The topic of inclusion and special education is a conversation that has been at the forefront of education for the last few decades.  In today’s diverse classroom it is of the utmost importance that all students’ educational needs are being met. This is a seemingly endless task of balancing emotional, behavioural and learning needs. The conversation around inclusion does not end in the physical classroom.  It is just as, if not more important that students with exceptional needs who are educated through distributed courses have tools for differentiation. Parents who are educating their children at home, may not have any education training, so it is the teachers responsibility to create a classroom that facilitates engagement and differentiation of learning. That leads to the question how does one support diverse learning needs in a distributed course? 

Supporting diverse learners is the ultimate goal of many teachers, the number of articles on this topic support the importance that is placed on its role in education.  In A conceptual framework for building UDL in a special education distance education course  the focus is on the tools that teachers need in order to be able to teach the diverse learners online. This may seem like an odd choice to include in a topic on inclusion for diverse learners, but the article lays out some ways to quickly and effectively create an inclusive learning space.  Secondly, Inclusive distance education of children with disabilities of different types. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research, explore the role of arts education is distance education and the impact that arts have across a broad spectrum of disorders. The recommendations change based on the type of disability as well as the severity.  The Handbook of research on classroom diversity and inclusive education practice is a wealth of practical and informational chapters on inclusion.In, Effective social media use in online writing classes through universal design for learning (UDL) principles, the role of UDL in classroom, and online settings is looked at.  They way that the internet is created and utilized becomes an important part of the learning process. While it is not targeted an online inclusion, there are many areas that can be crossed over between the online and physical classroom. In particular, chapter 15 explores bibliotherapy as a way to help students increase their socio-emotional skills.  In, 

Socio-emotional skills are one of many areas that can be a challenge for students with exceptionalities.  Gifted children often struggle with empathy for peers who are less adept academically, reading facial expression and vocal tone can present a challenge for students on the Autism spectrum.  Bibliotherapy may not seem like something that can be done, or should be done in a distance setting. However, using books to teach a lesson is something that can be relatively easily adapted to use in distance courses. This could be done in a variety of ways as ,” individualized decision making and individualized instruction are at the center of special education practice” Page 3 jeo the teacher could have video of themselves reading the book and leading focus questions. The students could use a video conferencing app, such as bluejeans, to explore what the story means to them personally.  The students could have a copy of the book that they read themselves. The way that they respond to the questions is another easy adaptation that supports inclusion. Having the students respond with an audio or video clip means that students who struggle with writing don’t have that barrier to their assessment. The same with a student who has a speech delay, they can respond with a written response, or some other means that works for them.

Having many modes of representation is not a new topic or concept for teachers, The Universal design for learning (UDL) framework, encourages teachers to take a look at their goals and design options that will work for all their learners. This does not mean telling all students that they have to do everything the same, but rather allowing some freedom of choice  within the assignments.“UDL in the technical communication classroom offers a flexible approach to accessibility that can meet both disabled and nondisabled users’ needs, and therefore is different from an approach that might think mainly about accommodations for disabled students’ needs” (Vie, 2018).  In a distributed education course, this may mean that the students are given a choice on how to complete an assignment( as listed above) or that they are given choice in what assignments that they do.  

Art has been associated with therapy for decades, but yet, in schools art education programs are often neglected at the expense of the core academic areas.  For many students, art is their safe place for self expression and creativity. In a distance class, having room for creative expression is incredibly important.  “Organized access to computer technologies opens great prospects for improving the way of life and leisure of disabled people by means of artistic and aesthetic activity in the conditions of home spare activities”.(Anufriev et al, 2018, p. 866).  Having art as a part of a distributed course only adds to the value for the learner with exceptionalities as it does for a learner in a physical classroom. The inclusion of art may seem challenging to some teachers, but it does not need to be. Learning to understand the tones in music, drama activities, painting and drawing are all disciplines within art that can be adapted to teaching online. It is important that the art offered is not impacted by the students’ exceptionalities, this is again where the importance of UDL is highlighted. Anufriev reminds the reader that,  “Respectively, it is necessary to think out the equivalents of the acoustic impact in the form of visual information, which provides minimal loss of educational content for students with hearing impairment .”(2018.p. 856)

When designing a course that has high engagement for the learner, it is important to think about all of the courses that they will or are taking. Having a “standardized online course structures (e.g., navigational layout, arrangement of materials and information, and communication tools) help reduce students’ and faculty learning curve and increases efficiency in online learning.” (Scott and Temple, 2017 p.2) Creating a learning community with the other teachers and having a standard layout will only help to minimize the barriers to education and increase the success of the learner with or without exceptionalities. It reduces frustration and allows for confidence to be built more rapidly. 

The rapidly changing modern classroom is incredible diverse. With the increase of digital technologies it is increasingly possible for students with exceptional learning needs to receive a rich educational experience without being in a physical classroom.  The tools needed to foster this environment online are not incredibly different for the tools needed to create a similar environment in any other classroom. Using social stories to create a bibliotherapy helps students to develop socio-emotional skills. Allowing the students to have some ownership and choice over their work helps to create students that are able to showcase their knowledge and be engaged in the content.  Including diverse art modes in their education helps to foster creative thinking and expand their horizons. Finally, creating a standard template for their work across all courses reduces frustration and time spent learning the platform, allowing the student to focus on the content. As Skočić et al state. “ Inclusive educational policies require teaching that is adjusted to meet the diverse range of learners in classrooms providing curriculum adaptation and differential teaching to address the individualized educational needs of all students” It does not mean that inclusive learning needs to reinvent the wheel.

This is a revamped version of a previous post by the same name. The previous post can be found at https://dominiqueonline.school.blog/2019/08/05/social-media-and-learners/

The vast majority of our learning happens in social networks, whether they are digital or in person. Humans are social creatures and, as I talk about often in my posts, relationships are an important piece of the learning environment. Digital social networks and/or social media allow us as a population to engage with others in a way that was unthinkable only a few years ago. The idea that you can have a meaningful interaction with someone who lives on the other side of the world, via a box, is mindblowing. My generation and those who come after us accept this as normal. The significance of having “internet friends” is no more or less important than having friends who we know outside of the digital realm.
When it comes to learning communities, it is relatively common now to have them online. I am in quite a few learning communities on Faceook and Reddit that are for teachers. The discourse in those groups allows the participants to learn from each other’s wisdom. Often there are book clubs that spring out of the collective desire to learn more, to develop professionally and to become better teachers. Some times these are facilitated by a leader; others happen organically.
It is a wonderful opportunity to learn from teachers with varied experiences. Some are new, some teach in wealthy schools, some teach in other countries, some have been teaching for many years. It doesn’t matter; there is no pretense about who is better than who. There is a fundamental wish for the collaboration and input from other teachers. While I love social media and online learning, many teachers cannot access our groups for a myriad of reasons: “lack of social media readiness, poor infrastructure, poor cost effectiveness, low literacy rates, quality control issues, the exclusion of women, challenges with participation and engagement” (Carr et al, 2018). I think that this is a great example of some pitfalls of digital learning. It is an amazing tool for collaboration and learning and for learners to explore ideas that they might not be able to get in person. However, many learners cannot access even the most rudimentary of digital tools. This can create an intergenerational gap in access and further the divide between “rich and poor”. I do not think that this is an insurmountable barrier, and I do firmly believe that the benefits of social media as a learning tool mean that more learners need to have access to these tools. It is a manner of training, funding and access, which while simple in theory, are not necessarily easy gaps to overcome.
As with the example of the wealth of teacher experience highlighted in the previous paragraph, social networks allow for a myriad of learners to engage with education in a way that they might not be able to otherwise. Social media in learning and digital learning encourage engagement for a section of the population who may otherwise face significant barriers to learning. This in turn allows for a less homogenous population and knowledge base in education, which only serves to create more well rounded learners. It is important that we create an environment in which students are able to understand the differences and similarities of life experience as these “can help today’s students, representatives of the Millennial generation, to connect with the instructor as well as with one another, and most importantly, can help students to realize the importance of understanding differences” Tsetsura (2011) p. 535
The modern learning environment is not a learning environment that is purely a pipeline from highschool to post secondary to a job that one will stay in for their entire lives. It is increasingly common that students will create their own jobs or work in an environment that does not currently necessarily exist. Having experience with classmates who have varied life experiences can only serve to create learners who are ready to adapt to the challenges that face the modern workers/workplace. Using social networks and social media allows our learners to develop a richer sense of the commonalities in life and how to facilitate for the differences.

References:
Carr, A., Thamizoli, P., Rengalakshmi, R., & Balasubramanian, K. (2018). Learning through social media: A promethean gift? CSI Transactions on ICT, 6(3-4), 301-310. doi:10.1007/s40012-018-0211-2
Tsetsura, K. (2011). How understanding multidimensional diversity can benefit global public relations education. Public Relations Review, 37(5), 530-535. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2011.09.020

No experience in this world has ever been cathartic without the willing participation of the individual. Life does not automatically bestow wisdom or growth on anyone just for showing up. – Elizabeth Gilbert

In the first few days of EDCI 339 we were asked to pose a question around online classes.  Mine centered on relationships, my pedagogy is focused on relationships with students so it made sense for me to ask that.  Over the course of EDCI 339 I have seen the importance and wonderful facilitation of relationship centered online learning. When reading Hegarty’s article on online pedagogy I was struck in particular by the importance of Attribute one, “ participatory technologies”. In essence In order to have an open learning environment the learner must participate. It seems simple enough in theory, but forcing participation is never that simple. Sure students may submit their work in an online platform , but is that really participating in open learning?  

   In my many years of being in post secondary, I have taken a number of distance ed classes through a number of well respected institutions.  Some have used participatory technologies better than others. I have been in synchronous and asynchronous classes, I have been in classes that were fully open and ones that had closed registration.  It doesn’t seem to matter the modality, so much as the way that the learner was encouraged to participate. The ones that have stuck with me, are the ones that I was a) passionate about and b) engaged in. It seems to me that the peer relationships and personal engagement in the class are the most important to learner success.  Obviously, I have a bias towards relationships in the classroom.

I don’t believe that it is just the participation that fosters success thought, I believe that the participation works to foster a collective who support each other. Through that, it is possible to push the learner past what is comfortable and safe into learning that is daring and exciting.  I think about how to bring this into an elementary distance class, is is not enough to just have the students complete work and submit it. They are missing a piece that allows them to push their learning and challenge it. To grow from the collective understanding and use that to further their own understanding.  

   I will take this with me and ponder over the next few weeks.  How do I, as an elementary classroom teacher, encourage group participation in a distance class?

Social media as a learning tool 

Social media allows us as a population to engage with others in a way that was unthinkable only a few years ago. The thought that you can have a meaningful interaction with someone who lives on the other side of the world, via a box is mindblowing. My generation and those who come after us, accept this as normal. The significance of having “internet friends” is no more or less than having friends who we know outside of the digital realm.  

When is comes to learning communities, it is relatively common to have them online.  I am in quite a few learning communities on facebook and reddit that are for teachers. The platform allows for the participants to learn from each others wisdom and grow. Often there are book clubs that spring out of the collective desire to learn more, to develop professionally and to become a better teacher.  Some times these are facilitated by a leader, others happen organically. It is a wonderful opportunity to learn from teachers with varied experiences. Some are new, some teach in wealthy schools, some teach in other countries some have been teaching for many years. It doesn’t matter, there is no pretense about who is better than who. This is wonderful.however many teachers cannot access our groups for a myriad of reasons.  “lack of social media readiness, poor infrastructure, poor cost effectiveness, low literacy rates, quality control issues, the exclusion of women, challenges with participation and engagement”  (Carr et all, 2018). I think that this is a great example of the pitfalls of digital learning. It is an amazing tool for collaboration and learning. For learners to explore ideas that they might not be able to get in person.  However, many learners cannot access even the most rudimentary of digital tools. This can create an intergenerational gap in access and further the divide between rich and poor. 

I do not think that this is an insurmountable barrier, and I do firmly believe that the benefits of social media as a learning tool mean that more learners need to have access to these tools.  It is just a manner of training, funding and access which are no simple feats.

References:

Carr, A., Thamizoli, P., Rengalakshmi, R., & Balasubramanian, K. (2018). Learning through social media: A promethean gift? CSI Transactions on ICT, 6(3-4), 301-310. doi:10.1007/s40012-018-0211-2