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before-you-press-send-_-chrissie-butler

Distance learning – thoughts on inclusive design.

Posted on May 12, 2020 by Chrissie Butler

before-you-press-send-_-chrissie-butler

We are in the transition period between “Learning at home” and returning to our education settings. It’s messy and we’re managing change across multiple contexts daily. One probable constant is that blended teaching approaches, combining distance and in-person learning will be the new normal for a while.

This post:

  • highlights some of the practices that can help us inclusively design distance learning options
  • draws attention to approaches that can create barriers to learning and ways to minimise them.

Learning from our own experiences

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:

  • What do you value in an online environment you use regularly?
  • What kinds of things put you off using a website?

Also reflect on your experience of being part of a teaching team during lock down:

  • What kinds of communication approaches worked well for you?
  • What approaches or tools have you found useful?
  • What was frustrating or tiring?

Designing for humans

If you’re a designer of a distance learning experience, you know that the humans you are planning for will vary in:

  • how they are engaged (what captures their attention, keeps them interested and motivated and maintains their wairua)
  • how they process, make sense of and use information
  • the ways they communicate, collaborate, create and express their thinking.

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:

  • two guiding thoughts
  • a table of practical considerations
  • a learning conversation (a video of Chrissie Butler interviewing Linda Ojala about using a UDL lens to review a lesson or activity).

Guiding thoughts

Learning support is for everyone

learning-support-is-for-everyone-_-chrissie-butler

In the context of designing online learning environments, I’d recommend we think of learning support like air or water or food, it’s a necessity and a human right.

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:

  • build supports, including useful tools, into the way we design our online offerings and make them available to everyone
  • have ongoing conversations with our support staff, teacher aides, deans, whānau leads, guidance counsellors, SENCOs, RTLB, Learning Support Coordinators, specialist colleagues and allow their insights to influence what we design
  • create spaces and opportunities where those who work closely with tamariki can maintain connection
  • seek regular and ongoing feedback from tamariki and whānau regarding what helps and what gets in the way of learning.

Walk in the shoes of your learners

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:

  • Cool, I can connect to these activities, see why they are important and they are doable.
  • Yay, the instructions are presented clearly in video, text and image. With no waffle!!!!!
  • Great, I have options and the teacher has included everything I need to be able to get started.

Inclusive design considerations

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.
  • See themselves in the context/feel valued.
  • Fosters ongoing social connections and friendships.
Agree with students the different ways and times they can connect with you.
  • Clear shared expectations promote feelings of safety.
  • Choosing options gives agency and autonomy.
  • Can match the medium to preferences, needs and the constraints of their home context.
Make explicit the purpose of each activity or selection of activities.
  • Know what they are learning and why.
  • Motivating.
  • Can quickly decide if the activity has relevance to achieving own learning goals.
Offer learning activities where students can connect interests and experiences.
  • Relevant and personal.
  • Increases student motivation.
  • Can use props, equipment and items of personal value from their own environments.
Avoid “must do’s” and offer a range of can do’s.
  • Agency to decide what activities they can do within their own context.
  • Reduces unnecessary angst.
REPRESENTATION
Support access and understanding of information and instructions
Keep the organisation of your online space laid out in a logical predictable way.
  • Makes navigation easier.
  • Can predict where they will find things.
  • Reduces frustration.
Support short video instructions with separate written instructions. 
  • Provides an overview of the content.
  • Key content can be easily rewound.
  • Increases accessibility.
Avoid burying instructions in your daily hello video.
  • Instruction for activities can be found with the activity.
  • Can just focus on connection with you, rather than having to split attention.
ACTION and EXPRESSION
Supporting communication, action and expression
Position supports next to each activity so they can be easily accessed.
  • Supports attention and concentration.
  • Supports independence. 
Offer multiple ways to fulfil a goal, including an option to choose their own approach.
  • Can successfully show what they know in a way that works for them.
  • Have agency over materials and learning tools.
Make activities with increasing levels of complexity available to everyone.
  • Can move between levels of complexity to match how they are feeling and who they have access to as collaborators.
  • Not limited by teacher expectations.

A learning conversation

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.


Downloads

  • Transcript for Learning from home: Reviewing a learning activity using a UDL lens
  • Reviewing a lesson with a UDL lens (reflection questions)

how-can-we-learn-the-same-thing-differently-image-aroha-harrisSummary

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:

  • practices and ways of working we want to keep from our learning at home experience
  • old ways of working we don’t want to repeat or revisit
  • how to innovate a blended approach to teaching and learning that allows and supports every child and their whanau to access, influence and participate in learning experiences and environments that work for them.

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.

Acknowledgements

  • Vonnie Jones for uttering the phrase “before you press send”.
  • Linda Ojala for the interview and constant collaboration and innovation.
  • The UDL and inclusive design team at CORE.
  • The Aroha Harris quote can be found in the introduction to Anderson, A. (2016). The First Migration Māori Origins 3000BC – AD1450. Bridget Williams Books Ltd. 
  • Boekaerts, M. (2010). Chapter 4: The crucial role of motivation and emotion in classroom learning. In H. Dumont, D. Istance & F. Benavides, The Nature of Learning: Using Research to Inspire Practice. OECD Publishing. Retrieved 12 May 2020, from https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/the-nature-of-learning_9789264086487-en.
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welcome

How welcoming are your school environments?

Posted on July 17, 2018 by Lynne Silcock

cathal-mac-an-bheatha-223618-unsplashHave you ever walked through your school and asked yourself, “Who would feel welcome and comfortable here?”

I am sure we have all walked into a space where we immediately felt comfortable and, conversely, have been in spaces that do not feel welcoming or comfortable. What is it about those spaces that engender those feelings?

A learning space will work well for everyone only if it is designed to do so. Design a plan from the outset that includes all students, particularly those experiencing barriers to learning. —TKI: Inclusive Education Guides for Schools

For New Zealand schools, the partnership outlined in the Treaty of Waitangi is a primary driver in the design of learning environments. In a recent CORE Breakfast, Dr Ann Milne (NZ educator and researcher) noted that, for Māori, our classrooms are often “white spaces” created by the absence of te ao Māori in the spaces and in teaching, learning and school-wide practice.

This absence of te ao Māori in New Zealand classrooms can create feelings of discomfort or invisibility.

While the Treaty partnership provides us with a primary driver for looking at learning spaces, a number of other hidden barriers may also exist.

Using other lenses to review your spaces

Recently, I worked with a school to have a critical look at their spaces and identify how welcoming and comfortable they might feel. To support this work, we used the six headings outlined in the Inclusive Education Guide – Designing and configuring flexible learning spaces to support the full participation and engagement of all students.

Each staff member delved into the research and information provided under one of the headings in the guide (see image below).

tki inclusive education resources
Six lenses outlined in the Inclusive Education Guide – Designing and configuring flexible learning spaces to support the full participation and engagement of all students.

We then walked around the school viewing it through the chosen lens or lenses. The conversations started during this walkaround were rich and focused on some of the hidden barriers that can affect student access, engagement, and wellbeing. We talked about:

  • Sensory overload — we looked at visuals and noticed some spaces were full of colourful artwork and had conversations about how much is too much for sensory overload.
  • Access — we talked about things such as:
    • mobility around classroom areas for students with vision impairment
    • creating safe quiet zones in classes
    • gender-neutral toilets in primary school contexts.
  • Emotions and belonging — when we talked about the predominantly pastel colours in some spaces and how that might make various learners feel.

More importantly, this was not just talk. Staff made immediate changes to their learning environments based on what they noticed, and are considering and researching more options in the longer term.

Seeking diverse perspectives

I note a caveat for this post — taking a lens is not the same as living it. Nothing can replace working with a range of people with diverse perspectives when reviewing learning spaces. When we design spaces, we can collaborate from the outset to ensure that we design for all.

When we review established spaces, we can ask members of our learning community (students, whānau, and staff) which spaces they like being in and which feel less welcoming.

We can also use data such as who comes into the school and who does not to inform us. This type of data can provide a powerful starting point to help us ask the right questions and start the right conversations.

Deliberate design for inclusion

I invite you to use the rich resource that is our Inclusive Education website to have another look at your school environments. The Inclusive Education website is designed in New Zealand for New Zealand educators with practical strategies, suggestions, and resources to support the diverse needs of all learners.

If you are keen to find out more about inclusive practices and Universal Design for Learning:

  • Contact CORE to ask about coaching and mentoring options available with our UDL team.
  • Visit our Professional Learning website for workshop options.

 


Image credits:

Suggestions and resources image is from the TKI Inclusive Education Guide website

Feature image: Welcome Photo by Cathal Mac an Bheatha on Unsplash

 

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Thumbs up for Deaf Culture and New Zealand Sign Language Week!

Posted on May 8, 2017 by Sue Bridges

thumbs up

Did you know that New Zealand has, along with English and te reo Māori, a third official language? Actually, it’s been that way since 2006!

Engaging television, online and print advertisements may have recently caught your eye and alerted you to the fact that 8 – 15 May is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week in 2017. This may have even spurred you on to learn some signs yourself, or plan to do so together with your students. You may have decided to learn greetings and maybe some signed songs — and perhaps even incorporate sign and gesture into your daily teaching practices. Ka pai! It’s fun and worthwhile. But what if we dig a little deeper? What other opportunities does NZSL Week offer us? What do we know of Deaf culture — or even that ‘it’s a thing’?

The TKI Thumbs Up! website describes some of the distinct cultural characteristics of the NZ Deaf community that you may not be aware of:
“Deaf culture is not based on family culture or ethnicity. There are some multi-generational Deaf families, but not all the people in families with Deaf members are deaf themselves. For this reason, many hearing people also belong to the Deaf community, use NZSL for communication with Deaf people, and identify with the Deaf community.

Only about ten percent of Deaf children have Deaf parents. This is why NZSL users ask about, or identify, family members as Deaf or hearing.

Māori Deaf have a unique dual identity. They belong to both the Māori community and the Deaf community. There is no separate Māori sign language, but there are Māori signs, for Māori concepts. Both Māori and Pākehā Deaf use NZSL as a common community language. Māori Deaf people have developed and continue to develop signs to express concepts relating to Māori culture in New Zealand.

Ethnicity is important in how Deaf people identify and describe people in NZSL, along with descriptions of other distinguishing features that a person may have. This helps to build a picture of the person in a way that helps others to recall them more easily, especially when the person who is being discussed is not present. Visual descriptions are so important that they are often used as permanent sign names, much as nicknames in other cultures, for example SHORT-HAIR, BIG-MOUSTACHE, and SKINNY. Physical descriptions rarely cause offence in the Deaf community. It is generally acceptable to describe someone as fat because this uses a visual feature in a way that creates a more friendly and relaxed connection with the person. However, excessive or overly exaggerated signs can cause offence.”

For schools, centres, and kura, new educational e-resources are being created to support Deaf learners in culturally-responsive ways. For example, as stated on the TKI Literacy Online site, “the Ministry of Education collaborated with Deaf Aotearoa to develop selected Ready-to-Read titles as e-books. These apps are targeted resources intended to support effective guided and shared reading instruction for NZSL users. They are available through iTunes or GooglePlay and are free to download.”

Another recent special development is an exciting new quad-lingual e-book:

“Rūaumoko — The Rumbling Voice, is an interactive educational digital book narrated by Deaf Māori students in Te Reo Turi and New Zealand Sign Language. It tells the story of Rūaumoko, The Māori God of Earthquakes, and looks at the relationship of this deity to Deaf Māori people.

Produced as an educational resource, this digital book was developed over an intensive five-day workshop held in conjunction with the Ministry of Education, Kelston Deaf Education Centre, CORE Education Ltd, and KIWA Digital.” (KIWA)

ruaumoko - the rumbling voice

So, have you ever thought about:

  • The difference between being deaf and being capital-d Deaf, which indicates people who are members of the ‘historical and cultural community of deaf people and who use a natural sign language’ (Marschark, 2007)?
  • How NZSL initially emerged from and through an ‘underground’ movement of culture (as did overseas natural sign languages)?
  • The role that gesture and facial expression play as part of signing?
  • How you can appropriately get the attention of a Deaf person?
  • The fatigue that comes through the constant visual load that deaf/Deaf people process?
  • The differences involved in language acquisition and use for those who are deaf from birth, compared to those who are deafened later in life?
  • The special cultural connections that our relatively small NZ Deaf community has developed via Van Asch and Kelston Deaf Education Centres, and local Deaf Clubs?
  • Ways of communicating with Deaf people in a world set up for the hearing, compared to ways that Deaf people integrate language and culture when interacting with each other in everyday situations?
  • The importance of open visual spaces and light placement, and absence of ‘busy’ clothing patterns, so that signers can see messages clearly?
  • What communication supports need to be in place for Deaf people and their families during emergencies?
  • The range of levels of hearing impairment and deafness that may need to catered for in our learning and teaching environments (for students, staff, and whanau/community)?

NZSL Week is a great opportunity to highlight these, and many other ways, that we can learn to be culturally responsive to Aotearoa’s Deaf community. Difference, not deficit or disability, is the key focus. So, let’s explore the websites, games, and challenges that Deaf Aotearoa have provided. Watch the inspiring Hearing Hands YouTube clip. Dip into the official New Zealand Sign Language in the Curriculum document. Talk to our PLD facilitators about ideas for making learning communities more inclusive for New Zealanders who have our third official language as their first language. Seek and reach out to members of the Deaf community who cross paths and journey through life with us. And, if you missed out on the free NZSL taster classes this year, make sure that you get in quickly in 2018!

 


References

Online:

  • NZSL Week
  • Deaf Aotearoa
  • Thumbs Up – TKI
  • KIWA

Print:

  • McKee, R. (2001) People of the Eye. Bridget Williams Books: Wellington.
  • Marschark, M. (2007) Raising and Educating a Deaf Child (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press: New York.

Image Credits

Thumbs up image CC0 on Pixabay
Rūaumoko — The Rumbling Voice cover images: used by permission from KIWA

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student sensitivity to devices

Personalising student devices

Posted on May 19, 2016 by Lynne Silcock

Developers are working hard to make devices easier to use and more accessible, but most people don’t even scratch the surface when it comes to using all the features their device offers.

The inbuilt options are not just for those with specific disabilities. Just as we would adjust a car seat to suit our individual needs, our devices can be personalised for a best fit with an individual profile as unique as a fingerprint. A device can be personalised by the user themselves and/or set up for them by someone who knows them well and is aware of the options available.

Personalisation can help to make the experience of using technology more enjoyable and efficient. It can affect a student’s emotional state by reducing stress and addressing access and learning barriers. These, in turn, can make a big difference to productivity and behaviour.

Standard devices now include options that mean that they work well for many more users than they did in the past. People who would have traditionally needed quite specialised devices can now use the inbuilt features in standard devices to work alongside their peers.

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FASD student

FASD – An invisible disability

Posted on April 27, 2016 by Jane Armstrong

“FASD may often be an invisible disability…yet has very visible consequences.”
Jacqueline Pei & Tracy Mastrangelo, Professionals without parachutes presentation 2015

What is FASD?

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a preventable, lifelong disability, resulting from prenatal exposure to alcohol, that has no cure. It is a brain injury, done to a developing brain. It is not a behavioural issue, therefore must be treated differently.

Students with FASD often find school a difficult place where they do not experience success. As more students are being diagnosed with FASD the prevalence of this disability is beginning to emerge.

FASD student
Image source: Flickr – Lily Monster under CC

This blog post aims to provide you with an awareness of FASD and a starting point for your own investigation.

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