Week 5 Blog Entry

Hi everyone! For this week's blog assignment I chose to look at Universal Design for Learning through Rogers and Gronseth's article, “Applying UDL to Online Active Learning”.

Part 1: 

    As an educator always striving to reach all learners, I found “Applying UDL to Online Active Learning” to be a timely and practical read. The authors, Rogers and Gronseth, explore how instructional designers integrate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) into online active learning environments and highlight the powerful intersection of flexibility, student agency, and community. Their study emphasizes that UDL isn't just about accessibility for students with disabilities, it's about designing for learner variability from the beginning.

       Some key takeaways for me included the importance of planning structured yet flexible learning paths, which offer multiple means of engagement and expression, and incorporate social learning spaces where students feel a sense of belonging. Designers in the study shared active learning techniques like polls, breakout groups, case studies, and student-created media, all framed within a UDL lens to support diverse learners. These strategies not only promote engagement, but also support executive functioning and metacognition, helping learners self-monitor and persist (Rogers & Gronseth, 2023).

    The authors identified four major themes emerging from their research: belongingness, social learning space, structuredness, and universality. These themes reflect a shared commitment to inclusivity and student-centered design. “Designing to the margins,” as one participant in the study put it, means considering every student’s needs upfront, not retrofitting accommodations later. Tools like discussion boards, collaborative design platforms, and formative self-assessments are used intentionally to support voice, choice, and community.

    I think this deeply resonated with the lesson I designed on rhetorical appeals for my Pre-AP 9th grade students. In this activity,  I'm having my students analyze multimedia ads, collaborate in groups, and create infographics to teach their peers. By using tools like YouTube, Canva, and Google Slides, I'm trying to provide multiple entry points into the content and give students voice and choice in how they demonstrate understanding which are core UDL principles in action (yay!). I also intentionally built in structured collaboration and peer feedback at the end of the lesson to create that “social learning space” the study identifies as crucial.

    Overall, the article reinforced that designing for inclusion isn’t an extra step, it’s the foundation. Whether in a digital classroom or face-to-face, the power of UDL and active learning lies in anticipating student needs, creating authentic engagement, and giving learners the tools to take ownership of their journey. As this study shows, when we combine UDL with active learning, we’re not just delivering content, we’re designing environments where every student has the opportunity to be sucessful.

Part 2:

    As I review and edit my lesson on rhetorical appeals through multimedia ad analysis and infographic creation, I looked at the UDL Guidelines for ways to make the experience more inclusive and accessible for, again, all learners. Two considerations that seemed relevant to me were Consideration 8.3: Foster collaboration, interdependence, and collective learning and Consideration 1.2: Support multiple ways to perceive information.

    For Consideration 8.3, I realize that collaboration isn’t just about dividing up group tasks, it’s about creating a true learning community. Before students begin their group work, I’ll lead the class in developing community agreements focused on respect, shared accountability, and valuing each other’s ideas and identities. Group work can sometimes become social time, (especially with freshmen!) so I like to reestablish our norms for working in pairs or groups before we start collaborative work. These agreements will emphasize interdependence, an idea I find especially powerful which reminds us that learning is stronger when we support one another. I’ll also clearly assign rotating roles in each group and offer prompts for how to ask for and offer help which reinforces the idea that no one learns in isolation.

    Equally important is making sure all students can fully access the multimedia content and visuals we’re using, which is where  I think Consideration 1.2 comes in. I’ll make sure each advertisement has captions and transcripts, and I’ll provide textual descriptions for visual elements in both the sample ads and student-created infographics. These supports not only help students with visual or auditory processing challenges, but they will also give everyone an opportunity to engage with the content in different ways, depending on their needs or preferences. By thoughtfully integrating both of these UDL principles, I’m hoping to create a lesson that’s not only more equitable, but also more dynamic and meaningful for every student in my classes.

Part 3:

    The 2024 National Education Technology Plan (NETP) provides valuable guidance on how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can be used to address the Digital Use Divide, the gap between students who use technology actively to create, collaborate, and explore ideas, and those who use it passively to consume information. The NETP stresses that closing this divide means going beyond providing devices; it requires thoughtful integration of technology that supports all learners through multiple means of engagement, representation, and expression. UDL offers a framework for designing these inclusive, flexible learning environments. By embedding UDL strategies into our lesson planning, we can ensure students aren’t just using technology, but using it in a way that empowers them as creative thinkers.

    The NETP also highlights a cautionary trend: despite widespread access to digital tools post-pandemic, many classrooms still rely on passive uses of technology. To counter this, the plan calls for intentional design that reflects both UDL principles and ongoing professional learning for educators. In my own practice, I’ve seen how lack of training or time can cause tech tools to go underused or be implemented without real impact. The NETP’s emphasis on professional development is crucial, teachers must be equipped to design tech-rich, UDL aligned learning experiences that promote student choice, meaningful collaboration, and deeper understanding. When UDL is applied thoughtfully, and with support, it becomes a powerful tool for equity, helping to bridge the Digital Use Divide and ensuring all students can engage fully in their learning.

References: 

CAST. (2024). The UDL guidelines. CAST UDL GUIDELINES. https://udlguidelines.cast.org/

Office of Educational Technology. (2024).  A Call to Action to Close the Technology Access, Design, and  Use Divides: National Educational Technology Plan. Department of Education

Rogers, S.A. and Gronseth, S.L. (2021). Applying UDL to online active learning. The Journal of Applied Instructional Design. Doi: 10.59668/223.3748. Retrieved from https://edtechbooks.org/jaid_10_1/applying_udl_to_onli?book_nav=true 

Week 4 Blog Entry

For this week's blog, we are taking a look at AI, specifically Magic School AI, and how it supports educators in developing lesson plans and assessments etc. 

Part 1:

For my lesson plan, I asked Magic Schools AI to develop a plan based on Oklahoma

standard 9.3.W.3 for English Language Arts: 

Students will compose argumentative essays, reviews, or op-eds that: 

• introduce precise, informed claims 

• include a defensible thesis 

• acknowledge counterclaims or alternate perspectives 

• organize claims, counterclaims, and evidence in a logical sequence 

• provide the most relevant evidence to develop balanced arguments, using

           credible sources 

• use sentence variety and word choice to create clarity and concision 

• use style and tone that suits the audience and purpose

Along with this standard, I also asked Magic School to incorporate ISTE standards

to align with the OAS. 

CLICK HERE FOR LESSON 

While I thought that the lesson it generated for this standard was pretty generic, I did appreciate that it was just specific enough to support the standard above which would still allow for plenty of room to customize and tailor the lesson to however I would want to teach it and customize the lesson for each class. I did think that the lesson was aligned to the standard that I input. On its own, the lesson was not very rigorous, but as I mentioned, because it lacked a ton of specificity, it would be easy to add rigor where you need and could come in handy to differentiate between a pre-AP and an on-level course. The assessment that it provided was aligned to the standards and the homework and extension activity the lesson generated were also aligned with the standards given to Magic School. They also incorporated authentic technology use with the idea to create a visual infographic to summarize the key points in the argument students created in their essay. I’m not sure if I have any improvements. It seems that Magic School, like most AI platforms, gives more specific output with the more details you input. If you just put in a standard, it would give you a basic lesson plan like the one it generated for me when I just input an OAS standard and told it to align with ISTE as well. If you gave it more parameters and provided specifics that you wanted to incorporate into your lesson that would, of course, be best. 

In my “expert” opinion, I think that Magic School AI could be useful for the creation of rigorous lesson plans because you as the teacher would be adding the rigor. The AI has done the work as far as building the framework of the lesson. As educators, we obviously know what our students are capable of better than any AI would, so relying on just an AI platform would not be beneficial to assume that it is doing best for your classes. Perhaps a new teacher, or someone teaching a new course for the first time could ask AI to increase or decrease rigor to help them as they create new lessons, and then that would be useful for the creation of a rigorous lesson plan. I think that this lesson aligns to the Kolb reading that we have done in class. Kolb is all about being intentional with the way that we use technology in our classrooms. I think this generated lesson plan is intentional with the way that it suggested activities to go with the lesson. Again, we have to be focused on how we incorporate technology: are we using tech for the sake of saying we have used it, or does it help to provide authentic intellectual work?

Part 2: 

Aside from the lesson plan, I experimented with the "Informational Texts"generator. This tool allows you to create an original passage with a topic based on your choosing.

I really like this tool for creating original content for whatever topic you input. You can

adjust the length that you want the text to be, and give other parameters, obviously, the more

specific and more information you give to begin with, the better your created text would be. I think

this would be a great tool to use to help create an original prompt, or even to create a passage for

an APMC style test for students. It would even be useful for creating tests and creating multiple

versions of a test for added test security. I would use this more to create an assessment as

previously mentioned than to deliver instruction. Especially in my school district where we

are strongly discouraged from using any texts that are not already in our ELA text book.

Part 3:

Overall, my thoughts on Magic School are that it is a helpful starting point. I actually had a

colleague mention it during a department meeting at the end of the school year and hadn't had

the time explore it until now. I think if I was looking to change up a lesson or add some new things

to a unit I might consider it as a tool to give me ideas and then I would have to expand on the basics

that it gave me on my own. Again, I think Magic School is a great starting point and would be most

beneficial to new teachers or a teacher with a new course to generate foundational ideas. As far as

challenges go, I wonder if basic format of the lesson plans it generates is standards or if it is more

useful for some lessons over others. I this is the standard for the way that lessons are generated,

then that would definitely be a challenge, especially for an inexperienced teacher, to have to add

their own "meat" to these lesson plans in order to make it more rigorous.

The Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE), as outlined on the Oklahoma Educational

Technology website, offers professional development opportunities focused on integrating artificial

intelligence into educational settings. Admittedly, I had not visited this site before or heard of these

trainings, but I think that equipping educators with the knowledge and skills to use AI effectively and

ethically is essential since these technologies will only become more and more embedded in our

classrooms. As we as educators explore these tools, it is crucial to provide clear instruction to our students on responsible AI use. I don't have a ton of experience using AI in the classroom personally. I have used Chat GPT to create a different version of a test I had created so that each class period had a different test, albeit with the same content.  

References:

International Society for Technology in Education. (2024). ISTE standards: For students.

ISTE. https://iste.org/standards/students

Kolb, L. (2020, December 9). Triple E Framework. Triple E Framework.

https://www.tripleeframework.com/‌

Magic School. (2025). MagicSchool.ai - AI for teachers - lesson planning and more!

Www.magicschool.ai. https://www.magicschool.ai/

Oklahoma State Department of Education. (2021). Oklahoma academic standards for English language arts. https://sde.ok.gov/standards-and-curriculum

OSDE. (2024). Guidance and Considerations for Using Artificial Intelligence in Oklahoma K-12 Schools. Retrieved from: https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/osde/documents/services/standards-learning/educational-technology/Guidance-and-Considerations-for-Artificial-Intelligence-in-Oklahoma-Schools.pdf

Week 3 Blog Entry

If teachers had to vote on what one of the biggest challenges, or even THE biggest challenge educators face, I would be willing to bet my classroom Nespresso machine that the majority of teachers would say keeping students interested and motivated. Chapter 6 of How People Learn II:  Learners, Contexts, and Cultures delves into what motivation and how it is "critical to learning and achievement across the life span in both informal settings and formal learning environments" (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine et al., 2018). Motivation is dependent on several key things like a student's belief about themself, their experience(s) with learning, and overall mindset. As educators it is our job to create an environment that emphasizes motivation in our students. This means demonstrating a classroom culture where students feel safe to take risks, where effort is recognized as much as outcomes are, and where learning is connected to their interests and goals. I think when students see relevance in what they’re learning (hello, authentic intellectual work!) and believe that their effort can lead to improvement, they are more likely to stay engaged and persist through challenges.

Created with Canva

References: 

Gura, M. (2020). Fostering Student Creativity. EdTech Digest the State of the Arts, Creativity, and Technology 2020: A Guide for Educators and Parents.

International Society for Technology in Education. (2024). ISTE standards: For students. ISTE. https://iste.org/standards/students

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2018. How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/24783.

Rivero, V. (2020). A Whole New Class of Art. EdTech Digest the State of the Arts, Creativity and Technology 2020: A Guide for Educators and Parents.

Week 2 Blog Entry

 

Part 1:  Authentic Intellectual Work/Authentic Instruction & Assessment.  

1. What is the nature of Authentic Intellectual Work? How does it differ from traditional approaches to instruction and assessment?

If one were to examine traditional approaches to instruction and assessment they might find an emphasis on the memorization of facts and/or concepts that only focuses on application(s) in the classroom and not much further. Because of this, traditional methods of instruction do not usually yield higher levels of thinking and students often think, “when will I ever use this outside of this class?” The nature of Authentic Intellectual Work (AIW) goes a step further. Of course facts and dates etc. are important, but going beyond rote memorization is key to the nature of AIW, “authentic intellectual work involves original application of knowledge and skills, rather than just routine use of facts and procedures. It also entails careful study of the details of a particular problem and results in a product or presentation that has meaning beyond success in school” (Newman et al., 2007 pg.3). 

2. Discuss the components of Authentic Intellectual Work and provide deep consideration of at least one component by including a discussion of empirical (research-based) evidence found in Chapter 2. 

There are three components to Authentic Instructional Work: construction of knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and value beyond school (Newman et al., 2007). As an English teacher, I try to constantly place an emphasis on higher order thinking through literary and rhetorical analysis. Activating prior knowledge is an essential part of teaching any subject or grade level as it helps to activate prior skills and knowledge and is a part of vertical alignment within subjects as well. The ability to think critically and to evaluate the ethics and authenticity of sources and information both in and out of the classrooms are skills that I hope my students can take away from my class and apply in the real world. In Chapter 2, Newman provides research conducted from 1990 to 2003 with grades 3-12 that determined whether students who experienced AIW instruction achieved higher levels of achievement than those who did not. In this study, AIW was found to have closed the gap between students of a low SES and students of a high SES. I also thought it was really interesting that the study acknowledged that “conventional standardized tests make substantial demands for mastery of vocabulary” (Newman et al., 2007 pg.27) and that teachers who are only teaching the standards that are tested would not be teaching with authentic instruction as that is not what is required of them according to standardized tests.

3. Describe a specific example of authentic intellectual work in a discipline or content area.

For our Pre-AP English I summer reading assignment, my incoming freshmen have to pick a book from the given list and over the summer they will take notes, annotate, and keep a journal for their book. So after reading something like To Kill a Mockingbird (one of our book options) students explore themes like justice, prejudice, and moral courage. Instead of simply summarizing the plot or just identifying literary devices as they read, students are required to think critically, support their claims with text evidence, and articulate their ideas in a coherent manner throughout the summer. Additionally, our assignment promotes student voice and personal engagement, as students will often draw on their own experiences and perspectives to make connections. This goes beyond mere memorization and develops higher-order thinking skills like analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, all while fostering a deeper understanding of literature's relevance. 

Part 2:  2024 National Education Technology Plan Update

The 2024 NETP is not explicitly connected to the Authentic Intellectual Work Framework.  What opportunities do you see within the first section “Digital Use Divide” to connect technology integration practices with the components of authenticity?  Describe an example in the plan or develop your own example aligned with Universal Design for Learning highlighted in the technology plan and opportunities for students to engage in authentic intellectual work.

The 2024 NETP highlights the importance of closing the Digital Use Divide and emphasizes more than just giving students access to technology; it also includes how students use it, whether students are passively consuming information or actively engaging in meaningful, creative, and collaborative work (Office of Educational Technology, 2024). This focus creates an opportunity to align our classroom technology integration with AIW Framework, which emphasizes the construction of knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and work that has value beyond high school. When combined with the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), we can design tech-rich learning experiences that promote student choice, engagement, and deeper learning.

For example, in my English III class, students create public service announcement (PSA) videos on a social issue or cause they feel passionate about, such as mental health awareness, climate change, or local homelessness (these were just some of the topics chosen this year). In this project, students research their topic, script their message, and use video editing tools to produce a compelling PSA. This task aligns with AIW by requiring students to synthesize knowledge from multiple sources, engage in disciplined inquiry through writing and revising scripts, and create a product with real-world relevance that can be shared with a wider audience. UDL principles are reflected as students express their understanding through multimedia, collaborate in various roles based on strengths, and select causes that matter to them, increasing motivation and engagement. In this way, technology becomes a tool for authentic and inclusive learning rather than just content delivery, and it also allows students to show civic engagement with their community. 

Part 3:  Triple E Framework

The AIW framework and Kolb’s Triple Es both encourage more active engagement and higher levels of thinking (critical thinking skills) in the way that they promote engaging lessons that go beyond memory recall of basic identification of terms/vocabulary and encourage students to use technology. In this lesson the following aspects of Kolb’s Triple Es are supported:

Engagement - Part of the assignment is that students will turn and talk with one another and discuss ideas for their PSA. I encourage them to talk with their peers and talk about different issues or causes that are not only relevant to our community but also relevant to their class or generation. 

Enhancement - Before planning the script for their assignment that is supposed to bring awareness to their cause/issue and propose a solution, students reflect on why their chosen cause is important to them and what they want to relay to their audience. Students also need to put visuals and other graphics in their video for their audience that supports their message.

Extension - By creating their own project PSA, students get to direct their own project and investigate a cause that interests them as they explore real world issues. I think this assignment works as a video recording or as a podcast. I usually keep this as a solo project and have used it as a final summative, but I think it would also be great to have students work as partners and continue to collaborate on the assignment past the brainstorming phase, and idea sharing portion of the assignment. 

References

Kolb, L. (2020, December 9). Triple E Framework. Triple E Framework. https://www.tripleeframework.com/‌

Newmann, F. M., King, M. B., & Carmichael, D. L. (2007).  Authentic instruction and assessment: Common standards for rigor and relevance in teaching academic subjects.  State of Iowa Department of Education.

Office of Educational Technology. (2024). A Call to Action to Close the Technology Access, Design, and Use Divides: National Educational Technology Plan. Department of Education

Week 1 Blog Entry

Welcome to my blog!

Part 1:  Introduce yourself to us. Tell us about your current and future professional goals.

Howdy! My name is Stephanie Weber. I have been teaching high school for fourteen years and coached volleyball at the varsity level for twelve of those years. I am happily retired from coaching life now and very much enjoy the extra time I get to spend with my husband and our toddler! I'm an English teacher and have taught Pre-AP English I, AP Language & Composition, and English III. I love teaching literature and literary analysis (if I had to choose favorites); the rhetorical analysis section of the AP Lang coursework is definitely my jam! I am a Georgia native but spent the majority of my teaching career in McKinney, TX. 

I am currently teaching in the Tulsa, OK area, Collinsville to be exact, after my husband's job transferred us two years ago. I miss having easy access to great Tex-Mex but we love our small town community, neighbors, and friends we've met so far. I have really enjoyed being a student again while I work through this program! My current goals are to finish this degree and hopefully teach some dual credit classes while continuing to teach at my current high school. Beyond that I would love to eventually continue my education with a doctorate program. My future goals and aspirations would be to create curricula for a district or curriculum company, but my ultimate dream is to be a professor at a college or university teaching English or Education classes. We shall see!

Part 2:  Review the ISTE standards for students and your state’s content standards.  Select a topic or group of standards from the discipline and grade level that interests you or that you plan to teach in the future and respond to the prompts below. 

Creative Communicator indicators 6.a and 6.b ask students to choose the appropriate platforms and digital tools for meeting the desired objectives of their creation or communication and to create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations (Kolb, 2020). These two indicators stood out to me because of where my students are in our mythology unit. After reading the Odyssey in my Pre-AP English I classes, my students will create their own unique and original epic hero, god, goddess, or monster and design a visual of that character and write an origin story of their creation. They will synthesize information from our lessons and their completed study guides as well as our epic poetry literary devices chart to digitally create a character that incorporates elements from mythology and epic poetry. 

This lesson also supports Oklahoma Academic Standards for English Language Arts 9.2.W.4 - use resources to edit for grammar, usage, mechanics, and format in order to finalize drafts for publication and 9.3.W.1 - compose narratives reflecting real or imagined experiences (Oklahoma Academic Standards, 2021).Using Canva, Google Slides, Adobe Photoshop, Procreate, or other approved media, students will design and submit their original artwork that showcases their character. My favorite part of this assignment is they will also submit the visual and written component of their assignment (the origin story) to be shared via Padlet for a virtual gallery walk with their class and other class periods. This allows students to view their peers' work from other class periods that they would otherwise not have access to. Students are encouraged to ask questions and have discussions with their peers as they explore each other's original creations and written work.

Part 3:  Discuss your insights for the lesson idea you provide above from your reading of Kolb’s Triple E Framework and provide support for your idea from her work.

Considering Kolb's Triple E Framework as I reflect and prepare to implement this lesson this week with my students, I broke the lesson into the three aspects the framework follows:

Engagement - Students are engaged in the lesson by eliciting prior knowledge (Kolb, 2020) as they reflect on our mythology unit and apply what they have learned to the creation of their character and in the writing of the origin story. This should help them be invested in the lesson because they get to take what they have learned from the text and apply it in a creative way as they come up with original art and writing.

Enhancement - Each student will share (Kolb, 2020) and present their visual and written work and teach the class about their mythological character and creation story. Students will actively listen and question their peers about what they have designed. 

Extension - At the completion of this assignment, students will participate in a virtual gallery walk where they can view the written and visual components of their peers in other classes and engage in authentic discourse (Kolb, 2020).

References

International Society for Technology in Education. (2024). ISTE standards: For students. ISTE. https://iste.org/standards/students

Kolb, L. (2020, December 9). Triple E Framework. Triple E Framework. https://www.tripleeframework.com/‌

Oklahoma State Department of Education. (2021). Oklahoma academic standards for English language arts. https://sde.ok.gov/standards-and-curriculum