Participate and share: Interactive session 
Educators are faced with unprecedented numbers of English Learners in the United States. In 2020 an estimated 4.9 million English Learners were in United States schools, a 28% increase since 2000 (Mitchell, 2020). This drastic increase has overwhelmed many teachers and districts, as they scramble to meet the needs of the English Learner population. In order to serve all students, educators must ensure teachers are skilled in teaching ELs.
The Every Student Succeeds Act (US Department of Education, 2015) urges all schools across the United States to implement learning methods to meet the needs of all students, to advance student equity, and requires that all students in the country be taught to high academic standards, including ELs. Universal Design for Learning is a researched and highly successful method in meeting the needs of all students. According to Katie Novak (2018), a leader in Universal Design for Learning, the “three principles of UDL—provide multiple means of representation, provide multiple means of action and expression, and provide multiple means of engagement—remind all educators to ensure that English language learners always have the option to build background knowledge, interact with information visually and auditorily, access rich scaffolds and supports to help highlight the patterns of language, and have numerous opportunities to express what they know in ways that are authentic and meaningful, all while experiencing the value of collaboration and feedback.”
Participants will explore Assistive Technology that supports English Learners in becoming more independent inside and outside the classroom. Participants will explore several AT including: Canva, Book Creator, Flip, Google Lens, Google Translate, QR codes and more! Participants will interact with the AT through iPads, Chromebooks and smartphones so that participants will feel confident to immediately implement AT in their own classrooms. Participants will also explore how AT can be included in equitable UDL centered lessons to uplift student voice and provide student choice in learning. This session will focus on free AT (or free for education) that can easily become a part of a classroom/school environment. All AT and UDL practices explored in this session have created successful learning opportunities for elementary ELs, and teachers who utilize the resources in their classroom.
During this session, the presentation will utilize informative slides, opportunity for questions/answers, and time for participant exploration of a UDL and AT lesson/activity. A choice board that depicts UDL choices surrounding the same objective (learning AT for ELs) will be deployed, participants will explore the materials and resources in the choice board, while the presenter will move around the room, supporting the participants’ exploration.
Through the combination of AT and UDL, current research, and interactive and exploratory activities, participants will leave confident and excited to use the programs and teaching skills learned in this session.
References:
Mitchell, C. (2020). The nation’s English-learner population has surged: 3 things to know. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/the-nations-english-learner-population-has-surged-3-things-to-know/2020/02
Novak, K. (2018). Why UDL matters for English language learners. Language Magazine. https://www.languagemagazine.com/2018/03/09/why-udl-matters-for-english-language-learners/
US Department of Education. (2015). Every student succeeds act (ESSA). US Department of Education. https://www.ed.gov/essa?src%3Drn
During this session, the presentation will utilize informative slides (15-20 mins), opportunity for questions/answers (5-10 minutes), and time for participant exploration of a UDL and AT lesson/activity (30+ mins). A choice board that depicts UDL choices surrounding the same objective (learning AT for ELs) will be deployed, participants will explore the materials and resources in the choice board, while the presenter will move around the room, supporting the participants’ exploration. Participants will be encouraged to work together, communicate and collaborate on their own device based choice boards so that they leave the session already in the process of integrating AT and UDL.
References:
Chardin, M., & Novak, K. (2020). Equity by Design. Corwin.
Mitchell, C. (2020). The nation’s English-learner population has surged: 3 things to know. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/the-nations-english-learner-population-has-surged-3-things-to-know/2020/02
Novak, K. (2018). Why UDL matters for English language learners. Language Magazine. https://www.languagemagazine.com/2018/03/09/why-udl-matters-for-english-language-learners/
US Department of Education. (2015). Every student succeeds act (ESSA). US Department of Education. https://www.ed.gov/essa?src%3Drn
| Related exhibitors: | Canva for Education, Book Creator, Google, Inc., Seesaw Learning |
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