EDLD 5364 Course Embedded Reflection

Week 5 Course Embedded Reflection

Prior to EDLD 5364, I hadn’t created a UDL lesson plan or book.  I knew that what our group came up with would have to be something that would impact learners on all levels.  George Siemens stated in one of his videos, “the connections that learners make with each other, as well as other sources of knowledge, thus the network that the learners create becomes the learning” (Siemens, 2007).  After much discussion with my group, I felt that I was ready to give it a go so to speak.  I went to http://lessonbuilder.cast.org and got to work.  I found that creating the UDL lesson was quite easy after I possessed all of the needed information.  The process reminded me of what I would call a wizard, meaning that it walked me through every part of building the lesson. 
The next part for me was building the ebook, which was kind of fun.  It too wa a DIY wizard.  It did feel kind of clunky, but it was very easy to follow and I had my ebook put together in a matter of a minutes. I have to admit that I did not like the ebook as much as I would like making a video like the video called a Digital Youth Portrait which stated that “kids will work 3 times harder when they are doing something that they enjoy” (edutopia, n.d.) I liked how to could plugin in source links for pictures, which made the process go much faster.  Text fields were clearly provided as well.  The only part that gave me a little trouble was linking the ebook to my team site.  I figured out that you had to publish the book or else it would not display on your team site.  Despite that glitch it was pretty easy to create and use. Using the UDL ebook means “We can accommodate diverse learners by using a repertoire of teaching strategies suited to each of the brain networks”("Teaching Every Student ion the Digital Age," n.d., Chapter 6). I do wish that the book provided a more defined share link, but all in all I would have to say that it was a very positive experience.
I think my favorite part of this class has been the collaboration in my group.  Everyone was so incredible to work with, that it made the whole process feel like a real world endeavor.  We communicated often through the use of google docs, google hangouts, as well as even our study groups on facebook, which really gave me a deeper learning experience.  Working with this group has really changed my views on group projects and collaboration.


References
Siemens, G. (2007, September 2). The Changing Nature of Knowledge [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMcTHndpzYg
Using UDL to Individualize Teaching Methods. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/chapter6_2.cfm
edutopia. (n.d.). Digital Youth Portrait: Cameron [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-profile-cameron-video