Venecia: Welcome back UDL Explorers
Heidi: to our BCcampus UDL Challenge series. I’m Heidi,
Venecia: and I’m Venecia.
Heidi: So the challenge this time around is from the UDL principle of action and expression, specifically providing multiple media options for students to show what they know. So Venecia, why is this important for UDL?
Venecia: Well Heidi, students have different strengths. Some are great at writing, speaking, drawing, and so we are really promoting equity when we provide different options for students to show us what they know. Do you have an example from your class?
Heidi: Yes. When my students are learning about tooth morphology, I like to give them options to show me that they understand tooth morphology. So one of the things they can do is sculpt a tooth out of clay. They can create a video or a PowerPoint describing the parts, or they can even go find an image where they can colour and label and describe the parts to me.
Venecia: Those are great options. In my business communications class, however, my students have to write an email, so I really have to assess their writing skills. But I can still apply this. You know, my students have to do an outline, and so for the outline they can just create a video and walk me through their outline, they can create a document or they can also do an infographic. So we can always look at ways to provide options.
Heidi: That sounds good. I mean, Venecia, I know this challenge is about action and expression, but this really does tie in with engagement too, right? Because when we give students options and it shows them that we care about them as individual learners.
Venecia: That’s right. So our challenge for you is to choose one activity or one assignment in your class and give students options to demonstrate what they know.
Heidi: As always, we can’t wait to see what you come up with and you’ll find helpful resources and instructions below.
Venecia: Happy exploring.
Heidi: See you next time.