Chapters 6 & 8

My initial impression of chapter 6 was that it would be really cool to attend a early 20th century school, like the one in Little House on the Prairie. But anyways, I really agreed with the notion of learning centers infusing "teaching practices that have been called "culturally responsive," "culturally appropriate," "culturally compatible," and "culturally relevant." Because I think that understanding the culture of the classroom and the students is one of the most aspects of pedagogical proficiency. In addition, community centered learning environments are just as important, because teachers need to know where their students come from and what the true essence of the neighborhood is.

Chapter 8 reaffirmed some conclusions that I had already made in this class. Specifically the idea, that creating a UDL environment in one's classroom was contingent on the support of the schools administration. As such, an effective technological infrastructure and support system is also needed, as well as teacher training and support.
Because, theoretically a teacher could implement a UDL approach without this support, in the same manner that Michelle Pfeiffer or Hilary Swank saved minority students from a doomed fate, but in reality the notion of doing this on your own, is as realistic as those movies.

Chapter 6 UDL

I really enjoyed reading this chapter because it was well organized and highlighted key points that made a lot of sense to me. For instance, I was in total agreement with the authors statement that "recognition networks need exposure to multiple examples. By seeing, hearing, smelling, or touching many instances of a pattern, recognition networks can extract the critical features that define that pattern and identify new instances that share those features. Thus, exposure to multiple examples supports bottom-up recognition processes." This idea also applies to the manner in which students express what they have learned. As such, UDL needs to be implemented in these situations because as the article states "another essential part of teaching a strategic skill is providing learners with chances to demonstrate that skill. Demonstration challenges learners to consolidate and apply all parts of the process. It also elicits feedback from a broader audience...In this way, demonstrating skills and knowledge can factor powerfully into motivation, helping learners experience the "why" of learning."
Furthermore, the chapter also pointed out how multimedia needs to used in order to make individualized approaches to teaching feasible, and I completely agree with that statement and point of view because of what I have experienced in this class. Using multimedia in the classroom really does facilitate a complete UDL approach.

Chapter 4: What is UDL for learning

Seriously, what is Universal Design for Learning? It makes perfect sense, but I find it very complicated to totally comprehend in a practical sense. To be more specific, how does one make a total UDL environment? In a sense, and quoting directly from the chapter "UDL opens the door for rethinking how we teach". I am not inferring that this is a bad thing, but rather an extremely challenging task. As such, UDL seems like its a state of mind(LOL)and in all honesty, I think its a leap in the right direction, somewhat revolutionary and cool. The chapter used really good analogies and classroom scenarios to illustrate what UDL is all about, hopefully, I'll be a master at it one day.

Summary of Techies MacArthur and Edyburn articles

The TC Techies interpretation of the MacArthur and Edyburn Article’s was extremely insightful and examined the benefits and drawbacks of assistive technology and compensatory assistive technology vs. remediation.
In general the group agreed as Kimberly Simon pointed out, “there is merit in using assistive technology even in situations where it is being used as compensation. Any disagreements with in the group came up regarding how often the technology should be used, and whether it was truly beneficial when many students were not learning their target skills.
The majority of the group believed that there should not be a greater emphasis on either assitive technology as compensation or remediation. Rather, most members pointed out the benefits and weaknesses of both approaches, and for the most part, concluded that a mixture of both would be the most effective approach.
I have also included some interesting thoughts that I thought I should share.
Marielle wrote that “maybe remediation will be more effective for a student with a learning disability; the student may not need a certain technology to get by in school, that it is not their only way to function in a classroom. Rather, interventions with remediation will work better; by using alternative teaching strategies”.
And Kristen Schwarz added, “Technology…should be used to reinforce regular instruction. These computer technologies can help children practice skills that they learn in the classroom, but I do not think that they should be used to teach actual skills. But, of course, every student is different and if you are at the end of the road with a student (you've tried all other options) then, trying something is better then doing nothing.
Overall, everyone in the group made great points and it was a really interesting discussion.