Effective Technologies that Support Inclusive Science Instruction

1. Effective Technologies that Support Inclusive Science Instruction Dr. Matthew T. Marino Washington State University Spring 2008 matthewmarino@wsu.edu http://www.wsu.edu/~matthewmarino/index.html

2. Universal Design: A Theoretical Framework for Improving Access to Learning Materials • Developed from architecture in the early 1970’s at North Carolina State University • Based on the idea that all products should be usable to the greatest extent possible by everyone, regardless of their age, ability, or status in life. • Examples of Universal Design include curb cuts, TV captioning, & pictorial representation on restroom doors.

3. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) • An educational application of the original architecture-based UD construct • Developed at the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) for K-12 students • UDL is designed to improve access, participation, and progress in the general education curriculum • UDL challenges teachers to anticipate, reduce, and/or eliminate barriers by creating flexible curricula

4. Premise for UDL • Barriers occur as diverse learners interact with curriculum (e.g., nonreaders working with text) • The curriculum and instruction are the problem, NOT the students • Curricula should consider student differences at the outset… as opposed to retrofitting existing instructional plans (Meyer & Rose, 2005)

5. Barriers to Student Learning • Prior knowledge about the concept • Seeing, decoding, or fluently reading text • Filtering extraneous sensory information • Keeping track of information (e.g., organization) • Lack of interest with the topic • Ability to maintain focus for an appropriate period of time

6. Struggling Readers Face Significant Barriers • 12.4 million students will experience significant difficulties learning to read(NCES, 2003) • Students with reading difficulties (RD) possess unique neural systems that affect metacognition(Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2004; Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2004) • Poor readers have difficulty with: knowledge of print conventions, print awareness, attention, planning, concentration, and organization abilities(Fletcher et al., 1994; Stanovich and Siegel, 1994; Velutino, Scanlon, & Lyon, 2000) • Students with LD in reading and poor readers possess virtually indistinguishable reading growth curves in grades 1 through 12(Lyon et al., 2001)

7. Often lack prior knowledge (Gersten et al., 2001) Are unaware of the text structures they are reading(Meyer, Brandt, & Bluth, 1980) Retrieve information randomly (Wilson & Rupley, 1997) Have difficulty determining essential information (Engert & Thomas, 1987) Do not utilize text cues (Gersten et al, 2001) Fail to recognize when they are not comprehending new information (Gersten et al., 2001) Struggling Readers & Expository Texts

8. This leads to… • Low levels of reading comprehension(Gersten et at., 2001) • An inability to formulate questions and hypotheses(Wilson & Rupley, 1997) • Failure to make abstract connections(Engert & Thomas, 1987) • Frustration, lower motivation, expected failure(McKinney, Osborne, & Schulte, 1993) How can we help these students?

9. Technology Can Provide • Representational illustrations of concepts (Mastropieri et al., 1996) • Spatial / graphic organizers (Mastropieri et al, 2003) • Access to background information on demand (McKenna, Reinking, Labbo, & Kieffer, 1999) • Translational resources (e.g., text-to-speech) (Horney & Anderson-Inman, 1999) • Supplemental resources (e.g., screen reading, note taking, reference tools) (Pucket, 2004) • Embedded assessments(Liu & Bera, 2005)

10. UDL +Technology + Instruction = Learning • Students need systematic, explicit, scaffolded instruction to utilize cognitive tools(Gersten & Baker, 1998) • Opportunities for students to reflect on and have immediate feedback regarding tool use(Swanson & Hoskyn, 1998) • Inclusion of tools that support cognitive overload and out-of-reach activities(Land, 2000; Liu, 2004; Marino, 2006, Williams & Peterson, 2004) • Additional technology and content area training for teachers(Sharpe & Hawes, 2003) • Increased collaboration between special education and regular education teachers(Moore & Keefe, 2001) • Improved instructional strategies (Washburn-Moses, 2005)

11. Teachers’ Technology Challenges • There has been a flood of e-learning (online, multimedia, and software) material to the market • Purchasing decisions are based on marketing rather than unbiased assessment • Where can you go for reliable peer reviewed data about technology-based learning materials? http://www.wsu.edu/~matthewmarino/

12. Purchase Technology That… • Includes an electronic pre/posttest design and/or curriculum-based measures (CBM) that allows teachers to monitor student learning • Meets the teachers’ levels of technological proficiency • Acts as assistive technology by including tools that support students with reading difficulties (e.g., text-to-speech) • Provides instructional strategies for effectively teaching students to use the technology • Offers customer support services and free training

13. Washington State University Technology Resource Database The goal of the Washington State University Technology Resource Database is to develop an internet-based e-learning resource for K-12 teachers, administrators, and researchers that will provide unbiased, peer-reviewed information about the types of e-learning products that are most efficacious for student learning. The database is composed of three linked interfaces: 1) an online e-learning assessment survey that teachers complete after using e-learning products with their students, 2) a database comprised of the results of the survey responses, and 3) a search engine that allows teachers and researchers to access pertinent information in the database quickly and efficiently.

14. Content Design Instruction Accessibility Assessment Student Information Technical Aspects Manufacturer information E-learning Survey Domains