Session 3: UDL Affective Networks
To do this session
✓ Complete the required readings of linked resources, videos and websites and explore the recommended reading resources
✓ Create your empathy map
✓ Consider the reflection questions
Session Introduction
One of the greatest challenges of designing this course was ensuring it was going to be most useful to you, the learner. If you have taken ADED 4F33/2F92 (they changed the code) then you will have encountered some principles from Malcolm Knowles (1984) Andragogy in action (Brock University ADED 2F92 slides, p. 8).
Adults need to be involved in the planning and evaluation of their instruction.
Adults are most interested in learning subjects that have immediate relevance to their job or personal life.
Adult learning is problem-centred rather than content-oriented.
Yet, there is a definite and important requirement to have a course fully created with all sessions complete well before the start of term. Having the requirements for success in a course laid out is essential and knowing what content each of the sessions will cover is also an important tenet of good pedagogy.
So how do we reconcile fundamental adult learning principles of allowing learners to be involved in the planning and evaluation with setting expectations and providing access to materials in a timely way? When you design something that is going to be used by someone else—a lecture, an activity, an assessment—you must first understand what that person needs. For example, when architects design a building, they put aside their own desires and think about what the users of that building need.
As Stommel (2017) says, “when we teach online, we have to build both the course and the classroom”. How do we balance responsiveness to student need with desired outcomes of a course, program, and degree? One answer to this lies with Universal Design for Learning (CAST, 2018).
As you will see in the video, “neuroscience tells us that our brains have three broad networks, one for recognition (The What of learning), one for skills and strategies (The How of learning) and one for caring and prioritizing (The Why of learning).” We will dig deeper into Universal Design for Learning (UDL) over the next few weeks but this week, we will focus on the Why of learning, or the affective network.
As you will see on CAST’s UDL site, numerous research studies have shown, “affect represents a crucial element to learning, and learners differ markedly in the ways in which they can be engaged or motivated to learn”. As Stewart (2014) describes, planning learning is not enough: authority, presence, guidance are still essential.
Based on the eCampusOntario Ontario Extend Technology module, the activity this week asks you to empathize with your user—your learner—to identify a challenge that could be solved through the purposeful use of technology in your curriculum. It asks you to:
Gather information from and about your learners. You may already have useful informatio