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OneNote Math tools, Immersive reader TTS for math

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From the earliest years, children begin building foundational skills that will help them solve complex math problems. They develop spatial reasoning as they play with blocks, understand concepts like "more" and "less" at snack time or the dinner table, and begin to categorize by attributes as they group their stuffed animals.

But somewhere between the play-filled days of preschoolers and the jam-packed high school years, people begin to label themselves as "good at math" or "bad at math." How many times have you heard someone laugh at themselves and say, "Oh I'm just terrible at math"? As a teacher, however, you know the secret truth: math is a cultivated skill, not an innate ability. It requires a teaching and learning process just like any other academic focus area. And in today's world, with technology at your fingertips, you're leading the way in reimagining the teaching and assessing process: presenting math in relevant and engaging ways to ensure that your students build foundational knowledge, as well as a lifelong love of math.

Microsoft Education is here to support teachers and students in every step of this process. Take a look at how you can leverage current technology to support the growth of developing mathematicians-regardless of age or ability.

Build concrete knowledge

A great mathematician is made through a multitude of rich learning experiences. Early experimentation with concrete materials builds the foundation for understanding abstract concepts later. Luckily, if there is one thing students love, it's hands-on learning! Our human desire to physically manipulate materials can be an amazing leverage point for teachers.

Microsoft's Hacking STEM enables you to conduct affordable inquiry and project-based activities to visualize data across science, technology, engineering, and math curriculum. Hacking STEM projects explore a relevant question and provide multiple experiences-both physical and digital-to investigate the topic. One math-focused lesson poses the question "How deep is the ocean?", prompting students to explore remote terrains by modeling and graphing the ocean floor with an ultrasonic sensor to visualize organisms that live in different ocean layers. Teachers love that this lesson is an engaging exploration that not only facilitates math skill development, but interest in the natural world. And many teachers are surprised that Excel can be such a rich and engaging tool for students!

One of the many valuable aspects of educational technology is the ability to use digital versions of physical tools. Microsoft OneNote leverages the functions of many essential physical tools in a digital notebook space.

With the Ruler feature, students can quickly measure an image on their notebook page or draw a straight line with ease.

enables students to work more naturally with a physical tool they're already familiar with: a pen or even their own finger! With intelligent features in the background like ink to shape, students can quickly explore geometry concepts in a way that's comfortable to them.

Ink replay allows you to draw a math problem and solution steps, then replay it! From working as a demo tool for teachers, to helping students build understanding of the solving process from start to finish, ink replay can be indispensable for everyone in the classroom.

Practice, practice, and you guessed it, more practice

Like so many things in life, math takes practice (another not-so-secret secret that teachers well know). Math assistant in OneNote for Windows 10 and OneNote Online is a great practice helper. From basic math to calculus, you and your students can convert handwritten equations to text you can edit with , or simply type them as text and get them nicely formatted using Text to Math. Then the math solver provides step-by-step instructions to the solution. Breaking down a complex problem into steps allows students to build understanding of the solution process. This immediate feedback can be utilized to reverse-engineer the math problem as well. Students can then apply their understanding to similar questions.

Plus, students can graph the equation, providing a visual reference of their work that can be directly inserted into the notebook page. This can help students make the link between the algebraic and graphical solutions to a problem - building a more holistic understanding of the problem and solution. If you're conducting assessments in OneNote Class Notebook, you can temporarily turn these functionalities off for the students in your class, providing you the flexibility you need.

Today's classrooms are incredibly diverse. Students come from many backgrounds and teachers differentiate their instruction for various skill levels and needs. Some students with dyslexia struggle with math simply because they have difficulty reading math problems. Other students experience focus issues, or have dyscalculia, a specific learning disability in math.

The Immersive Reader feature in OneNote for Windows 10, OneNote Online, and Word Online can now help these students navigate math problems. Immersive Reader enables students to hear math problems read aloud so students with dyslexia and dyscalculia can rely on another mode of understanding the problem. Students can hear math solver's step-by-step solutions read aloud for easier comprehension. They can also use other Immersive Reader features, such as line focus and page theme colors. Line focus helps students concentrate on a few lines of text at a time, while page theme colors allow students to pick a background color that best works for their visual preferences.

Conduct formative assessment

As you are likely well aware, formative assessment is critical to helping inform instruction and personalize learning. While formative assessments are best when done frequently and painlessly, creating and taking them can sometimes be cumbersome.

You can easily create practice problems using Microsoft Forms. After creating a form and choosing a problem type, you can click the ellipses and choose Math, allowing you to easily enter problems using the symbols and numbers in the math keyboard.

To save time, Forms now also automatically provides a suggested correct answer as well as incorrect answers. So, at the end of a long day when the caffeine from your second (ahem...third) cup of coffee runs out, you can simply add the automated answers and be done. And if you prefer open-ended questions, your students can also use the math keyboard to enter their answers.

Want to ask a few similar questions in one quiz to ensure students have depth in their understanding and are consistent in their responses? Forms can save time here by automatically generating similar questions: enter one question and suggested similar questions will pop up, which you can then insert into the quiz.

To simplify the workflow, we integrated Forms with Teams Assignments. Since Teams for Education launched, educators have been using Teams to support their collaborative classrooms from a single experience in Office 365 Education. You can now distribute a Forms quiz or survey to your students through Teams, then leverage Forms reporting functionality, like auto-grading, feedback, and scores, directly in the Assignments gradebook. From here, you can also keep track of scores across many Forms-powered quizzes, right where the rest of their class data lives in Teams.

Reflect and communicate

Students can leverage tools like , Flipgrid, and to develop their skills in self-reflection, communication, and overall digital citizenship.

OneNote gives students a space in which they can explore and document their thinking processes, using photos, videos, and inking to enhance their learning.

Flipgrid is all about communicating, understanding, and amplifying student voice. With Flipgrid, students can easily record themselves explaining their process or even just thinking out loud. This platform creates a powerful space for students who wouldn't normally share with their teachers and peers, to do so in a safe and fun digital environment. Check out how math teacher Stacey Roshan uses Flipgrid in her AP Calculus class.

And Teams brings them all together. With OneNote, Forms, and Flipgrid integrated into the Teams hub, you and your students can easily access your favorite tools. A personalized learning environment, Teams covers the bases from 1:1 student-teacher communication, to class collaboration, to robust assignments.

Now that's what we call a rich environment for learning - and learning to love - math. Get started using Microsoft Education tools today with free Office 365!

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Teaching and assessing math, reimagined with Microsoft Education |

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From the earliest years, children begin building foundational skills that will help them solve complex math problems. They develop spatial reasoning as they play with blocks, understand concepts like "more" and "less" at snack time or the dinner table, and begin to categorize by attributes as they group their stuffed animals.

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Too many educators feel that their autonomy has been taken away by standards, scripted curriculum, and ultimately, standardized testing. It doesn't have to be this way. We need our systems designed to meet the needs of our students, not a test, and give our teachers back the independence to proactively design lessons that engage and support all students.
When we teach students to become expert learners who are purposeful and motivated, resourceful and knowledgable, and strategic and goal-directed - the goals of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) - improved test results will come. Rigorous state-standards will be met. Students will be engaged, self-regulated, and more successful. Teachers will be more engaged and effective. Everyone wins.

UDL is an educational framework based on decades of neuroscience research and is endorsed by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). This framework is being adopted by teachers, schools, and districts around the globe and is considered best practice for teaching ALL students in an inclusive learning environment. UDL empowers both teachers and students by putting students in charge of their own learning.

Yet, there continues to be many misunderstandings about what UDL is and is not. I've put together this infographic to help spread the word about UDL and provide some practical tips for implementing UDL. I'll be the first to say that UDL can't be learned by just looking at an infographic, but with your help, we can spread the word about this education framework that has the ability to shape the future success of all of our students.

What is UDL?

UDL is Universal Design for Learning, an education framework based on decades of research in neuroscience and endorsed by the Every Student Succeeds Act. UDL is considered best practice for teaching all students in an inclusive learning environment.

The goal of UDL is to create learners who are purposeful & motivated, resourceful & knowledgable, and strategic & goal oriented, in other words, expert learners.

Start by embracing learner variability. There is no such thing as an "average" student. Every student has different strengths and weaknesses.

With UDL, teachers transition their role to facilitator, removing barriers to learning by giving students options and choices that empower them to take control of their own learning and reach rigorous state-standards. To universally design lessons, teachers must provide multiple means of engagement, multiple means of representation, and multiple means of action and expression.

Are you ready to start learning more about UDL and integrating it into your daily practice? Enroll in one of our online courses.

Not sure where to start?
Editor's Note: This blog has been updated from its previous version first published in Dec. 2018.

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What is UDL? Infographic - Novak Educational Consulting

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Too many educators feel that their autonomy has been taken away by standards, scripted curriculum, and ultimately, standardized testing. It doesn't have to be this way. We need our systems designed to meet the needs of our students, not a test, and give our teachers back the independence to proactively design lessons that engage and support all students.

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HIAT ideas for School-Wide UDL implementation

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HIAT ideas for School-Wide UDL implementation

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HIAT: UDL Implementation - Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, MD

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Check e-mail ePayStub español | 中文 | français | tiếng Việt | 한국어 | አማርኛ

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UDL Lessons shared/builder resource.  Lots of resources for UDL implementation

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As part of its barrier-busting mission, CAST offers a number of robust (and free) learning tools. These tools, designed and tested as part of CAST's research projects, help educators, parents, and students experience the power of flexible learning environments.

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BOOK:  The New Assistive Technology - Making Learning Awesome for All

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BOOK:  The New Assistive Technology - Making Learning Awesome for All

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the new assistive tech: make learning awesome for all!

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international society for technology in education

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children with disabilities - education - computer-assisted instruction

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self-help devices for people with disabilities

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self-help devices for people with disabilities.

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special education - technological innovations

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students with disabilities - services for

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education / standards (incl. common core)

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education / teaching methods & materials / general

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education / teaching methods & materials / science & technology

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education/teaching methods & materials - general

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teachers' classroom resources & material

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learning; udl; growth mindset; special education; project-based learning; flipped classroom; voice-controlled devices; touchscreen

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The New Assistive Tech: Make Learning Awesome for All!

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School districts often struggle to develop consistent practices for meeting the assistive needs of special education students. This playful yet professional book will help public school educators select, acquire and implement technology to help all students, but especially those with special need...

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Katie has great resources for this book on her website: http://www.cast.org/our-work/learning-tools.html#.XGXDROhKjD4
SETC is currently doing a bookstudy on this book also.  Check out the SETC website under webinars to join.  The next one will be March 11 at 3:30

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In this revised and expanded edition of UDL Now! Katie Novak provides practical insights and savvy strategies for helping all learners meet high standards using the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). UDL is a framework for inclusive education that aims to lower barriers to learning and optimize each individual's opportunity to learn. Novak shows how to use the UDL Guidelines to plan lessons, choose materials, assess learning, and improve instructional practice. Novak discusses key concepts such as scaffolding, vocabulary-building, and using student feedback to inform instruction. She also provides tips on recruiting students as partners in the teaching process, engaging their interest in how they learn. UDL Now! is a fun and effective Monday-morning playbook for great teaching.

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UDL Now!: A Teacher's Guide to Applying Universal Design for Learning in Today's Classrooms

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Amazon.com: UDL Now!: A Teacher's Guide to Applying Universal Design for Learning in Today's Classrooms: 9781930583665: Novak EdD, Katie, Rose Ed.D, David H: Books

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Snap&Read offers the most complete reading toolkit available to meet the different ways students learn today.

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Don Johnston Co:Writer & Word Wall Universal

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Don Johnston Co:Writer & Word Wall Universal

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For over 40 years, Don Johnston's tools have helped millions of students read, write, and learn-going wherever they want in life.

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Your subscription means everyone can enjoy the benefits of Read&Write across all platforms including Windows, Mac, Google Chrome, Edge, iPad, and Android.

Our Learning and Training resources for each product can be accessed at any time on our website. Get up to speed with our software through our learning resources, then verify your expertise by taking part in our certification program.

Our support site gives you access to lots of common questions that other users of our software have about the technical stuff. If you can't find what you're looking for there, then our Tech Support team is on hand at support@texthelp.com 9-5pm every day to help with troubleshooting or technical problems.

We're always working on making our products better, so any improvements or enhancements are pushed out automatically to you, there's no upgrading to do on your part.

Plus, coming soon you'll get free access to the Texthelp Academy for how-to information, video tutorials, product webinars and lots more.

All of this is included as part of your subscription. We do not charge any extra for these services.

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assistive technology for special education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Read&Write For Education - Reading, Literacy & Assistive Software

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Discover the literacy support software that's helping millions of students across North America to read, write and express themselves independently.

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1. Home

2. Catalog

3. All Books & Products

4. Universally Designed Leadership: Applying UDL to Systems and Schools

Author(s)

Katie Novak & Kristan Rodriguez

Date

2016

About the Book

The new Every Student Succeeds Act governing K-12 education in the United States defines and endorses Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a framework to help achieve greater opportunity and academic achievement for all learners, including those with disabilities, English learners, and "gifted and talented" students.

In this book, veteran school leaders Novak and Rodriguez provide school leaders and educators with a guidebook for putting the UDL framework into practice. They show how to guide district and school staff in discussions around student data and use the UDL guidelines to shape curriculum decisions. Universally Designed Leadership is a must-read for any education leader who wants to create more equitable, inclusive, and effective learning environments.

Universally Designed Leadership by Katie Novak and Kristan Rodriguez is available in paperback ($34.99, 136 pages, ISBN: 9781930583627) and EPUB ($34.99, ISBN: 9781930583634) format.
Table of Contents

Katie Novak & Kristan Rodriguez on Universally Designed Leadership

Watch the entire series of short videos to get behind-the-scenes insights from Katie and Kristan about Universally Designed Leadership.

Universally Designed Leadership Playlist

Praise for the Book

Universally Designed Leadership is the practitioners' guide to successful strategic implementation of Universal Design for Learning. This timely and relevant work provides a road map for education leaders to engage school communities in defining the why, what and how of learning. A must read for emerging and veteran school leaders alike.

Dr. Thomas Scott, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents

Universally Designed Leadership is a much-needed addition to the field. Novak and Rodriguez present the fundamentals of exploring, preparing, and integrating Universal Design for Learning (UDL) into schools and districts. They focus on the practical steps to shifting cultures in schools and districts to embrace UDL, including creating a shared vision to embrace UDL, conducting needs assessments to guide the work, and developing logic models to guide this pursuit. Written in a conversational, straightforward style, Universally Designed Leadership will surely be a go-to guide for the novice and veteran administrator alike.

Martin Scanlan, Associate Professor, Boston College's Lynch School of Education

About the Authors

Katie Novak, EdD, is an internationally renowned education consultant, author, graduate instructor at the University of Pennsylvania, and a former Assistant Superintendent of Schools in Massachusetts. Katie has more than 19 years of experience in teaching and administration, an earned doctorate in curriculum and teaching, and ten published books, including the best-selling education book, UDL Now!.

You can find her online at katienovakudl.com and on Twitter at @KatieNovakUDL.

More from Katie Novak

Kristan Rodriguez, PhD., is a successful consultant and former superintendent specializing in Universal Design for Learning. Dr. Rodriguez earned a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from Boston College and has had a career as a K-12 administrator, college professor, and consultant since 2001. She has presented nationally on leadership and learning for the past 16 years. In both her speaking and writing, she draws upon her experience as a central office administrator, building administrator, teacher, and professor. Dr. Rodriguez is the founder of Rodriguez Educational Consulting Agency.

You can follow Dr. Rodriguez on Twitter at @dr_rodriguez21.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: Building Your Understanding

Chapter 2: Using Evidence-Based Decision-Making to Begin the Work

Chapter 3: Analyzing and Interpreting the Data for the Needs Assessment

Chapter 4: UDL and Strategic Thinking

Chapter 5: An Integrated District Strategy

Chapter 6: Professional Development That Models UDL Principles

Chapter 7: UDL in the Classroom

Chapter 8: UDL and the Art of the Meeting

Chapter 9: UDL Family-Community Engagement

Afterword

Appendix

References

Index

Acknowledgments

More from CAST Publishing

How do you measure progress in putting the UDL Guidelines into practice? This 8 page rubric from Katie Novak & Kristan Rodriguez can help.

Kasia M. Derbiszewska and T. Nicole Tucker-Smith share concrete strategies that will help you design professional development sessions that are compelling, convincing, and sustainable using the framework of Universal Design for Learning.

K. M. Derbiszewka & T. N. Tucker-Smith
2020

This collection of case stories edited by Elizabeth Berquist showcases the practical challenges and solutions of implementing UDL in systems, states, and schools across the United States.

E. Berquist, ed.
2017

Top of Page

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Universally Designed Leadership: Applying UDL to Systems and Schools - CAST Professional Publishing

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Home Catalog All Books & Products Universally Designed Leadership: Applying UDL to Systems and Schools Author(s) Katie Novak & Kristan Rodriguez Date 2016 The new Every Student Succeeds Act governing K-12 education in the United States defines and endorses Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a framework to help achieve greater opportunity and academic achievement for all learners, including those with disabilities, English learners, and "gifted and talented" students.

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Book:  Universal Design for Learning in ACTION - 100 wys to teacher all learners

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Book:  Universal Design for Learning in ACTION - 100 wys to teacher all learners

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Universal Design for Learning in Action has 12 ratings and 4 reviews. Stephanie said: I found this to be a great resource for furthering knowledge about ...

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Your subscription means everyone can enjoy the benefits of Read&Write across all platforms including Windows, Mac, Google Chrome, Edge, iPad, and Android.

Our Learning and Training resources for each product can be accessed at any time on our website. Get up to speed with our software through our learning resources, then verify your expertise by taking part in our certification program.

Our support site gives you access to lots of common questions that other users of our software have about the technical stuff. If you can't find what you're looking for there, then our Tech Support team is on hand at support@texthelp.com 9-5pm every day to help with troubleshooting or technical problems.

We're always working on making our products better, so any improvements or enhancements are pushed out automatically to you, there's no upgrading to do on your part.

Plus, coming soon you'll get free access to the Texthelp Academy for how-to information, video tutorials, product webinars and lots more.

All of this is included as part of your subscription. We do not charge any extra for these services.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
assistive technology for special education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Read&Write For Education - Reading, Literacy & Assistive Software

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Discover the literacy support software that's helping millions of students across North America to read, write and express themselves independently.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
GeoGebra - the world's favorite, free math tools used by over 100 million students and teachers

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Free digital tools for class activities, graphing, geometry, collaborative whiteboard and more

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EquatIO has a premium subscription available for users and a free version able to users. With our premium subscription you will have access to a wealth of prediction, including formulas, matrices, and the ability to favorite items. You also will have access to alignment buttons, dynamic graphing, the Copy Math As button, Mathspace (WebApp) for remote learning, and other premium features included within the product.

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EquatIO - Equation Writer to Create Accessible Digital Math, Chemistry or Physics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
EquatIO has a premium subscription available for users and a free version able to users. With our premium subscription you will have access to a wealth of prediction, including formulas, matrices, and the ability to favorite items. You also will have access to alignment buttons, dynamic graphing, the Copy Math As button, Mathspace (WebApp) for remote learning, and other premium features included within the product.

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BOOK: Dive Into UDL -   Immersive Practices to develop expert learners

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BOOK: Dive Into UDL -   Immersive Practices to develop expert learners

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Make Learning Personal by Kathleen McClaskey

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Make Learning Personal by Kathleen McClaskey

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Featured

To

Make Learning Personal, we need...

to empower each learner with the skills to be Future Ready,

to transform teaching and learning practice, and

to embrace and value each learner!

This puzzle logo with it's multi-shades of blue represents that each learner is unique and multi-faceted in that they learn in different ways. We see the importance for each learner to understand how they learn so that they can develop agency with the skills, knowledge and dispositions to have choices in college, career and life.

MLP Vision

Each learner...

is valued, supported and embraced.

understands how they learn.

is unique and develops the skills to support their learning.

advocates for their learning.

works at their own pace in a competency-based system.

follows their passions to discover their purpose.

takes ownership to their learning.

achieves agency.

MLP Mission

MLP Core Beliefs

We are embarking on an era of transformational change in education where we have a vision of creating learner-centered environments where learners pursue their passions and interests and develop agency with the knowledge, skills and dispositions so they are future ready for careers yet to be imagined. The question is:

Why are we still using the traditional approach of learning styles to develop learner profiles?

Let's take at the research and what it says about learning styles.

Why Stop Using Learning Styles?

As we are transforming education from the traditional teacher-centered environments to a personalized, learner-centered environment we need to reconsider the learning styles approach that has no basis in research. Classroom teachers and academics have been using learning styles for over four decades to understand learners. During this time the notion that teaching methods should match a learner's particular learning style has had a powerful influence in education, however, a study published in the Psychological Science in the Public Interest challenged the concept of learning styles and their affect on performance.

Despite the preponderance of the learning styles concept "from kindergarten to graduate school," and a "thriving industry" devoted to such guidebooks for teachers, Pashler found there wasn't rigorous evidence for the concept. He wrote:

Although the literature on learning styles is enormous, very few studies have even used an experimental methodology capable of testing the validity of learning styles applied to education. Moreover, of those that did use an appropriate method, several found results that flatly contradict the popular meshing hypothesis. We conclude therefore, that at present, there is no adequate evidence base to justify incorporating learning styles assessments into general educational practice.

The four prominent cognitive psychologists in this study found no evidence for validating educational applications of learning styles into general education practice. This was their conclusion:

Research conducted over 40 years has failed to show that individual attributes can be used to guide effective teaching practice. Rather than being a harmless fad, learning styles often perpetuates stereotyping and harmful teaching practices it is suppose to fight." (Pashler et al, 2009).

So as schools move from a traditional system to a personalized, competency-based system, we need to evaluate the traditional tools we have used around learners and learning and teachers and teaching, and understand how a learning science can be used to nurture and build a culture of learning.

Start Using the Learning Sciences and the UDL Lens

We need to stop using learning styles and start using Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a research-based set of principles based on the learning sciences to guide the design of learning environments and innovative sustainable systems that are accessible and effective for all learners. UDL tells us that there is variability in the way each learner learns: their strengths, challenges, aptitudes, talents, and aspirations.

The UDL Lens of Access, Engage and Express™ is designed so that we see the learner in every child. It offers key information about the learner's strengths and challenges in how they access and process information, how they engage with content and how they express what they know and understand. The terms Access, Engage and Express also serves as the "common language" between teacher and learner where daily conversations can take place about learning with a process to identify the tools and skills that could support a challenge or enhance a strength in their Personal Learning Backpack™. This leads to a Personal Learning Plan™ (PLP) where each learner can set goals to acquire the necessary skills to become an independent and self-directed learner, a learner with agency that has ownership to their learning.

Ownership to learning requires the learner to understand how they learn.

Empower Learners with the UDL Lens

Start the next school year with having every learner create a Learner Profile. From the learner's perspective, the UDL Lens of Access, Engage and Express™ in a Learner Profile would give him or her an opportunity tell their story of who they are and how they learn by:

sharing their strengths, challenges, preference and needs in how they access and process information, engage with content and concepts, and express what they know and understand;

express their interests, talents, aspirations and passions;

set learning goals and actionable plans with teachers to support a challenge or enhance a strength; and

have regular conversations about their learning with teachers, peers, and parents.

Let's take a closer look at the UDL Lens of Access, Engage and Express™ and how a learner can share how they learn by using a Learner Profile (LP) that also includes their interests, talents, passions, aspirations and the words that would describe them.

The information in the Learner Profile (LP) helps each learner tell their story and how they learn with their teacher. This is the foundation from which conversations, relationships and partnerships in learning are built. What are the possible messages and outcomes from a learner using the Learner Profile?

It helps validate the learner and how they learn.

It tells the learner that you care about who they are.

It creates a community of learners based on trust and respect.

"No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship." - Dr. James Comer
To learn more about how to personalize learning and the three-step process of the Learner Profile, Personal Learning Backpack™ and Personal Learning Plan™, refer to How to Personalize Learning: A Practical Guide for Getting Started and Going Deeper by Bray and McClaskey (2016) or the blog posts on the Learner Profile, Personal Learning Backpack and Personal Learning Plan.

Access, Engage and Express, Personal Learning Backpack and Personal Learning Plan are trademarks of Kathleen McClaskey.

Reference: Paschler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., and Bjork, R. (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9, 105-119. https://www.psychologicalscience.org/journals/pspi/PSPI_9_3.pdf

Celebrating 6 Years of the PDI Chart with the PDI Chart, v3 Infographic!

6 years ago this week the Personalization vs. Differentiation vs. Individualization (PDI) Chart was published. Millions of educators from around the world have downloaded the PDI Chart. It has been translated in many languages and it is found in schools, classrooms, academic publications, state DOE sites, educational blogs and articles.

I am excited to create and share this PDI Chart, v3 Infographic designed specifically to mark this anniversary!

Barbara Bray and I created the first PDI chart in January 2012 so that educators and parents could understand these terms from the perspective of the learner. We also wanted to clarify the differences between these terms as there was and still is confusion around them. Please note that there are distinct differences between these three terms: Personalization is learner-centered, Differentiation and Individualization are teacher-centered.

Personalization or Personalized Learning always starts with the learner where he or she has ownership to their learning.

I welcome you to share this PDI Chart, v3 Infographic or the standard PDI Chart, v3 located under the Toolkit tab. Please use it for action research, in your classroom, professional learning, and staff meetings.
Look next for the Stages of Personalized Learning Environments, v5 Infographic coming out soon! If you would like to receive our newsletter or the upcoming Insights on Personalized Learning, please complete the information below.

Part 3 of the 3 Part Series on Using the UDL Lens of Access, Engage, and Express™ to empower learners to be Future Ready.

Just imagine learners turning challenges they have into strengths! Consider those same learners enhancing their strengths so they are self-confident in what and how they learn. Wouldn't it be great if your learners were able to set their own goals to explore careers and determine what experiences they need to be college and career ready?

This post is the last part of the three-part process for all learners of any age to build agency so they become independent and self-directed learners.

Your learners shared with you how they learn best using the Learner Profile (LP). Your conversations with your learners when using the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) lens of Access, Engage and Express™ describing their strengths, challenges, preferences and needs in how they learn helped them decide what to include in their Personal Learning Backpack (PLB). You collaborated with your learners to choose the skills, tools and apps that can enhance their strengths and support their challenges they have in accessing and processing information, engaging with content and expressing what they know and understand.

The next step in the process is to help each learner develop the skills to be an independent, self-directed learner with agency. The Personal Learning Plan is where the learner defines goals, describes actions steps, and indicates a way to measure progress and achievement.

Introducing the Personal Learning Plan™

The purpose of a Personal Learning Plan (PLP) is to assist learners to develop goals with a set of action steps to achieve those goals, ways to monitor their own progress, show evidence in reaching the goal and a reflection on achieving it. The PLP has four specific focuses:

Learning Goals (Access, Engage and Express) to develop independent skills to support their own learning;

Personal Goals to explore their interests, talents, or passions;

College and Career Goals to gain first-hand experiences in career areas where they have strong interests; and

Citizenship Goals to become an active citizen in the local or global community.

Learning Goals for Skill Development

In Part 1 (LP) and Part 2 (PLB) of this series, the learner shared one of her Express challenges was that she found it difficult to put her thoughts on paper, and that she needed a speech-to-text (STT) tool to help her write her thoughts down. She has seen that tool being used by other learners but would like to learn how to use it on her own. She works with her teacher to describe the Express Learning Goal along with a set of action steps to learn the speech-to-text tool, ways to measure progress and showing evidence in reaching her goal and finally a reflection on achieving the goal.

On reflection, she has taken a challenge she has had for a while and has now learned new skills so she can independently write her assignments. What a great feeling she has in achieving a goal she set for herself! Her next focus is on a personal goal. Let's take a look back at how she described her interests, talents and passions to illustrate what a personal goal would be.

Personal Goals to Explore Interests, Talents, and Passions

For this learner, having a personal goal that she can focus on gives her an opportunity to explore what she has only dreamed about doing.

Interests, talents, and passions: I love drawing and want to take more art classes in different mediums. I am interested in helping others and maybe can see myself as a teacher or a business leader when I grow up. I am starting to learn about social media and may even look at starting to create a logo and website to showcase my artwork.

Setting a personal goal and taking actions to meet that goal ignites engagement and encourages ownership to learning. Her personal goal is to create a logo and website to feature her artwork. The action steps to help meet this goal can include:

Consult with art/design teacher on personal goal.

Create several logo designs.

Invite art/design teacher to help her choose the best design.

Prepare artwork to display on the website.

Locate low or no cost websites and review features and specs to display artwork.

She decided with her teacher that her evidence in reaching this goal would be featuring her artwork with written and audio narratives on a website with her self-designed logo. Next, she wants to focus on her college and career goals.

College and Career Goals to Pursue Opportunities

The high school where this learner attends offers Extended Learning Opportunities (ELOs). She is excited to have an opportunity to teach art with younger learners in her town. She meets with her ELO Coordinator and begins outlining the action steps that include:

Discover who are the elementary art teachers in the local and adjacent schools.

Develop a proposal outlining her goals for an art teacher mentorship.

Decide on two art teachers and set up a time for an interview to share goals of the mentorship.

Begin mentorship with art teacher and coordinate a schedule.

This experience of being mentored by two art teachers helps this learner make college and career decisions about going into this profession. During the mentorships, she created a visual portfolio of her experiences in the classrooms on her website with audio to show evidence of reaching her goal for college and career.

Realizing that she enjoys working with younger children and learning from her mentors, she was inspired to look at ways to give back to the community since she received so much help from others.

Citizenship Goals to Contribute to our Democracy

A Citizenship Goal contributes to a learner's understanding that a democracy thrives when you are an active citizen in the community. This learner meets with her teacher/advisor to discuss how she would like to give back to the community by being actively involved with the local food pantry. Now that she has decided on the goal, she discusses what her action steps could be.

Meet with the food pantry coordinator to discuss how she could contribute and the time she could commit.

Make up signs to post at local businesses and schools.

Collect non-perishable food for the food pantry.

Organize food at the pantry for distribution.

She decides that one of the best ways to show that she has reached her goal is to share her experiences on her website and invite her peers to join her in working with her at the food pantry.

Learner Agency and Future Ready

Learner Agency means that someone has developed the skills to become an independent, self-directed learner. This learner has created her Learner Profile (LP) using the UDL Lens of Access, Engage and Express to identify her strengths, challenges, interests, talents, and passions. The Personal Learning Backpack (PLB) defines the skills. strategies, tools, and apps that will help her become an independent learner.

Future Ready means that the learner knows how to set her own goals, develop action steps and show evidence in achieving these goals. The Personal Learning Plan (PLP) guides the learner in gaining the skills and experiences she needs to support her learning and make choices for college and career. This post provided one example using an older learner who turned her challenges into strengths and enhanced her strengths so she developed the self-confidence to follow her passion for art and in helping others.

We want you to know that you can build a learner with agency at any age by using this three-step process. We provide an example of an older child only as a model for you. Consider building a relationship right away with young children by starting with a Learner Profile. Get to know your kids and how they learn using the UDL Lens of Access, Engage and Express ™. Have them share with you their preferences and needs and build a Personal Learning Backpack with them. Then encourage them to choose and set goals with your guidance. Just imagine what your kids can do when they have the confidence in how they learn and that they know how to set goals for themselves. This is the Wow! of learning that we all want for our kids.

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Empowering Learners, Personal Learning Backpack, Personal Learning Plan, UDL Lens of Access, Engage and Express are trademarks of Kathleen McClaskey. This post was revised and updated from http://www.personalizelearning.com/2016/09/the-personal-learner-profile-goal.html

Part 2 of the 3 Part Series on Using the UDL Lens of Access, Engage, and Express™ to empower learners.

Once a learner has indicated their strengths, challenges, and interests along with their preferences and needs in the Learner Profile (LP), then the teacher can work with the learner to develop a Personal Learning Backpack™(PLB).
This infographic will be available for purchase in early January 2018!
The UDL Lens: Access, Engage, and Express™

The PLB using the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) lens is for ALL learners. It is about teachers understanding how learners access information, engage with content, and express what they know and understand. This lens is also for the learner to understand how they learn best. It validates the learner and prompts conversations about their learning between the teacher and learner. To understand this process and how tools, resources, strategies and skills can support learning, this table was created as prompts for the learner to effectively use Access, Engage, and Express™.

When you identify how you learn best using the Learner Profile (LP), the next step is to determine what you prefer or need to do or use to support your learning using the PLB.

The PLB Process using Preferences and Needs

This process is all about the conversations that you have with your learners. The PLB is the place to include what you both discover to support learning. If a learner has indicated in the LP that he or she would like to learn how to use a tool or app to support a challenge or a strength, then this can be included in the PLB. Let's first review the learner and her preferences and needs for Access, Engage, and Express that we described in Part 1 on the Learner Profile.

When the teacher and the learner sit down together to review the preferences and needs, they build a story around how her strengths, challenges and interests impact how she learns from their conversations. This is where they can design the PLB based on her talents as an artist and her passion for drawing along with her aspirations to become a teacher or business leader when she grows up. She also mentioned that she would like to learn about social media and create a logo to showcase her artwork. These types of conversations validate her as a learner and confirm that the teacher really listened to about her strengths and challenges and her love for art.

Empowering Learners™ to Build their PLB with the
UDL Lens of Access, Engage and Express™

The PLB is where the teacher and learner pull together ideas for resources, tools, apps, and learning strategies and skills to support learning. Below is a chart with examples for tools, apps, learning strategies and skills that could support Access, Engage, and Express for this learner.

To determine what skills or strategies the learner needs to acquire, she had to really think about both her strengths and challenges. She loves to draw but needs help with taking notes. So the teacher helped her decide to use her strength (drawing) to help her visualize what she was capturing using different note taking tools. As soon as the learner started sharing what she wanted or needed to learn, she opened up about needing a speech to text tool to help her with writing. Dragon Dictation can help her write down her thoughts. This process guides the learner to determine what she wants and needs to build her skills to become successful as a learner.

Every conversation the teacher has with learners can open a new door or bring up new ideas that may reduce any barriers they may have and can maximize learning for them so they can become independent, self-directed learners with agency.

This post is one example describing a process for the LP and PLB for an older child with higher executive functioning. This same process can be adapted by changing the language for a younger child or any learner who is at-risk or been identified with learning challenges. It is all about the conversations between the teacher and learner. If there is a language barrier or confusion about the process, this is an issue that the teacher can address by revising the LP and PLB with audio options, graphics, simpler language, or even translations. A young child may need help in understanding what he or she is being asked. A teacher can invite a parent to join in the discussions.

Developing Learning Goals

The PLB is the first step in identifying learning goals. Each of the learning strategies and skills the learner wants or needs to learn can be developed into learning goals in a Personal Learning Plan ™(PLP). In the PLP, learning goals with action steps to develop independent learning skills will be illustrated along with college, career, personal and citizenship goals. These steps and the PLP will be explained in more detail in Part Three of this series.

UDL Lens of Access, Engage and Express, Empowering Learners and Personal Learning Backpack and Personal Learning Plan are trademarks of Kathleen McClaskey.

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Part One describes the UDL Lens of Access, Engage and Express ™and introduces the Learner Profile (LP) and how it can be used by both teacher and learner to discover the learner.

Part Two explains how to take the Learner Profile and develop a Personal Learning Backpack ™ (PLB) that includes tools, apps, resources and the skills the learner needs to become an independent, self-directed learner.

In Part Three, I will take the LP and PLB and demonstrate how to help every learner develop agency with an effective Personal Learning Plan ™ (PLP).

All of this along with similar templates are in Chapter 4 of our new publication, How to Personalize Learning: A Practical Guide for Getting Started and Going Deeper.

Personalize Learning, LLC designed Continuum of Voice adapted from "Motivation, Engagement, & Student Voice" by Toshalis & Nakkula from Students at the Center @StudentCntrHub - Visual designed by Sylvia Duckworth @sylviaduckworth. © 2016 by Bray & McClaskey, How to Personalize Learning.

Voice gives learners a chance to share their opinions about something they believe in. We adapted the Continuum of Voice chart we used from research from Toshalis and Nakkula at the Students at the Center in our post Learner Voice Demonstrates Commitment to Building Agency. We added examples that illustrate each level to support implementation using a design by Sylvia Duckworth.
Read more...

Thank You to Sylvia Duckworth @sylviaduckworth ( http://sylviaduckworth.com) from Crescent School, Toronto, Canada for designing the graphic of the Continuum of Voice 1/10/2016.
Cross-posted from http://www.personalizelearning.com/search?q=continuum+of+voice References

Toshalis, E. and Nakkula, M." Motivation, Engagement, and Student Voice " Students at the Center.

This page including the chart was created by Barbara Bray and Kathleen McClaskey of Personalized Learning, LLC (c) January 10, 2106 adapted from Students at the Center. For permission to adapt, distribute copies, or to use in a publication, contact Kathleen McClaskey at khmcclaskey@gmail.com.

Part 1 of the 3 Part Series on Using the UDL Lens of Access, Engage, and Express to empower learners.

The excitement in starting a new school year is happening across the country. Educators have spent the summer preparing for the beginning of the school year, attending workshops on new curriculum, understanding how to use data with their new learners or getting acquainted with competency-based report cards. But stop there! What about the information that tells you how to engage and motivate your learners? How do you discover the learner in each child from the beginning of the school year so this is the best year yet? What about how each learner learns best and how to develop agency with each of them?

The Process to Develop Learner Agency

This post is part one of a three-part process that uses the UDL Lens to Make Learning Personal for all learners. If we want to create learner-centered environments where the learner takes ownership to their learning, then we need to empower each learner to understand how they learn.

Part One: The Learner Profile (LP) helps learners discover how they learn best.

Part Two: The Personal Learning Backpack (PLB) identifies tools, apps, resources, skills, and strategies for learners to support their own learning.

Part Three: The Personal Learning Plan (PLP) guides learners to achieve the goals and skills they need to be self-directed and independent along with pursuing their passions and aspirations as they plan for college or career.

The UDL Lens: Access, Engage and Express™

Universal Design for Learning® (UDL) is a researched-based set of principles developed by CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology) in the 1990's to help guide the design of instruction and learning environments. The idea behind UDL is to reduce barriers to learning and optimize the level of support and challenges to meet the needs and interests of all learners in the classroom. In December 2015, UDL was included in ESSA where it was it indicated that it was the scientifically-based approach to personalize learning.

UDL is the lens to understand how learners learn as it is based on the research in the neurosciences in how we actually learn. The three principles of UDL are:

Multiple Means of Representation

Multiple Means of Engagement

Multiple Means of Expression and Action

Educators wanted to understand these terms so that they could apply these three principles in daily teaching and learning practices.

In 2013 the UDL Lens of Access, Engage and Express™ was created to do just that; to empower the learner with the UDL Lens so they could understand how they learn. All learners are unique and have variability in how they access and process information, engage with content, and express what they know and understand. Access, Engage, and Express™ is the UDL Lens to help learners how they learn and to guide teachers in universally designing their instruction.

Discover the Learner Using The Learner Profile

Each learner comes to school with strengths and challenges along with a set of interests, talents and aspirations. We often discover some of these qualities through the course of the year by having conversations, by how each learner responds in class or through a set of data that has been collected from standardized testing. But what if you could discover the learner in every child at the beginning of the school year using the UDL Lens of Access, Engage and Express™?

Every learner can benefit from creating a Learner Profile. It tells us about a learner that learning styles or an Individual Education Plan (IEP) does not tell us. Here is an example of a learner that may have similar challenges as some of your learners, but we want you to look closely at this learner's strengths along with his interests, talents, passions and aspirations.

Now think about the learners in your class and in your life. What are their strengths and challenges in how they Access, Engage and Express™? How do they need or prefer or need to access information, engage with content and express what they know and understand? What are their talents, interests, passions, and aspirations? Who are you as a learner?

Using the UDL Lens of Access, Engage and Express™ to understand learners can not only help a teacher to better design instruction and learner materials, but first we need to empower the learner to tell their story and how they learn best.

Your Learner's Story Leads to a Partnership in Learning

This learner has reading, writing and organizational challenges. Children with this profile often do not see themselves as learners. In this case, when this learner uses the Learner Profile, he can now tell his story and have a conversation with his teacher about who he is and what he may prefer or need to support his challenges and enhance his strengths. He can also share what his interest and talents are, what he is passionate about and what he aspires to be. It is really clear from his LP, that art and drawing means a lot to him.

Let's take a closer look at his strengths where he visualizes what he hears, likes to teach his peers and present in class. Now we understand this learner's strengths and challenges, preferences and needs including what engages him about being an artist. With this first conversation, the relationship between teacher and learner begins.

When learners use the UDL Lens of Access, Engage and Express™ to share how they learns, it helps them tell their story of who they are as learners. Above all, it validates them as learners and listening to them says how much you care. Telling their story helps them develop self advocates of their learning and ultimately it builds a strong partnership in learning between the teacher and learners.
What a great way to start of the school year! It is going to be the best year yet! This post was adapted from a previous post published at http://www.personalizelearning.com/2016/08/the-learner-profile-get-up-close-and.html
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This is Part One of a three part on using the UDL Lens of Access, Engage and Express™ to develop a learner with agency. We have introduced you to the Learner Profile (LP) and how it can be used by both teacher and learner to discover the learner.
In Part Two, we will take the Learner Profile and develop a Personal Learning Backpack (PLB) that includes tools, apps, resources and the skills the learner needs to become an independent, self-directed learner; a learner with agency

In Part Three, we will take the PL and PLB and demonstrate how to help learners develop agency with an effective Personal Learning Plan (PLP). In the PLP, learning goals with action steps to develop independent learning skills will be illustrated along with college, career, personal and citizenship goals.

All of this along with templates can be located in Chapter 4 of How to Personalize Learning: A Practical Guide for Getting Started and Going Deeper.

Universal Design for Learning is a registered trademark of CAST, Inc. Access, Engage and Express is a trademark of Kathleen McClaskey. Empowering Learners is a trademark of Kathleen McClaskey.

Access, Engage and Express is a trademark of Kathleen McClaskey.

Cross posted and revised from http://www.personalizelearning.com/2015/05/the-story-behind-my-passion-to.html

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Featured This puzzle logo with it's multi-shades of blue represents that each learner is unique and multi-faceted in that they learn in different ways. We see the importance for each learner to understand how they learn so that they can develop agency with the skills, knowledge and dispositions to have choices in college, career and life.

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Novak Education - UDL, MTSS, and Inclusive Practices PD for Educators

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High-quality, evidence-based professional development on MTSS, UDL, and Inclusive Practices. Professional Learning for teachers and leaders.

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Luis Perez website on Inclusive Technology

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Luis Perez website on Inclusive Technology

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Welcome to my website. I currently work as a Technical Assistance Specialist at CAST, but the opinions and ideas I express on this site are all my own.

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This is an international UDL conference that started in 2014 and is hosted in Orlando, FL.

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March 14th & 15th with pre-conference sessions on March 13th, 2023 to be hosted both in-person and virtually

The UDL Implementation and Research Network (UDL-IRN) is hosting the 10th Annual International Summit both in-person and virtually March 13th-15th, 2023. The in-person event will be in Orlando, FL at the Rosen Plaza Hotel . All participants will have access to our online portion of the event. We'll be celebrating a decade of bringing together thousands of educators from around the globe to network, collaborate, research, share, and learn content centered on Universal Design for Learning.

As this is our first ever fully hybrid Summit, we are planning to both continue our tradition of UDL-ized online content and to bring back our in-person gathering with a bang. You can expect a fully customizable conference experience. Whether you are attending virtually from your backyard or preparing to party in Orlando with your UDL colleagues, this year's event will be the biggest UDL event of the year and you won't want to miss it.

As in the past, the UDL-IRN International Summit is designed to meet the needs of educators experienced at implementing UDL practices and UDL novices alike. With multiple learning platforms, including informal networking sessions, in depth pre-conference sessions, design labs, formal workshops, UDL Talks, and asynchronous sessions, the IRN strives to meet the learning preferences of each attendee.

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The UDL Implementation and Research Network (UDL-­IRN) is hosting the 10th Annual International Summit both in-person and virtually March 13th-15th, 2023. The in-person event will be in Orlando, FL at the Rosen Plaza Hotel . All participants will have access to our online portion of the event.

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Ted ED:  Create your own training modules with videos and questions to assess learning

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Ted ED:  Create your own training modules with videos and questions to assess learning

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TED-Ed celebrates the ideas of teachers and students around the world. Discover hundreds of animated lessons, create customized lessons, and share your big ideas.

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Pear Deck is on a mission to help teachers create powerful learning moments for every student, every day - using the tools you already know and love.

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a backchannel app that has wordclouds, polls, voting on questions or ideas

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It's how you include everyone
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Educational scavenger hunts for the 21st century. Gamification for PD

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K-12 Educational Tool To Make Learning Fun | Goosechase

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Boost learning by making the curriculum fun and interactive. Engage students of any age with easy to run, reusable experiences that take education beyond the classroom.