Statement Of Purpose: Universal Design For Learning

Shifting from using Technology to Leading with the use of Technology

I started teaching in 2011, and was full of enthusiasm for using technology in my classroom. I slowly began to realize that using technology as a tool was not yielding success for my students. Yes my students had fun, but were not collaborating with others, or working towards a common goal. After following leaders in technology on Twitter, seeing the movement of flipped learning in school, and talking to others who had gone through the Master’s of Art in Educational Technology (MAET) at Michigan State University; I began to get excited to learn more about teaching with the tool of technology in my classroom and furthering my career and my students. After entering the program,

Universal design for learning (UDL) was talked about in my undergraduate studies at Hope College, but it wasn’t until one of my courses at MSU that had me specifically change a lesson to reflect upon these guidelines and checkpoints that I saw the power of using it everyday in my own teaching. UDL engages and peaks interests and motivation to learn, presents information in multimodal avenues, and differentiates the way students can express what they know. We all know that students learn differently and some have strengths visually, while others have strengths auditorily for example. As a teacher and advocate for my students with disabilities, giving access to build upon their strengths through the use of a tool such as technology is a huge joy and motivation for not only those students, but for all learners in school. Through the use of creating a website that allowed students to access lessons at home with their parents, I realized the power of presenting information in multimodal ways for students. Students were given a topic and could first listen to my recorded instructions auditorily, then were given multiple means of representation. I went on to

I now have learned the power of research and using findings to drive instruction and choices I make in finding tools for instruction. I was very unaware of how easy it was to find quality research, as well as how it should truly support each day’s routines and activities to support maximum learning. As a special education teacher, students who are in my classroom have not successfully responded to strategies in the general education classroom and response to intervention techniques. It would be a disservice to my students if I didn’t actively seek research to meet the needs of each unique style and need. CEP 822: Approaches to Educational Research, allowed myself to dig deep in research and get past my fears of finding quality information and really enjoy the plethora of knowledge it encompassed. For my research review project I wanted to truly gain knowledge for the success of reading for my students with disabilities. Knowing that research links early phonological awareness skills to reading was just not enough for me as a teacher of early elementary students. I wanted to specifically know which areas of phonological awareness help to predict reading success. A driving question that helped me to start reviewing research was, What is the necessary phonological skills students must master to improve reading? I also wanted to review