Good Practices
Blended learning: Catering for student learning needs with Universal Design for Learning

How technology provides multiple means to cater for student's diverse learning needs

Background

SED6043 Learning in the Inclusive Classroom

Topic: Catering to students with autistic spectrum disorder

Design target: To cater for students' diverse learning needs with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) by using different technological tools

👩‍🏫 Hybrid

⏰ 2 Hours and 50 Minutes

🎓 76 Students

ANALYSIS

Intended learning outcomes:

To understand the characteristics and needs of students with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) in school
To use appropriate strategies to cater for the learning needs of students with ASD in the classroom setting.

Challenges/Needs:

Technology - It is challenging for instructors to deliver teaching materials/content in different formats to accommodate diverse learning needs.

Pedagogy - With a large class, it is challenging for the instructor to meet the students’ diverse learning needs and monitor their learning progress.

Space - It is challenging to provide ample opportunities for students to communicate or discuss with their peers and share ideas in a lecture hall.

IMPLEMENTATION (Click to enlarge)

CO-DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

Our solution:

• Use multimedia resources to engage students in formative assessment to facilitate students’ understanding.
• Redesign the lesson using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and a variety of technological tools to help cater for the diverse learning needs of students.

Click on the buttons above to expand

Lesson Review

⏰ 15 minutes (synchronous)

📖 Directed & Exploratory learning

🤝 I -> Ss; Ss -> I + Ss

To recap the last lesson, the instructor uses Mentimeter’s word cloud function to ask students to enter keywords to check their understanding of the concepts taught in the previous lesson. The instructor then consolidates the task by summarising the key points and commenting on the students’ responses

Technology:

iPad

Slides (Keynote/PDF)

Zoom

Share Screen Function on Zoom

Mentimeter

EVALUATION

Instructor’s reflective comments:

Especially, for large classes, it is always difficult to promote meaningful interactions and attend to students’ learning needs. The use of technology and UDL can really allow the instructor to keep track on students’ learning progress and cater to their needs. It also allows students to engage in interactive self-regulated learning tasks beyond lesson time.

Dr Ricci FONG [C&I] course instructor