Creating curriculums that are accessible for guests of varying educational needs seems like a straightforward concept, however requires careful consideration. There are many points made in the article “Providing New Access to the General Curriculum” on the types of materials, methods, and assessment that are helpful for constructing an accessible learning experience. But the driving point is that a more accessible curriculum benefits all students across the board.
I found this concept very intriguing:
“To stay interested and committed to the task at hand, students also need an appropriate balance of challenge and support. Vygotsky describes the ideal balance point as where the goal is just beyond reach but achievable with effort, what he calls the ‘zone of proximal development (ZPD)’ (Vygotsky, 1978)” (p. 13). Essentially, guided activities, modeling behavior, and conceptual representations help establish just enough of a pathway for engagement.
I’m thinking of ways to make the activity I’m doing for the IW project more accessible, as well as applying the information I’m gathering from articles and videos into my design process. I decided to reduce the scope of the puzzle making activity from my original proposition after getting feedback about it being too extensive. This has been the most difficult part; one item was purchased from my original list so I had to rely on my imagination rather than pre-constructed templates and familiar activities. The feedback forced me to revisit my activity, and I’m grateful because I came up with some original DIY ideas for which I purchased materials from a local store.
I only had the riddle book to prototype with and that was not helpful. The process of constructing curriculum was almost inaccessible to me, but it was also a problem-solving task representative of one of the activity's learning goal (so I hope this turns out okay in the end!).
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