Please take a moment to share your thoughts and experiences in this forum regarding the conference.
Please be sure to follow the Blog guidelines when commenting.
Thank you,
UDL@UVM grant team
Please take a moment to share your thoughts and experiences in this forum regarding the conference.
Please be sure to follow the Blog guidelines when commenting.
Thank you,
UDL@UVM grant team
I found the keynote presentation and follow-up discussion session very informing and exciting. I love those sessions that get my mind rolling and start me moving from a point made to correlation and application. The afternoon discussion allowed for additional AHah moments and thoughtful reflection. I can see real life application to my current work and was able to reflect on past successes and challenges with new insight as to why/how things work and don’t work in real life application. Many thanks for a stimulating morning and afternoon.
Given the explosion in brain research – do we need to develop a 2.0 recertifiction for teacher education?
What a great day! 🙂
One thing that I would love to see posted to this site is the video that David had to skip over this morning pertaining to stress in brain development. Thanks!!
Once again I had the treat of listening to Dr. David Rose in person and to be captivated by his discussion of the evolving research in neuroscience. I’m excited to hear about many of the “what’s new” areas that are evolving that help us to better understand how the brain assembles under various circumstances and how that impacts what we understand about learning.
Sitting in on David Rose’s Breakout session…”Taking the next steps”
Maximizing student learning is our goal. And, as Skip identified yesterday (May 17th), there are ways to get lost in the means towards achieving this goal (expensive technology for one). This conference has helped me to see more clearly, that the design of a learning environment needs to be held accountable just as the grades of the students need to be examined.
Learning in this sense, is a two way street and it is a valuable shift in thinking towards achieving a more universal learning environment.
At the risk of sounding like a “naysayer”… I think there is a danger in getting too dependent on all the cool bells and whistles of technology. Yes, it definitely has its very useful place, but nothing can take the place of real, person to person interaction and dialogue, and group discussions, critical thinking, and so on.
Another thing I’d like to say is, we need to give voice and credit to all the work that has gone before UDL, and upon which UDL is built: progressive education, the disability rights movement, the Independent Living movement, social justice and anti-oppression movements. These movements have been saying, among other things, that we need to be person-centered, and that the real disabilities are societal obstacles, not the person, long before UDL came into the limelight.
And, speaking of social justice, where is that aspect in UDL? Without looking at how we can effect real social change in our broken educational system, UDL becomes little more than a band-aid on a gushing wound.
Thanks for letting me vent! Dvora
This morning’s keynote was inspiring and thought provoking. I’m particularly interested in pursuing some of the online resources for our school to support teachers in implementing the UDL framework and concepts. I have been so impressed with the CAST website!
New definitions and Blogs
It is exciting for me as young neuroscientist to be here and to see how scientific vocabulary is expanding to the public.
I wanted to reply to David Rose’s comment regarding privacy and letting students be free of our judgement toward their study habits. I believe it will be a very tricky item in our future as teachers to remove our judgemental selves as we evaluate students with some of the new media forms. Also, I am uncomfortable with the notion of blogs as a permenant record of a rough draft of my thoughts and my students thoughts. These are tools that should be able to removed by the user as their ideas evolve and they no longer believe in what they may have written before yet they may be judged by past thoughts and ideas.
Eagerly looking to network w. folks involved in and connected to teachers of foreign or second languages.
Gracias, Sherry
I very mcuh enjoyed all the food for thought the conference is generating for me. So much to think aobut and share with my colleagues back in brattleboro. The most striking thing to me is how different it is to be a student today as opposed to back in the ’60s!!!!! Worlds apart. Good thing we can be students for life and keep on learning new tricks!
Thanks to one and all for making the conference possible and so thought provoking.
Tuesday morning’s keynote was amazing. I wish my other bioscience collegues who teach A&P could have attended – just to see this.
A hint to this evenings prize. (Valued over $600.00)
A clue for you,
a clue for me.
Makes us feel,
so happy.
When we learn,
some will say:
“You slow us down”
We say: “No way!”
A shift in thinking will let you see.
Down on earth or way up in space.
Every one, has a shot, in this neuro-diverse race.
Good luck, and see you tonight at the social hour from 4:30 – 6pm.
David’s lecture on the neuo science of learning (and the neuro components, PET scan research that he discussed) to help us understand learning and remembering was fantastic! It beautifully supports the the use of UDL in all educational settings. As a person supporting students with print disabilities to get AIMs it speaks to the benefits of text to speech and other AT for persons with print disabilities.
I also loved the discussion on “imagination and dreaming” and that to have imagination or dreaming our brains are reconstructing things from what we have heard or experienced and that through memory our brains are constantly making things up to fill in the inconsistencies (especially color) and that is is all driven by our recognition (remembering), strategic (strategies) and affective(stress) neuronal networks. It supports the research base for the methods that we are teaching kids to read! Excellent Key Note!
I am enjoying this as a novice reading specialist. I first entered the teaching English in 1978 and didn’t have aclue about the neurological aspects of the reading process.
This is enlightening and will change the way i see indivudal students who struggling with print issues.
This is information is critical to get out to folks in the field. Understanding how learning occurs is so important. I agree, Marie, it is reassuring to know that the neuroscience research continues to support the strategies that we are recommending to teachers and parents in the field, including for students with the most complex learning challenges. I will be looking for additional resources to enhance my ability to disseminate this information to the educators that I work with in Vermont in all technical assistance, workshops, and courses.
I agree with Marie that the neuroscience aspect is fascinating. I appreciate how science backs what many educators have known for years…learning is a complex, multifaceted process and “single approach” solutions have never met many learners needs.
I have been making notes all morning on how to deconstruct my courses and reconstruct them with way less “text.” I look forward to sharing this information with my department colleagues.
I’m particularly enjoying the opportunity to meet people and share resources and experiences. The size of the conference is conducive to discussion, to questions, and elaborative exploration of the issues and implications of UDL. The participants represent a wide range of endeavors, and they are in wonderful positions to apply UDL principles in their work and to have a major impact on higher education practices. I’m eager to see the myriad fruits this conference spreads far and wide. I hope everyone is making the effort to meet other participants, and I’m eager to have you all keep in touch with us about how and where you find opportunities to apply what you’re exploring here.
I thoroughly enjoyed Skip Stahl’s breakout session yesterday afternoon. We took the opportunity to listen to several faculty discuss approaches where they had applied UDL into their classroom instruction and then analyzed those discussions across the UDL checklist and the 3 brain networks. Sometimes the faculty infused a number of the approaches, sometimes not. The objective is to strive towards that direction but the opportunity may not always provide that result. I also appreciated the various video scenarios and faculty discussions that demonstrated how successful UDL does not depend upon technology as a means and can be achieved through other approaches. Faculty considered the UDL framework, the goals of their classes and then determined approaches that could offer new ways to teach and reach students. Very engaging discussions!
Please also consider joining a national conversation on UDL through the National Community of Practice on UDL through the IDEA Partnership. If you visit the http://www.sharedwork.org website, you can join for free and quickly become a member of this growing community.
Can you please post the ppt from the second half of the keynote? Thanks!!
When I have the Ppt file I will post it ASAP! Thanks for the reminder.
Holly
It’s up!
A huge thank you for all of the time and attention that has gone into planning this conference. I came home from Day 1 really excited and taking my course syllabus all apart. 🙂
We should all do what Haley is doing…we all say we’re going to go back “home” and incorporate the UDL framework into what we’re doing…but then life happens. Gotta strike while the iron is hot! Skip’s reminders about the pros and cons of lecture, images, and text/print were good places to start.
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I spent some time looking at the UDL Editions by CAST this afternoon. They are a cool tool for students to use but I’m not sure they can replace good teaching which should include all of these elements – talking, listening, reading, explaining definitions, discussing what the poem means, etc. One problem with digital media is that it relies heavily on spoken and written English. If a deaf student (or even a hard of hearing student) were to use the tool, a student whose first language is not English or even a student from another culture/country – they would all need more than the simple tools provided because these tools assume that the individual has a strong comprehension of written and spoken English.
The good thing about digital media is that we can usually incorporate other formats. For a student who uses sign language, a video of a visual/signed explanation could be substituted for the written or verbal explanation. The option to find the definition of any word on the page is a good tool (if you have a Kindle like I do, you probably use this all the time!). It would be nice to see the option to translate an entire paragraph into another language rather than just one word. Anyone else have ideas?
So what is the relationship betweebn UDL and RTI?
Such a great question! In one of the sessions I attended yesterday, we talked about the need for a graphic organizer/visual (since images are good for showing relationships 😉 ) that displays UDL as a theoretical framework, and Response to Intervention (RTI), differentiated instruction, and multiple intelligences/learning styles as overlapping or subsumed areas. CAST folks…do you want to take this on? 🙂
I also liked the “tight goals, loose means” as a great way to communicate with teachers how they might design their curricula to best support all students’ learning.
Yes, teaching others to apply the lens of UDL and the 3 principles to their instruction helps us to focus on the real issues…the curriculum, the classroom, the means we use. Appreciating how the brain research underscores this framework is so important to shift the focus on learning rather than on access — a misconception of UDL by so many in the past.
I loved the idea about sharing goals and objectives from the teacher’s edition with students. We need to empower students to be in charge of their own education at all levels.
I’ve noticed that Pearson (and some other publishers) recently have been providing online support materials alongside their student versions of the digital text. These supports look a lot like the “Cliff Notes” that used to appear only in the teacher desk copy. It’s a move in the right direction…but none of my students have purchased the digitial text-they tell me they want the paper version..!
I interviewed UVM students this past semester about “what good teaching looks like to them.” Among many things, they said;
-“Class should be ours (the students) not theirs (the professor). – They wanted more collaboration, and constructive discussion.
– Teachers sometimes look like the professor from Charlie Brown – “Blah, Blah, Blah” – they all mentioned the word engagement, students like engagement.
– They also expressed there desire for more students to “be their own advocates”
I wonder whether the overarching theme in Zack’s work is the desire for “student-centered instruction” rather than the traditional “teacher-centered” style. It certainly fits the UDL framework…but which principles? And how do we explain this to colleagues without hurting their feelings…or pride? 😉
The sage on the stage era served a purpose but has now run its course. If we help faculty to see how society (and societal needs) have changed, we have accomplished the first step in explaining the urgency for this change. Of course, there also must be a piece that allows for release time, etc. needed to effectively redesign courses. How many of us intend to make curricula changes but never get the time to do so. There must be buy in at the administrative level.
Cindy,
When you say “curricula changes” are you referring to our need to create a more personalized curriculum towards the “neurodiversity” (hah) of students?
Yes 🙂
I’m glad Skip talked about “tight goals, loose means.” I think that if we spend too much time introducing UDL to others by focusing on cool methods, general educators start to worry about the technology, the preparation, the time involved in differentiating everything. If we start with the focus on clear goals, however, and separating goals from the methods for achieving them, then folks can see that there may not be a need for lots of high tech work but maybe just a shift in assessment and a recognition of the need for basic digital media tools.
I hadn’t heard the “tight goals, loose means” comment before today. As you, I really like it. I also realize it’s tougher work to get individuals or faculties back to think about their goals after their courses are so well developed.
However, if playing with the means can help them (or even departments) realize their goals more more inclusive outcomes, so much the better. Feels like a very fruitful prompt for discussions.
What if we challenge the notion of “well-developed” courses and put in place a cyce of constant reflection and improvement? Perhaps the UDL framework is something we don’t just implement and have done with, but, like you say, is something that prompts us for constant discussion. I like that idea…