Re: have your heard of universal instructional design - website
Posted by marjoryt on 1/07/09
Every semester I have 1-10 students attending on a 501 plan,
requiring accomodations. 501 is the official documentation for
a disability - physical or otherwise. Common ones are:
dsylexic, slow writing speed, hearing and/or vision, ADD,
ADHD. The 501 won't tell you the issue, just what to do for a
level playing field.
Universal design for instruction "front ends" doing those
accomodations - puts in many of the accomodations into the
course from the beginning. This means that the student needing
the accomodation gets that support without any awkwardness or
loss of privacy. It also means that the borderline student or
nervous student gets that support too. Particularly with
nontraditional students, getting the 501 paperwork in becomes
almost impossible.
Nothing says you have to put every bit of information into
those powerpoints - you can provide outline levels, or you can
put in some blanks - as the students listen, they have to fill
in the blanks (my students seem to like that system).
Since incorporating at least some of these concepts, it's
easier for my students to keep up, and some have told me they
appreciate not having to ask for a "note-taker".
Also, with those 501 plans, the instructor is supposed to
document what accomodations will be done BEFORE the course
starts. I have a canned letter with examples of printouts - I
just tweak and email.
