Preparing Pre-Service Early Childhood Teachers to Design UDL Instruction: Literacy Centers

Proposal No: 902

Bios & Handouts

Speaker(s)

• Barbara Loeding, Ph.D. Associate Professor, University of South Florida

Disability Area: Cognitive|Learning   Mobility   Vision   Deaf|HOH   Other Disability   Other Text  

Topic Area: Legal   Best Practices   Web|Media Access   Alternate Format   Campus Policy   Curriculum Access   Assistive Technology   Information Resources  

Summary of Session

This presentation describes how a team of professors integrated a “critical course assignment” designed to make sure preservice early childhood teachers not only knew about UDL principles but could apply them in the design and demonstration of accessible kindergarten literacy centers.

Abstract

As USF professors in Early Childhood reconceptualized their program, they realized they needed to prepare future teachers to not only differentiate instruction but to design instruction using Universal Design for Learning (UDL)principles. The logical course in which to integrate this information and engage students in applying what they learned about UDL was a course I teach called "Young Children with Special Needs". However, I collaborated with their Reading professor to be sure students would obtain content knowledge needed to design their UDL literacy center such as appropriate activities to address different literacy objectives. After presentations on UDL principles and assistive technology, students worked in pairs to not only design but demonstrate a kindergarten-level UDL literacy center. Each pair chose a different literacy objective. This presentation will describe the assignment more fully, elements the students included in their centers and their reflections on lessons learned from the assignment.

Kepoints

1. The importance of collaboration between professors in a teacher preparation program
2. Challenges encountered during the implementation of this assignment
3. Lessons learned by preservice teachers from designing a UDL literacy center

Speaker Bio(s)

Barbara Loeding

Barbara Loeding is an Associate Professor of Special Education at the University of South Florida in Tampa FL. Her Ph.D. is in Special Education/Augmentative & Alternative Communication from Purdue and her Master’s degree is in Speech- Language Pathology. Her current research interests focus on development and integration of assistive technology, specifically automated recognition of sign language. She learned first-hand about assistive technology for individuals with vision impairments when she developed corneal dystrophy. She has taught university courses on Augmentative and Alternative Communication, Assistive Technology, Designing Software and Hardware for Persons with Disabilities and Designing Human-Computer Interfaces. She has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters related to assistive technology and computerized translation of sign language and is a former President of the FL- Technology and Media chapter of CEC. She enjoys teaching courses that help future elementary/preschool teachers integrate children with exceptionalities.

Handout(s)