With the craziness that has been going on over the last week or so with COVID-19, self isolation and the University of Victoria and many other Universities across the globe stopping their F2F (fact-to-face) lectures, I think that this class and assignment are all the more important. Often times, online and distance learning are taken for granted, or even written off as not as important, or easier than F2F learning. With the world facing a global pandemic, I believe that we are so lucky to have the opportunity to continue our education remotely, and hopefully I can share some of the skills and tools that I have learned from EDCI with my peers that are just now trying to make the transition into online classes for the remainder of the semester.

The first key concept that I believe is important that this module addresses is the importance of inclusive designs within open learning. There are many different people who learn different ways, and have different abilities and disabilities that can enhance or prevent them from learning one specific way. It is so important that all individuals, no matter their ability level, are able to equally access the educational resources and tools that are being provided within a class, system, or environment. For example, there are many students who are deaf and must learn using ASL translators. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Universities must ensure that these students will still get the resources and accessibility options that they need in order to continue their classes successfully. The second key concept that is important within this module is chart authoring. Charts and visuals are so important in education and within online learning. It is so crucial for online educators to use charts and visuals to ensure that learners can remain involved and engaged with the content, while presenting sometimes challenging or difficult concepts, ideas or issues in a more simplistic manner that could aid in the learners understanding. The third key concept that is important within this module is inclusive web games and simulations. I mentioned this in one of the Hypothesi.s assignments a few weeks passed, and I am so glad that I am seeing it pop up once again in this course! I have a part time job working with elementary aged children in an after school care program, and I love learning more about web games and simulations so I can share them with the kids in my program, as well as their parents that are looking for some “fun” educational resources. Kids are so interested in technology and having the opportunity to be apart of a society and world that is so technologically advanced is so helpful when it comes to educational resources being made available and accessible online. These types of resources are also so important now more than ever; As we are going through a global pandemic, more and more schools are getting shut down and parents are looking for ways to continue educating their children remotely and web games and simulations that are educational can be so useful!

Two concepts that I am having difficulty understanding are UI options and sonification framework. Both of these concepts are interesting, but I am having a harder time wrapping my head around them, as I don’t believe that they are being explained in the best ability through the links for my understanding. I am looking forward to researching these more and hopefully gaining a better understanding.

One question that was not addressed in this module in relation to universal design would be how could these designs be simplified in order to be used on younger children or grades within school systems?

 

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Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

Photo by 🇨🇭 Claudio Schwarz | @purzlbaum on Unsplash