Utilizing Web 2.0 for Students with Disabilities and Digital Natives

A UDL Classroom, that is a classroom equipped with a Universal Design for Learning is the catalyst for utilizing the current Web 2.0 world in the classroom. UDL at its core emphasizes learning opportunities for all, accommodates  all types of learners, and most importantly it minimizes barriers and maximizes learning for all students. 

According to the National Center on Universal Design for Learning (http://www.udlcenter.org), the three guidelines of UDL are to: 

1. Present multiple means of representation (the "WHAT" of learning)

2. Provide multiple means of action and expression (the "HOW" of learning)

3. Provide multiple means of engagement (the "WHY" of learning)

This can be accomplished in multiple ways in the classroom.  Today, there is technology used in the classroom, but mostly on the Web 1.0 Platform.  That is, using the internet for presentation purposes.  For example, search engines. (Rosen, Nelson 212) 

However, in a UDL classroom, the goal is to show information in different ways (representation), approach learning tasks to show students what they know in different ways (action and expression), and offer options to engage students (engagement).  Students in the classroom today need more than search engines to support their learning and channel their potential, especially students with disabilities. By utilizing Web 2.0, which emphasizes "user-initiated publishing of information without significant technical knowledge, social networking, and online communities formed around specific content" (Rosen, Nelson), students are able to participate in a UDL classroom in the most efficient way for their specific strengths and weaknesses. 

Outside of the classroom, on at least some level all students interact with technology everyday, and the majority of students have interaction with the internet.  For most students with disabilities in an inclusive classroom, it is something they are familiar with.  By using technology, specifically Web 2.0, students are able to engage and be physically present in their action and expression than they would be in the more traditional classroom. One of the most important aspects of Web 2.0 is the social-sharing aspect, and the read-write ecology, which allows students to "publish information online almost as easily as they can read online" (Rosen, Nelson 211).  This creates conversation among participants, and "enables groups to move past their usual ways of working together and, as a result...build[s] a collective wisdom that transcends that of the individual, in which the wisdom of the whole is greater than the sum of its parts...[creating] an interactive, participatory, adapting, living organism of learning and generating content" (Rosen, Nelson 222)

Of course, there are benefits and potential negative drawbacks to this in an inclusive classroom.  For some students that are struggling with reading for example, or students who are learning English as their second language, it may be a struggle keeping up with their classmates participating in the participatory content of Web 2.0.  However, the benefits of Web 2.0, are that there are many resources and platforms that students can choose from.  For example, a text reader online, podcasts, etc.  There are endless possibilities. By getting to know your students and using Web 2.0 and other technology from the beginning, it will be easier to decide which technologies work best for your classroom.

In responding to this video:

It is amazing to me how far we have come technology wise in less than ten years.  Because of this rapid change, we are considered digital immigrants, and I think to accommodate and utilize as much technology as possible in the classroom to benefit our students, the digital natives, it is important for us as educators to learn as much as we can and recognize that technology has changed drastically and will most likely continue to change.  I think it is important for us to consider the attitude we have towards change in classroom technology and constantly be on the lookout for new technology and assertive on becoming familiar with it ourselves.

I used information for this blog post from:

Web 2.0: A New Generation of Learners and Education by Dina Rosen and Charles Nelson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDvKnY0g6e4&feature=player_embedded

http://www.udlcenter.org