We all know that it’s a good idea to use multiple means of representation when we present content. There are several ways to do this including lecture, images, PowerPoint, audio, video, etc… Many times video poses a problem however. First, it is not always easy to find sites that schools allow us to access. Then …
Category Archive: UDL
Jun
02
May
27
The case for mobile learning in schools
I read an article in Fast Company magazine the other day that talked about the rise in popularity of smartphones and other devices that allow kids to access information anywhere. There are over 6 billion people in the world today and according to the article, it is estimated that there will be 5 billion cell …
Apr
20
Digital Text Resources
Finding sites with digital text (mostly free) is a job in itself. However, this is one of the most important things overlooked when schools decide to purchase text to speech software. I remember doing a 2 or 3 hour training on how to use such software, then asking participants where they were going to get …
Apr
15
Cool Whiteboard Software
Just finished reading about how to integrate whiteboard lessons into online learning environments where the FREE software LectureScribe was mentioned. LectureScribe is a software developed by Brian Dean, an assistant professor of computer science at Clemson University. I viewed a demo of the software and found it very well put together. Although it is recommended …
Mar
10
A UDL resource you will want to bookmark
Many of you may already be aware of the Free Tech Toolkit for UDL, but just in case you haven’t had a chance to visit it, you should do so now. It’s actually a wiki and the address is http://udltechtoolkit.wikispaces.com/. For some reason, during the time of this post, I was having trouble getting the …
Mar
03
Academic Earth makes going to college easy
I ran across one of the best sites I’ve seen recently after reading about it an article. The site is called Academic Earth and this is how they describe themselves: We are building a user-friendly educational ecosystem that will give internet users around the world the ability to easily find, interact with, and learn from …
Nov
13
Text to Speech just got easier
Most of us are probably familiar with products that turn digital text into speech. Programs like Read&Write Gold and Kurzweil are feature packed applications that will not only read almost any digital text to you, but also provide numerous other supports such as advanced spell check, word prediction and more. Other programs, like ReadPlease are …
Jul
29
Podcasting and Podcatcher Options
For those that aren’t aware, a podcatcher is a software application used to collect and play podcasts. By far, the most popular podcatcher is iTunes. However, not everyone wants to rely on only one software application. In addition, there are many schools or entire districts that do not allow the use of iTunes. So what …
Jun
24
UDL Guidelines Released by CAST
The Center for Applied Special Technologies (CAST), the number one resource on Universal Design for Learning, has released version 1.0 of UDL Guidelines. According to cast: As the UDL field has grown, so has the demand from stakeholders for Guidelines to help make applications of these principles and practices more concrete. These UDL Guidelines will …
May
22
What exactly is UDL anyway?
Oddly enough, I don’t get asked this question much. I find that most people believe they already know the answer and see no reason to ask or don’t care and assume if they ignore it long enough it will go away. Whatever the reason is, I figured I should go ahead and create a post …