Month: February 2025

(Digital Social Innovation, 2024)

How will your interactive learning resource specifically ensure that the needs of all learners can be met?

When designing an interactive learning resource, it is crucial to ensure that all learner’s needs are met by incorporating accessibility and flexibility. This type of approach can help ensure inclusivity, allowing students with diverse learning styles and abilities to engage meaningfully with the content and feel supported. 

To accommodate different learning styles, my interactive learning resource will use and integrate multiple styles of delivering content such as audio, video, or text. This multimodal approach ensures that learners with auditory, visual, or kinesthetic preferences can engage with the material effectively. Additionally, my resource will follow the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles, allowing for the delivery of the material to be customized, for example, I will provide options such as adjustable text sizes, or captioning for videos which students can access and utilize if needed.

Beyond accessibility, fostering an inclusive learning environment requires cultural aspects as well. My resource will feature different diverse perspectives to ensure reliability and representation for all students. There have been instances where I didn’t feel represented as a student and it made it more challenging for me to connect to the material compared to students who identified with the culture being discussed. Thus, making sure all perspectives are being featured is very important for me. According to Inclusive Education Canada, an inclusive design must acknowledge that all students have unique learning needs, not just those identified with disabilities (Inclusive Education Canada, 2020.) My learning resource will additionally include step by step guides and vocabulary/ definition lists to help students furthermore build confidence and proficiency over time. 

How can you adjust your planned learning activities to meet the needs of your learners if an unexpected event occurs? 

When it comes to adapting to unexpected events, flexibility is key. If students suddenly need to transition to remote learning as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, my resource will already be structured with digital accessibility in mind. Training students to navigate the resource effectively is also crucial. This will be done through a quick guided tutorial in the beginning, thoroughly explaining how to access content and important information, and how to submit assignments remotely. I will also provide regular check-ins via Zoom to ensure that students remain engaged, have the opportunity to ask questions, and feel supported.

Comments:

“Hi Zeah,
I really enjoyed reading your post and loved how you connected information from my post to your own. Open pedagogy is indeed a powerful approach, especially in diverse learning environments/classrooms. The connection you made to differentiated learning is really interesting–allowing students to take ownership of their learning and education can help effectively address different needs and learning styles. A question that arises with this approach is whether challenges like digital access or varying student motivation levels would impact its effectiveness.”

Image Reference:

Digital Social Innovation. (August 9, 2024.) Inclusive design: Making technology accessible for everyone [illustration]. Social Innovation. https://digitalsocialinnovation.org/inclusive-design-making-technology-accessible-for-everyone/

(University of Scarborough, n.d.)

Experiential learning is the process of learning by doing, and is based on both constructivist and interdisciplinary learning. This dynamic approach to education emphasizes learning through direct experience, essentially, learning through life. Grounded in the work of educational theorists such as John Dewey, Jean Piaget, and David Kolb, this method encourages students to actively engage in the learning process (Harsma et al., 2021.) Rather than passively absorbing information through lectures or textbooks, students participate in hands-on activities that can help foster a deeper understanding and improve critical thinking (Harsma et al., 2021.)

A key characteristic of experiential learning is its reviving process, as outlined in Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory (ELT.) This process consists of four stages: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation (Kolb, 2015.) Firstly, in concrete experience, learners engage in a direct experience, such as a lab experiment, internship, etc. Secondly, they participate in reflective observation which naturally happens when we have new experiences. Students in this stage start to reflect on their personal experiences, drawing insights and noticing patterns. Thirdly, they connect their observations to theoretical frameworks, helping to bridge the gap between practice and academic knowledge. Finally, they apply the concepts they have learned from their new academic situations and apply it to the real world, reinforcing and expanding their understanding (Kolb, 2015.) Other characteristics of these stages include collaborative learning, critical analysis, engagement in purposeful endeavours, and encouraging the big picture perspective (Harsma et al., 2021.)

Experiential learning plays a crucial role in my groups education topic: differentiation in learning by accommodating diverse student needs and abilities. By offering a variety of hands-on experiences and applying the experiential learning method, educators can tailor instruction to suit auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners. Thus, this method aligns with our topic of differentiation where both approaches require problem-solving skills and practical application. Experiential learning, is especially beneficial in fostering engagement and a deeper grasp of complex concepts (Kolb, 2015.) However, it might not be a suitable method for all subjects or learners. Some students may struggle with the ambiguity and self-direction required. They may have personal learning constraints that limit hands-on experiences. Despite these challenges, experiential learning remains a powerful method for preparing students for real-world problem-solving and lifelong learning.

Harsma, E., Miller, C. L., & Manderfeld, M. (2021, June 1). Experiential learning. Maverick Learning and Educational Applied Research Nexus. https://mlpp.pressbooks.pub/mavlearn/chapter/experiential-learning/#:~:text=The%20Experiential%20Learning%20Theory%20(ELT,the%20process%20of%20creating%20knowledge.

Kolb , D. A. (2015). Norwich University. Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development (2nd Edition). https://online.norwich.edu/

University of Toronto Scarborough. (n.d.) Experiential learning [illustration]. https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/experiential/