As always, remote learning is on my mind. How do we best serve ALL students when school happens in a virtual environment? Remote learning certainly poses challenges for all of our students, but it’s important to keep in mind that our students with different learning needs – those who require accommodations in the classroom – face the same challenges remotely that they do virtually. Are there web tools that we can effectively use as assistive devices to bridge both any existing learning gaps as well as to avoid creating a digital divide based upon the need for accommodations?
Because I am in the library, I spend a lot of time thinking about accessibility tools for reading. We have many resources to assist students with different needs, including e-books with dyslexic-accessible fonts and audiobooks that serve a wide range of student reading needs. I recently realized that a tool we already use can also help students in a variety of ways:
I already love using Flipgrid to engage students with video
exchanges and book reviews, and, as Copeland (2011) notes, the best assistive
technologies are ones that serve ALL students, not just those with different
abilities. I’m sure that many of you
have used Flipgrid to allow students to have conversations or respond to prompts
by recording short videos. If you haven’t,
you really should check out these tutorials by our Education Technology
Specialist, Jen Hall:
PD: Flipping for Flipgrid (Tech Tips 411, 2020a)
PD: Jen's 10 Ideas for Using Flipgrid (Tech Tips 411, 2020b)
Turns out, Flipgrid is thinking about our students with
learning differences, too! Check out
this entry on The Flipgrid Blog (Maddy, 2020), which has a number of helpful tutorials
included, and this quick YouTube video (Flipgrid, 2020).
Here are a few ideas for ways to use this app to enhance accessibility:
- Show
students how to use light and dark mode to best work with their visual needs (or
yours).
- Use
the immersive reader feature to read text aloud for students who have difficulty
with printed texts or to translate text.
- Record
a lesson or instructions and embed the QR code in written materials to help
students who best process information via verbal instruction (or for those who
just like a verbal reminder).
- Film
translation of a text for Flipgrid in American Sign Language and embed the QR code for access by
students who are deaf or have a hearing impairment.
- Use
the whiteboard feature to engage visual learners
- Allow students to record without audio to engage students who are nonverbal or have difficulty with speaking or are just shy.
Using Flipgrid in this way ties in with principles of Universal Design for Learning by allowing students to represent content, demonstrate mastery, and engage with content in different ways (Spina, 2017).
Want to learn more? Feel free to reach out to me or to Jen Hall. Flipgrid also has a YouTube channel with helpful tutorial videos. Check it out!
References
Copeland, C. A.
(2011). School librarians of the 21st century: Using resources and
assistive technologies to support students’ differences and abilities. Knowledge
Quest, 39(3), 64-69.
Flipgrid. (2020, September 21). Accessibility: Learning Flipgrid [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/juQcRTR6liE
Maddy, L. (2020, May 20). #FlipgridForAll: Accessibility and inclusion for every voice. Flipgrid. https://blog.flipgrid.com/news/accessibility
Spina, C. (2017, May 5). How Universal Design will make your library more inclusive. School Library Journal. https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=how-universal-design-will-make-your-library-more-inclusive
Tech Tips 411. (2020, June 2). PD: Flipping for Flipgrid [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/0wVhnT4jrMQ
Tech Tips 411. (2020, August 13). PD: Jen's 10 ideas for using Flipgrid [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/HLfS00sYBuE
8 comments:
I love using Flipgrid! I never even thought about the ASL capabilities. I think students would love to present and see lessons this way. With everything going on in the world right now, I know school budgets are limited. Instead of buying something new, your blog showed us a great way to use something that we already have. If we shift our thinking, I believe that we can find many ways to use the technology that we already have to help all our students.
Stacey Templin
I agree, Stacey. With budgets limited because of COVID (we cut 14% across the board at our school last spring and anticipate big cuts for next year), we definitely have to be innovative with using what we have. I was pleased with all of the helpful information on Flipgrid, and my time in the SLIS program has shown me a range of alternative ways that students can show their learning via a variety of media. It's a bonus that many technologies that make content and assessments more accessible for kids with different learning abilities also make learning fun for everyone!
Hmmmm - Sherry, you might be mad at me in December, because I am TOTALLY STEALING some of these videos for my curation project! I was so excited to see the ways flipgrid can help with inclusion. We are a Microsoft district and flipgrid is embedded in our Teams app so using it will be a dream. Beyond the accessibility video and the flipgrid blog, I am glad to find the TechTip411 video channel. She is a new one for me. The videos are long, so I will need to wait for winter break before I can poke around. Isn't' that always the way?!
Thanks for the share.
-Anna Musselman
Anna, steal away! I'm so glad you can use them. Jen Hall is my Ed Tech specialist (district level), and she is the bomb.com.
This is such a great look at FlipGrid! I wasn't aware of most of these features. I'm light sensitive, so if I have to look at a white screen for extended periods of time I have to open a screen dimmer program to lessen contrast beyond what the computer does naturally. Dark mode is a must! Aside from that, many people I'm close to have issues with going nonverbal under stresses like public presentation (commonly associated with Autism) so options that don't necessarily include narration are a godsend. Going nonverbal just means that the student won't be able to tell you what they know with their mouth, but typing it or showing it visually should be just fine. Excellent choice!
Thanks for giving such a detailed presentation of FlipGrid. It is also great that a semi-local person has a channel where I can connect. I did not quite understand it and how I could use if, but now I know exactly how I will use it right away. Most of my students with disabilities have social emotional goals on their IEPs. I have been scratching my head about how to work with them on goal attainment. I found my answer. I have had concerns with the students meeting their SEL goals with limited interaction with their peers. However, after connecting with some virtual students, I realize that some of them need to use strategeies in dealing with their home situations.
I didn't realize FlipGrid had so many accessibility features! Thanks for providing so many great resources for using FlipGrid and teaching others about its special features. What a gold mine of information! A lot of teachers in my school are already using this website, and they might not know about all the features It offers. I will have to share your blog when the opportunity arises. You've done a great job of bringing together meaningful information concisely.
-Tiffany Taylor Brewer
Oh my goodness that is very cool! I had no idea that FlipGrid had accessibility features. I'm thinking that as remote learning becomes more of a part of our educational landscape, accessibility features will become more integrated into the tools that teachers use every day. Thanks for this post and enjoy the rest of your beach trip!
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