cloud based universal design for learning tools
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Universal Design for Learning in the Cloud - examining how the cloud can remove barriers to universal design for learning tools to support all studentsTRANSCRIPT
Running Head: CLOUD BASED UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING TOOLS 1
Cloud Based Universal Design for Learning Tools
Jennifer Deyenberg
University of Calgary
CLOUD BASED UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING TOOLS 2
Cloud Based Universal Design for Learning Tools
As we strive to create inclusive classrooms, the goal of increasing the level of
student participation can be achieved with universal design for learning (UDL) tools
which can be accessed via the cloud. When trying to implement Rose and Meyer’s
(2002) UDL philosophies of trying to remove barriers to learning, often the technological
classroom design can be one of those barriers. Many schools have machines provided
to students with software installed to support learning needs. Too often these computers
are in one space software might only be installed on a few machines and accessible
only to a few students. It is not universally accessible and does not follow a Universal
Design for Learning (UDL) framework.
Cloud based resources are digital resources. Digital means text can be
manipulated to be bigger, smaller or a different font. You can add more white space, or
change the colour or contrast to make it more easily read. You can add a voice and
listen, and respond in your voice or with your fingers. “Anything digital can be heard.
Anything digital can be seen, manipulated or experienced” (Holland, 2013). The
restriction of a single modality is removed and barriers to learning are removed.
Students have choice and freedom to make text what it needs to be for them. Holland
(2013) shares examples of leveraging video, audio or screencasts of their thinking to
replace or enhance written assignments. Students can choose the best way to
demonstrate their learning and the required learning outcomes. Cloud tools help to
facilitate the choice and access digital resources provide. The cloud means that
students can save to a location not tied to a device. They can work on projects
regardless of platform or software. Students can make the choice and not be limited.
CLOUD BASED UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING TOOLS 3
They are not restricted to only working on a project on a particular device or with a
particular tool. They are more open and more able to focus on the content instead of the
technology. Holland (2013) states, “They can use the features of iPads, Chromebooks,
Androids and laptops to guide the creation of a Least Restrictive Environment for all of
their students. Not only that, students become architects of their own learning
environments because they can determine the aids and services most applicable to
them.”
Providing the least restrictive learning environment for students is the goal of a
UDL approach. Tools which are not limited to a particular machine or a particular
platform are the most advantageous for learners. When considering cloud, there are
various aspects to examine. Network as a Service (NaaS) or Infrastructure (IaaS)
examines the overall way to access the internet, system management, network and
hardware, (Khurana, 2013). In schools this is relevant as if students are connecting via
a wireless network provided by the jurisdiction or a cellular connection via 4G. Do
students require a log in, network key, or password to access the internet? Is the
internet filtered or restricted? These considerations must be examined to ensure
students have unrestricted, yet safe access.
Platform as a Service (PaaS) is a consideration of using cloud as educators and
students need to examine where they are storing data and what tool they are accessing
it with (Khurana, 2013). In a more traditional PaaS model, server and storage were a
complex and expensive corporate or school jurisdiction level decision. Cloud models of
PaaS provide a multitude of choices and does not limit or restrict the platform, but the
end user does need to choose their storage and hardware. Storage tools such as
CLOUD BASED UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING TOOLS 4
Google Drive, Dropbox, Box and others mean students can save their files to an
external server to access them from any device. End users need to choose a hardware
platform. Apple, Microsoft, Google, and others provide a multitude of choices. Laptop or
desktop computers, tablets, handheld and chromebook computers are all
considerations. Screen size, cost, and usability features. Whether students are using an
Apple iPad running an iOS operating system, a personal computer running Windows, or
a Google Chromebook running the Chrome OS students can use the internet as the
method of gaining access to their files and data. For schools it means less pressure to
choose an individual platform to use in classrooms. Standardization for ease of access
and service used to be the norm, but now with access not limited to an internal server or
a particular service choice and flexibility is viable for schools. This choice and flexibility
is better for students as it allows students to bring in their own devices or use the one
that best suits their needs provided by the school. The cloud has changed what a
platform looks like. Instead of servers, firewalls, and large site based storage and
distribution solutions, a platform like Google Apps for Education means access, storage
and tools come together from the cloud. A district can set up a free service to provide
access to all learners, educators and staff. With the login, the suite of Google Apps for
Education tools can be accessed from any device whether student or school owned.
They can access Google Drive server space, Google Docs creation and collaboration
tools, and Gmail. The login can also be used as a sign in for other tools, making cloud
tools more accessible for learners. This cloud platform changes the way tools and
access are accessed by students and designed by school jurisdictions.
CLOUD BASED UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING TOOLS 5
Software as a Service (SaaS) examines the tools and services accessed via a
web browser by end users (Khurana, 2013). SaaS tools, delivered via a NaaS model,
over a PaaS are the learning, collaboration and sharing methods students can choose
to use over the cloud. These tools may be accessed via a platform or not, but the are
accessible and delivered over the internet. Some tools may be available offline, but the
internet is vital to delivery, sharing, and collaborative aspects. An example of a SaaS
tool is Vocaroo, a voice recording tool, which records online and saves the file to a
cloud based server, not a local machine. The file can be shared via a web address or
the file can be downloaded in various formats. The recording tool, storage, and sharing
of audio is all accomplished online. Vocaroo can be accessed via a mobile phone,
tablet, chromebook, or computer; it is not dependent on a device, but rather access to
the internet. This defies the traditional model of an installed software tool that requires
installation on a machine and saving files to the machine or a local server. Cloud tools
transcend individual computers and are more flexible and accessible to learners.
Cloud based resources have the advantage of being available on many mobile
devices. The New Media Consortium (2012) selected mobile devices as one of the
technologies on the one year or less horizon of implementation in classrooms, showing
the current and relevant nature of the technology to education. “By leveraging the
capabilities of mobile devices, teachers can support their students in creating a
personalized learning environment with the least number of barriers” (Holland, 2013).
They can use these tools as supplementary aides when they need them to access tools,
support, and resources as their learning requires. Providing choice and access means
fewer restrictions more equitable opportunities for students.
CLOUD BASED UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING TOOLS 6
Cloud based resources and Open Education Resources (OER) often overlap and
have many commonalities. The New Media Consortium 2013 edition of the Horizon
report includes sections on cloud computing and open education. The cloud computing
section looks at recent developments and innovations in cloud computing including
chromebooks, Khan Academy, Google Apps, Wikispaces and more. Open Computing is
in the two to three years to adoption category, but open resources provide a wide range
of opportunities through cloud to adapt, remix and customize resources for the needs of
all learners. “Substituting OER for expensive commercial resources definitely save
money and increase access to core instructional materials. Increasing access to core
instructional materials will necessarily make significant improvements in learning
outcomes for students who otherwise wouldn’t have had access to the materials”
(Wiley, 2013). Increasing access and substitution of expensive commercial resources
are the key points of commonality from Wiley’s assessment of OER materials and cloud
based tools. Hardin (2013) makes further connections between the tool resourcing
strategies, “Providing transparency in materials, like well-organized and early available
syllabi, for instance, that allow learners time to find routes through the materials that fit
with their learning practices and styles; and revisable, multi-formatted materials, that
allow a variety of screen readers or text to voice readers access to materials echoes
some of the notions behind David's ideas here around open pedagogy, and are all
reinforced by open course content.” The power of open, cloud based tools and
resources means learners can guide, direct, and support their own learning, a true UDL
approach.
CLOUD BASED UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING TOOLS 7
When evaluating and choosing tools that support student learning it is important
to be cognisant of the role of technology in the larger picture of education. Benton-
Borghi (2013) presents a model to integrate UDL and the Technology Pedagogical
Content Knowledge (TPACK) model presented by Mishra and Koehler (2006). TPACK
provides a framework for educators to effectively infuse technology into learning, but the
Benton-Borghi suggests that it does not prepare educators to provide adequate
instruction and support for all learners. The infusion of UDL into the TPACK framework
allows teachers to be more prepared to teach every student, with all of the affordances
and support technology can provide. The UDL lens focuses more on the individual
learning needs of the students, and gives educators and students the chance to choose
wisely among the myriad of technological options available, giving TPACK a more
learner centered approach. The model is very progressive helps alleviate two key
issues I had with the TPACK model. I found TPACK to be very teacher centered and
content driven. Adding the UDL approach makes it about the skills and learning of the
students.
An example of a strong cloud based UDL tool is Read&Write for Google. Read
and Write Gold is a traditional UDL tool that is installed on local machines as a tool bar
to provide text to speech tools across any application on a laptop computer, whether a
Mac or platform. It was only available on the machines it was installed on and not
available at home. It was a large, robust program that had so many features that it was
powerful, but complex and used a great deal of processing speed. It was not available
for students at home, or on computers they might bring to school. It required training
and server space to store individual student profiles. It required a lot of work from the
CLOUD BASED UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING TOOLS 8
division technology support point of view and it was not flexible to the learning needs of
students. In 2012 Texthelp, the company which produces Read&Write Gold, produced a
cloud based version for the Google Apps for Education platform. When a learner logs in
the toolbar is automatically loaded. A grey icon appears in the navigation bar, and when
the text can be read it turns green. Clicking on the green square lowers the toolbar so a
user can select options. The toolbar is available on web pages, in Google Documents, a
cloud based word processor, for Portable Document Files (PDF), for Electronic
Publication Files (Epub), and Kursweil (KES) files. There are more than a dozen
different voice choices with male and female options with a range of accents. The speed
of reading can also be manipulated. In addition to text to speech capabilities the tool bar
offers a word dictionary, picture dictionary, highlighting markup tools, a translator, quick
search fact finder and vocabulary grid. These tools put the necessary pieces at the
fingertips of learners who need them. The most powerful recent addition is word
prediction. As a user types in a Google Doc the tool predicts the possible word, gives
choices to select, and even reads the possible choices out loud.
Cloud based tools are new, constantly changing and in development. Alberta
Education and the Alberta Professional Development Consortia put together a site and
resource of more traditional UDL tools called Learning Technologies: Information for
Teachers http://www.learningtechnologiesab.com/. The traditional nature of the tools
includes local installation on school owned devices and limited availability on mobile
devices or web based devices such as chromebooks. These tools have a place and are
helpful to many students. To supplement or to give alternatives to what many schools
are using I have compiled a current Cloud Based UDL Tool List:
CLOUD BASED UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING TOOLS 9
Text To Speech:
Tool: Platform: Features:
Read&Write for Google
Google Chrome Paid Premium Features Reads anywhere on the web, Google Docs, PDFs, EPub, and Kursweil
Speak It Google Chrome Extension - Limited chunking
Chrome Speak Google Chrome Extension - Limited chunking
iSpeech Google Chrome Select and Speak Extension
App Writer Cloud Google Chrome Reads Google Docs - Popular in Europe
Kaizena Web and Google Chrome
Adds Speech comments for Feedback - Assessment Tool
Speech to Text:
Tool: Platform: Features:
Voice Note Google Chrome Copy and Paste Anywhere
Dictanote Google Chrome and Web Pro Paid Version
Dragon Dictation iOS iPad app integrates into other apps and tools on iPad
Visual Thinking Tools:
Tool: Platform: Features:
Bubbl.us Web Linked bubble mindmapping
Padlet Web Cork Board sticky note style (can sign in with Google)
CLOUD BASED UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING TOOLS 10
Mindmeister Web Collaborate mindmapping (can sign in with Google)
Lucid Chart Web Flow Chart (can sign in with Google)
Draw.io Web Graphics and Mindmapping (can connect to Google Drive)
Popplet Web, iOS Bubble Style mindmapping
Miscellaneous Learning Tools:
Tool: Platform: Features:
Readability Web, Google Chrome, iOS Cleans up Websites, Save Reading for Later
TLDR Google Chrome Extension to summarize webpages
Summarize This Web, Google Chrome Paste web based or user generated text to summarize
Google Translate Web, Google Chrome, iOS Translates digital text and reads it
Search by Reading Level
Google Search http://www.trailsoptional.com/2013/01/how-to-search-google-by-reading-level/
Google Dictionary Google Chrome Extension with Full Dictionary Features
Google Thesaurus
Google Chrome App with full Thesaurus features
Evernote Web, iOS, Google Chrome Save Notes, links, web clippings to update real time across devices
Read&Write for Google
Google Chrome Word Prediction (in addition to text to speech features listed above)
CLOUD BASED UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING TOOLS 11
Representation:
Tool: Platform: Features:
Google Docs Google Chrome Collaborative Word Processing
Google Slides Google Chrome Collaborative Presentations
Google Sheets Google Chrome Collaborative Spreadsheets
Prezi Web Based - can log in with Google
Non linear, movement and zooming based presentations
Haiku Deck Web Based, iOS Simple Presentations, built in image library
YouTube Google Chrome Online Video storage, editing, sharing, and viewing. New audio library
Vocaroo Web Based Record and save audio online
Voice Thread Web Based Attach video, audio and text conversations to presentations
We Video Web Based, Google Chrome
Online Collaborative Video Editing - Pro version for longer videos
Pow Toon Web Based, log in with Google
Animated Videos and Presentations
Comic Master Web Based Create a short graphic comic books style novel
Bit Strips iOS, Education Version http://www.bitstripsforschools.com/
Cartoons with personalize avatars
Make Beliefs Comix
Web Based Multiple Languages
Go Animate Web Based - Education Version http://goanimate4schools.c
Animated Videos
CLOUD BASED UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING TOOLS 12
om
Minecraft Web Based Client, iOS Virtual blocks, Survival Mode or Creative Mode, Collaborative Creation - engaging and widely used for students
Design Something
Web Based, Google Chrome
3D Modeling
Lego Builder Web Based, Google Chrome
Virtual Lego
Search Engine Tools: Chrometoolbox - A Search Engine and Reviews of Chrome apps and extensions from an assistive tech point of view - http://www.chrometoolbox.com/ (Review of the site: http://www.trailsoptional.com/2013/07/chrome-toolbox/) Bridging Apps - A Search Engine and Review of iOS and Android Apps classifed and serachable by student learning needs - http://bridgingapps.org/ (Review of the site: http://www.trailsoptional.com/2013/07/bridging-apps-an-app-search-engine-for-inclusive-education/) It’s a Jungle Out There - Presentation from 2013 Inclusive Education Conference - https://sites.google.com/site/kananaskisudl2013/
CLOUD BASED UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING TOOLS 13
References
Alberta Regional Consortia. (2013). Learning technologies: Information for teachers.
Retrieved from http://www.learningtechnologiesab.com
Ballance, L. & Ehalt, B. R. (2013). It’s a jungle out there: Kananaskis 2013 resource list.
Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/kananaskisudl2013/
Benton-Borghi, B. (2013). A universally designed for learning (UDL) infused
technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) Practitioners' Model
Essential for Teacher Preparation in the 21st Century. Journal of Educational
Computing Research, 48(2), 245-265.
Calvert, J. & Surabian, M. (n.d.). Chrome toolbox. Retrieved from
http://www.Chrometoolbox.com
Hardin, J. (2013, October 21). What is open pedagogy? [weblog comment] Retrieved
from http://opencontent.org/blog/archives/2975#
Holland, B. (2013, October 18). Creating a “least restrictive environment” with mobile
devices. [weblog post] Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/least-
restrictive-environment-mobile-devices-beth-holland
Johnson, L., Adams, S., & Cummins, M. (2012). NMC horizon report: 2012 K-12 edition.
Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.
Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M. Estrada, V. Freeman, A. & Ludgate, H.
(2013). NMC horizon report: 2013 K-12 edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media
Consortium.
Kamarulzaman, A. A., Nor Azlina, A. A., Anuar Mohd, Y. & Avijit, P. (2012). Potential for
CLOUD BASED UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING TOOLS 14
Providing Augmented Reality Elements in Special Education via Cloud
Computing, Procedia Engineering, Volume 41, 2012, Pages 333-339.
Khurana, S. & Verma, A. G. (2013). Comparison of cloud computing service models:
SaaS, PaaS, IaaS. International Journal of Electronics & Communication
Technology, 4(3), 29-32.
Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological, pedagogical content knowledge: A
framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6),
1017-1054.
Rose, D. H., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal
design for learning. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Siegle, D. (2010). Cloud computing: A free technology option to promote collaborative
learning. Gifted Child Today, 33(4), 41-45.
Wiley, D. (2013, October 21). What is open pedagogy? [weblog post] Retrieved from
http://opencontent.org/blog/archives/2975