Tag: UDL

Example of Stickity being used to differentiate with colors for different groups of students
Teaching Tools

Stickity for Schools

Terri Eichholz

Stickity for Schools is an add-on for Google Docs and Google Slides. The name practically says it all, as these are virtual “stickers” that you can add to documents and presentations.

Once you get the add-on, you can open a Google Doc or Google Slide presentation, and you can get your Stickity sidebar by going to your Add-Ons in your menu. In the little gray menu under the Stickity logo, you will see icons to indicate the categories of stickers. Choose from one of the categories, and click on a sticker to add to your slide or doc.

But… there’s more! Stickity is thoughtfully designed to help with accessibility, from the alt text that is provided with each sticker for students using a screen reader to the contrasting colors for students/staff with low vision.

The graphics (some with animations) are designed to support learning by helping students who may have hearing loss or are not proficient in English.

There is even a section of timers that were specifically chosen because they do not have distracting music or make loud noises when time is up!

This is a great tool for teachers who implement Universal Design for Learning, special ed teachers, or anyone who differentiates for multiple needs in their classroom (which pretty much every educator needs to do).

To learn more about the features of Stickity, watch this video.

At the moment, Stickity is free. The website is pretty simple, so I believe that it’s relatively new. That being said, remember that whenever you accept a Google Add-On, you are usually giving permission for a 3rd-party to access your Google Drive. For that reason, you may not be able to access Stickity in some school districts, and you should always be cautious about giving such permissions. Be sure to take a look at their Privacy Policy here.

K-12, Teaching Tools, Universal Design for Learning

UDL for Remote Classrooms

Terri Eichholz

My latest post for the NEO blog is, Applying Universal Design for Learning in Remote Classrooms.   I know that many educators are still concerned about what the beginning of the new school year will bring, but this article will give you many helpful tools regardless of your upcoming situation.  Universal Design for Learning is all about creating lessons effectively and efficiently for all students.  One of the first videos that I watched when I went to Harvard one summer for UDL training is the Todd Rose TED Talk I’ve embedded below.  It embodies the philosophy behind UDL – where we stop designing schools for “average,” and begin designing “to the edges.”  Take a look at the video, and then hop on over to my article for specific ways to apply UDL to distance learning.

My previous NEO articles have been: How Distance Learning Fosters Global Collaboration, How to Use Design Thinking in the Classroom, and How to S.T.E.A.M. Up Distance Learning.

Education, ESL, K-12, Reading, Teaching Tools, Writing

Support for Diverse Readers and Speakers

Terri Eichholz

There are many tools out there for students who struggle with reading.  There were several I gathered at TCEA 2019 this year, and I have been meaning to share a curated list.  Here is a quick rundown (a big thanks to Leslie Fisher, who demonstrated these in her multiple sessions):

  • Immersive Reader – Microsoft offers this free suite of reading aids through OneNote or directly through it’s Microsoft Edge browser.  If you install the extension on your browser, you can change the background, break words into syllables, search for certain parts of speech, focus on a line, access a picture dictionary, translate, and read text out loud.  Thanks to Leslie Fisher for demonstrating all of these features!
  • Rewordify – You can change complex text to simpler language by pasting it into the box on this page.  Even better, there are several free learning activities that you can customize and print that offer matching, quizzes, etc…
  • SMMRY – Get a summary of the text you paste into the box.
  • Google Docs Voice Typing – Just go to the Tools in Google Docs to access this feature and make sure you give access to the microphone.
  • Closed Captioning in Google Slides – Did you know that you can offer closed captioning as you present a Slides presentation?  Click here to get the instructions.
  • Microsoft Translator – Download this app to your phone or just use it in your browser to start a conversation with anyone anywhere.  Among its other features, you can use multiple microphones for a conversation, which can be translated into multiple languages at the same time!  You can also use the app to take pictures of text (typed, not handwritten) and translate it.

I hope at least one or two of these tools is new and helpful to you!

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Education, Universal Design for Learning

The Myth of Average

Terri Eichholz

I was reading a book by Ken Robinson the other day that reminded me of this video.  I knew I had posted the video on my blog at some point, but didn’t realize that it was three years ago.  It definitely bears making an encore appearance.

In this TEDx Talk by Todd Rose, you will hear the astounding story of how the Air Force discovered that designing for the “average” pilot can be debilitating.

Apply this to schools, as Todd Rose does, and you can see why – by trying to help the greatest numbers, we end up helping the least.

The video is 18 minutes long, but well worth watching all of the way through.

Design to the Edges

Apps, Education, K-12, Music, Teaching Tools, Universal Design for Learning

Two More Fabulous Ways to Use Aurasma for Education

Terri Eichholz

from:
from: http://augmentedrealityeducation.blogspot.com/

As I mentioned in “Trends for Education in the 2013-2014 School Year,” augmented reality is going to be big in education.  Really big.  It has the potential to allow students to experience learning in so many different ways.  For kids who do not learn best by reading or listening to lectures, augmented reality could definitely be the key to engaging them.  This is why I recently started a Flipboard magazine called, “Augmented Reality for Education.”  A prime example of the ripple effect of Augmented Reality was yesterday’s post about the ColAR app and International Dot Day.

Aurasma is another free app that can be used to create augmented reality experiences for your students.  You can see an example of how I used it for a presentation for teachers in Monday’s post, but the real power of AR is when it’s placed in the hands of the kids.  If you have not tried Aurasma before, you can find some excellent introductory resources here and here.  You can also find a list of my own posts on Aurasma here.

I recently found a couple of great example of Aurasma being used with students, and shared them on my Flipboard magazine.  But, since there are only about 20 people currently subscribed to that magazine 😉 I thought I should share them here, too.

The first video, which you can find here if the embedded version does not work, shows how Aurasma could be used to help a student with a standard worksheet when the teacher is not readily available.

The second video, which is  located here, shows how a music classroom can be brought to life using 2-dimensional photos.

Education, K-12, Teaching Tools, Universal Design for Learning

Rows of Desks are SO Yesterday

Terri Eichholz

Remember the post I did on adding a Genius Bar to your classroom?  Well, I decided that I must do exactly that.  So, I have been working on re-purposing an old bookshelf to become the countertop of my Genius Bar.  Have I mentioned that I am not very good at DIY projects?  First of all, I often forget to do a “Before” picture, so I only have a “During” one.  Secondly, it’s possible I killed more than one brain cell while I spray-painted this monstrosity – and that’s slightly ironic considering the fact that I am calling it a “Genius Bar.”   However, I cannot wait until the students see the finished product.  Maybe they will be so excited that they won’t notice my diminished capacity…

My Genius Bar in progress!
My Genius Bar in progress!

I am doing my best to re-design my classroom this year to support the type of learning that I plan to facilitate during the next nine months – lots of collaboration and creation.  I just got some great news – I will be able to use the empty classroom next to me, as well!  I am brimming with ideas.  Unfortunately, I am not not brimming with finances for this endeavor.  I am going to see how much I can re-purpose to create my “Learning Studio,” and then work on getting financing for the rest – perhaps through Donors Choose.  I will keep you posted on my progress.

Speaking of Donors Choose, check out the #RemakeClass Photo Sweepstakes sponsored by Edutopia, in which you can possibly win a gift card from Donors Choose!  If you’re like me, and don’t think you can get it together by the August 25th deadline, you might still want to visit the site to take a look at all of the fabulous photos for some inspiration.  If you are interested in entering the contest, here is a link to the F.A.Q.’s. (Also, here is a link to Edutopia’s weekly giveaways, which also includes a Donors Choose gift card this week for $500!)

For more inspiration, here are a couple of other articles that have great ideas for classroom makeovers:  “How to Make Your Classroom a Thinking Space” by Suzie Boss, and “My Top 10 Learning Spaces – A Universal Design in a Gifted Classroom” by Zoe Branigan-Pipe.