Technology & Learning Connections

Curriculum

 

Curriculum refers to what is taught. Curriculum would include scope, sequencing, pacing, materials, rigor, format, relevance.

 

Ideas for Universal Design

 

Use bridge activities to transition from one unit to another. Try a spiral scope and sequence to support varying levels of understanding. Use personalized pacing schedules. Provide educational materials in a variety of formats and media to ensure accessibility by all students. Provide options for engagement to increase rigor and relevance through academic choice. Provide mastery and skill rubrics in a variety of formats and languages. Give students tools to self-progress monitor.

 

Standards based curriculum and assessment

A “standards-based” curriculum refers to a system of instruction, assessment, and data reporting that supports students in the understanding and mastery of grade level standards. This curriculum includes clear instructional design tools for all instructional staff and instructional materials designed for all students.

 

• Chapter 3. Standards-Based Curriculum and Assessment Design - http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/100043/chapters/Standards-Based_Curriculum_and_Assessment_Design.aspx
• Curriculum Self-Assessment Tool - http://bit.ly/2D4ZJbX
• The Standards-Based Teaching/Learning Cycle - https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdechart/standards-basedteachingandlearningcycle

 

Options for Flexibility – Make sure that the curriculum design documents and instructional guides are developed based on universal design for learning principles, use personalized learning systems to closely align the curriculum and the students’ strengths and needs.

 

Scope and sequence

“Scope” refers to the depth of understanding the standards and “sequence” refers to the order of instruction on the standards, allowing the development of knowledge built upon knowledge.

 

• Fundamental practice 3: Scope and sequence - http://bit.ly/2xuyG3J
• Example scope and sequence documents, Houston Independent School District - http://www.houstonisd.org/Page/69564
• The spiral curriculum - https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED538282

 

Options for Flexibility – Provide opportunities for students to bridge learning between units of instruction, use a spiral curriculum model to revisit the same standards throughout a year with increasing complexity.

 

Descriptions of mastery with skill rubrics

Teachers and students need clear descriptions of what mastery of a standard looks like, as well as a rubric to help the student monitor progress towards mastery.

 

• Rigorous learning goals & performance scales - https://www.palmbeachschools.org/staffdev/scales/
• Marzano: The Critical Concepts (free PDF) - https://www.marzanoresearch.com/the-critical-concepts
• Design Tools for Mastery Learning - http://www.redesignu.org/design-lab/mastery-learning/design-guides

 

Options for Flexibility – Provide formative assessments aligned with the levels of skill rubrics to guide students towards mastery, use assessment tools that can adapt to a range of skill mastery.

 

Instructional/educational materials

Instructional/educational materials in Florida includes materials that are available in bound, unbound, kit, or package form and may consist of hardbacked or softbacked textbooks, electronic content, consumables, learning laboratories, manipulatives, electronic media, and computer courseware or software that serve as the basis for instruction for each student in the core courses of mathematics, language arts, social studies, science, reading, and literature.

 

• National Center on Accessible Educational Materials - http://aem.cast.org/
• Florida Publishers’ UDL Rubric - http://bit.ly/2QGfRDl
• National Center on Universal Design for Learning - http://www.udlcenter.org/

 

Options for Flexibility – Provide leveled books on core content, provide educational materials in a variety of formats and media, provide technology tools that students can use to transform content from one media to another (e.g. text-to-speech, large print, audio).

 

Educational technology

Educational technology includes the use of technological processes and resources to facilitate learning and improve academic and behavioral performance.

 

• Office of Educational Technology - https://tech.ed.gov/
• Educational technology & mobile learning - http://www.educatorstechnology.com/

 

Options for Flexibility – Use different types of technology tools to provide students options for engagement, options for representation, and options for expressing what they have learned; provide technology tools for self-progress monitoring.

 

Instructional scaffolding

Instructional scaffolds are supports provided to students to help ensure that they can engage in the instructional activities to enhance learning. As student learn the scaffolds can gradually be removed.

 

• Instructional scaffolding to improve learning - https://www.niu.edu/facdev/_pdf/guide/strategies/instructional_scaffolding_to_improve_learning.pdf
• Scaffolds for Learning: The Key to Guided Instruction - http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/111017/chapters/Scaffolds-for-Learning@-The-Key-to-Guided-Instruction.aspx

 

Options for Flexibility – Provide resource and technology based scaffolds and allow students to select the scaffolds they will use, monitoring the effect on learning, and adjust their scaffolds as needed.