Culminating+Activity+-+3

Please post your persuasive essays!

Dear Administrator,

We have been attending a graduate course through the Regional Training Center entitled “Universal Design for Learning.” Through this course, we’ve realized there has been a huge change in our world and the way students learn. For example, our students’ lives are completely immersed in the digital world in which we now live. Unfortunately, our schools have yet to catch up with the digital world.

In order to keep up with this fast paced world, it is necessary to change the way we teach our students. For example, students are used to multi-media ways of learning, but we are forcing everyone into one mode by teaching them all in the same way. Also, every student’s needs are dramatically different. In order to meet each student’s needs, we must broaden our teaching strategies as well as incorporate technology into our curriculum. For example, a student who has difficulty reading can benefit from using text-to-speech software. This facilitates the incorporation of all students in their least restrictive environment. When a teacher adapts the curriculum for one student, it often benefits others. By providing multiple avenues for learning, students will be better engaged, less frustrated, and more eager to learn. The essential skills necessary in the modern world have changed. Because of this, we need to harness the power of technology to teach the new 21st century skills. Technology enables students to collaborate, create, synthesize, analyze, produce, and communicate in ways unimaginable even ten years ago. Since the world is changing so rapidly, we must teach students how to manage and interpret new information. The best way to do this is with technology, the new storehouse of information.

In conclusion, we feel that it is vital for our school to rethink the way we are educating our students. We must redesign the curriculum to think from the product backward. We need to put technology in the hands of every student and in the mind of every teacher. Undoubtedly, this will meet with some resistance and will not happen overnight. We will need ongoing, meaningful teacher development with plenty of technical support. We will need reliable technical infrastructure. We will need parental and community support. Most importantly, we will need the support of you, the administrators, as we move towards a better education system for all.


 * Post from Kathy, Tiff, Shane and Cindy**
 * Today's students are different from the students ten years ago. Students today**
 * are considered "Digital Natives" because they have grown up using technology such**
 * as: ipods, video games, social networks, cell phones, ipads, etc. Some experts in**
 * the field believe that their brains and thinking patterns have changed because of their**
 * technology. The students** **learn differently ,now it is time for the teachers to change their**
 * instructional methods.**


 * In addition, to these thinking patterns changing, the world outside is changing**
 * so we as educators need to change our methods of instruction to prepare the students**
 * for life in the twenty-first century. It is inperative that educators begin to incorporate**
 * the technologies that are common place for the student in the classroom. These are**
 * the technologies they will be using in the future. Skill such as : collaboration,**
 * creativity, innovation, ;as well as, critical thinking skills are more important to the**
 * relevance of their learning.**
 * Finally, using UDL would provide students multiple means of engaging, expressing, and**
 * representing information for preparing them for the future. Rather then ban the use of**
 * media and social networks we should embrace these platforms. Lastly, lets teach the**
 * students these platforms to become life long learners.**