
Some of us will have relished open-ended assignments, others will have ached for structure and exemplars. Some of us will have been comfortable posting into an online forum, others will have rewritten a reply to a post ten times before daring to press send.
As we participated in online learning, our home contexts will have impacted on our study. We may have juggled care of children, work pressure, a health crisis within our whānau and/or our own mental health. Most of the time we will have managed the juggle, but sometimes we may have had to step back from the study, negotiate extensions or have a heart-to-heart with a tutor.
Now consider your ongoing use of familiar online environments, such as TradeMe, Facebook, Netflix, or an online supermarket or newspaper website:
Also reflect on your experience of being part of a teaching team during lock down:
If you’re a designer of a distance learning experience, you know that the humans you are planning for will vary in:
Planning for this level of variability is an art and also the bread and butter of teaching. As we plan for young humans in distance learning contexts, many of the approaches we use face-to face translate easily (if taking a universal design approach is already part of our practice). There are, however, some additional thoughts worth considering to ensure what we are offering will work for all our learners.
So, to support you in your review of your distance learning options so far, here are:
If we turn the words around and call it “support for learning”, we can see that it’s something for everyone.
As experienced kaiako, we know every young human learns differently and learning from home looks and feels different for everyone. We also know that emotion and learning are interconnected (Boekaerts, 2010) and our COVID 19 context and its consequences are having an impact on our individual and collective wellbeing and mental health. We appreciate being able to reach for the support or tools we need, when we need them, be they a pair of scissors, a how-to-video or someone to talk to.
So let’s:
Before you press send, take a walk in the shoes of your learners. Imagine being on the other end of your activities or assignments. What will be your learners’ first impressions?
Will each learner think:
Here are some considerations aligned to the three principles of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework. You can find out more about each principle by following the link in the left hand column.
Focus area | Things to think about | Benefits for learners |
ENGAGEMENT Supporting engagement | Communicate in ways that engage culture, are mana enhancing and build community. |
|
Agree with students the different ways and times they can connect with you. |
| |
Make explicit the purpose of each activity or selection of activities. |
| |
Offer learning activities where students can connect interests and experiences. |
| |
Avoid “must do’s” and offer a range of can do’s. |
| |
REPRESENTATION Support access and understanding of information and instructions | Keep the organisation of your online space laid out in a logical predictable way. |
|
Support short video instructions with separate written instructions. |
| |
Avoid burying instructions in your daily hello video. |
| |
ACTION and EXPRESSION Supporting communication, action and expression | Position supports next to each activity so they can be easily accessed. |
|
Offer multiple ways to fulfil a goal, including an option to choose their own approach. |
| |
Make activities with increasing levels of complexity available to everyone. |
|
The video below introduces how we can review a lesson or activity with a UDL lens using the UDL thinking cycle. It is an informal interview between myself and colleague Linda Ojala. It is 14 minutes long.
Over the last couple of months, the learning curve has been immense as we have adjusted to teaching and learning over distance.
Hopefully this learning curve will continue to expand as together with whānau and tamariki we seek feedback, discuss and reflect on:
I can imagine some of the richest discussions will be around maintaining and supporting learner agency and continuing to support close collaboration with whānau.
I also hope that we can take into the new normal some of our new learning about planning for variability, utlising digital tools and employing creative solutions, to ensure every child has access to learning in a way that works for them.
Finally, all the thoughts shared above translate directly to blended practice. They reflect a people-centred, systematic approach to design and are informed by the framework Universal Design for Learning.
Get in touch if we can help in any way or you would like to learn more about Universal Design for Learning, web accessibility and inclusive design principles and practices.
It's been a big year in the education sector, and we're all looking forward to…
ERO is publishing a series of best practice guides to help educators effectively implement incoming…
Summer reading can help students retain literacy skills over the break – how can we…
Pakuranga Intermediate demonstrates the simple power of a friendly, welcoming environment
The new Māori Education Action Plan has been criticised by some as being light on…
How can we use AI to transform education while being mindful of its limitations, pitfalls…
This website uses cookies.