Blog #10: AT & UDL

I watched the videos about Runway of Dreams and about enabling dreams, such as the student who wanted so badly to play in the school band and then was able to do so through newly developed technology that accommodated his specific body functions. These videos were both so heartwarming and really inspiring too! I have known a few people who have used assistive technologies, like a young girl I used to babysit who had limited speaking abilities and she used an iPad to click buttons that could portray how she was feeling or what she wanted. I have also babysat children with feeding tubes, which seemed foreign and complicated to me at first, but they showed me how normal and easy it is to just adapt and get used to using things like that. Challenges that can arise from using adaptive technologies in the classroom include the amount of time required first to identify and access appropriate technology specific the the student's needs and second, to adapt to using it and integrating the technology into the rest of the class.

I definitely will use technology because it will make my life easier as well as my students'. Simple things like Canvas or school emails are some technologies that have become commonplace that I plan on tapping into, but I plan on staying up-to-date on new developments too because there are all kinds of apps, software, programs, websites, etc. that are constantly being developed and updated that can target specific students' needs. Even if I do not have any students in my class that have a disability, all students think and learn differently, and being adaptable and open to new ideas and technology will allow me to make my lessons individual to each one of them. I have learned recently about UDL: Universal Design for Learning that focuses on reducing barriers in the learning environment in order to increase "cognitive access" for all students, taking into account that learner variability is the norm. I want UDL to be the backbone of my lesson planning.