Be sure to watch this six-minute video to understand the three basic principles of Universal Design for Learning. It was created using an online software program called Xtranormal. The odd behavior of Kirk and Spock are caused by the software. It is pretty funny but actually very accurate for understanding the three basic principles of UDL. Enjoy.
2018 Revised Annotated Bibliography of Postsecondary Peer Cooperative Learning Programs
I am happy to announce that the 2018 Revised Annoated Bibliography of Postsecondary Peer Cooperative Learning Programs is now available to download. Click on this link for a PDF or Word version of it.
There are now nearly 1,500 entries spanning 488 pages. I noticed recent listserv conversations about locating research studies to support Supplemental Instruction programs or similar approaches operating at the college level. The directory grew significantly in the past two years. The directory includes the Emerging Scholars Program (Dr. Uri Treisman model), Peer-Led Team Learning, Supplemental Instruction, and Video-based Supplemental Instruction, Structured Learning Assistance, Accelerated Learning Groups, and Peer Assisted Learning.
You can download the directory as a PDF or Word document. I also included some sub-topics of the directory such as facilitator development, vocational influence, identity development and more. I also provide the EndNote library file to allow you to more easily search the database for the topic you want. Be sure also to download the keyword search guide to discover all the ways to search the contents for the information you want. Other bibliographic database systems may be able to open the EndNote file but I am not an expert with that process.
No doubt I missed some citations related to these seven major peer learning programs. Please send me the citation and perhaps a copy of the publication and I will be happy to include in an update. Thanks for consideration.
Approaches to Learning Assistance: Concurrent Acquition of Knowledge and Skills
With this blog posting, I pick back up on my series of samples from my book, Assistance at the Crossroads described in the left-hand column of this website. There are many ways that academic help can be provided for college students who are struggling in some of their classes.
This learning assistance approach operates through concurrent learning experiences. Students simultaneously enroll in a college-level class, whether or not they have been identified as academically underprepared, and use learning assistance services to support their learning in that class. A common characteristic of such a class is academic rigor exceeding the average of other college-level classes. These courses are challenging for many students, and the classes have high withdrawal and failure rates. Sometimes they are called “gatekeeper” classes (Jenkins, Jaggars, and Roksa, 2009).
For purposes of this discussion, this historically difficult class is called a “target class,” as learning assistance services are customized and “targeted” for serving students enrolled in that specific course. Other students in the same class that have not been identified as academically underprepared for content material in that particular class are welcome to use the learning assistance activities as supplemental or enrichment experiences to deepen mastery of course content. This concurrent acquisition approach is divided into three smaller groups of activities: those offered as supplemental learning experiences through the student’s voluntary participation; those offered as a coordinated program that requires moderate involvement by the target course instructor; and those embedded, infused, or mainstreamed in the course targeted for academic support that thereby serve all students enrolled in the class, regardless of their academic preparation.
One of the activities described in the previous section on prerequisite acquisition approaches could also have appeared in this section. Because most students enroll in only a single developmental course, the rest of their courses are at the college level. These students concurrently develop competency through the developmental course while they advance their knowledge and skills through the college-level courses. The key issue that places developmental courses in the previous section is that students are not ready to enroll in the college-level course for which they are underprepared. They are, however, ready for enrollment in other college-level courses. (To be continued.....)
Different Approaches and Systems of Learning Assistance
The following is an excerpt from my book, "Access at the crossroads" described in the left-hand column.
Learning assistance encompasses a variety of activities and models with varying levels of efficacy for institutions and participating students. The variety of these models is a result of different policies, funding formulas, student population characteristics, historical traditions, campus culture, political decisions, and stakeholders’ expectations. Better understanding of the choices taken when offering learning assistance occurs when it is categorized into different approaches taken at the institutional level. The three broad categories are based on where and when the particular learning assistance activity is offered: a prerequisite activity on the college campus before a student enrolls in a class for graduation credit; concurrent activity on the college campus while a student is enrolled in a class predicted to be academically challenging; and outsourcing of the learning assistance activity to another institution or commercial firm.
The goal of these three approaches is preparation of students for academic success in a rigorous core curriculum of college-level course that exceeds the average of other college-level classes and is challenging for many members of the student body. This class has high withdrawal and failure rates. Sometimes it is called a “gatekeeper” class (Jenkins, Jaggars, and Roksa, 2009). The name used to describe classes that offer learning assistance activities specifically designed to support the students enrolled in them are called “target classes,” as the learning assistance services are customized and “targeted” for serving students enrolled in that specific course. The focus is shifted from erroneously attempting to identify students at risk in the class to students in that particular class who are welcome to use the learning assistance activities to meet course expectations or as supplemental or enrichment experiences deepening their mastery of course content. Faculty members who teach this target class are involved to varying degrees with the learning assistance activities preparing students for academic success.
The following three blog postings in upcoming weeks will share briefly about each of these approaches.
Why I Like Apple TV for Personal and Professional Reasons as a College History Teacher
I enjoy Apple TV since I am able to watch on a large-screen with a great sound system the same content that used to be confined to my iPhone, laptop, or desktop computer. There is enough free content available through Apple TV that I could cancel my cable TV subscription. I will be interested to see the bundle of cable channels that will be eventually available for a monthly charge from Apple.
At the University of Minnesota where I am a history professor, the Apple TV device has been integrated into a growing number of classrooms so that students can share video content through the room projection television system. First-year students in the College of Education and Human Development receive an iPad upon arrival and use of it is integrated into many of their first-year courses. I use the history apps to help me connect today’s events with the history topics we are studying in class.
Apple TV App Store Selection
I believe the Apple TV has been an underappreciated technology that Apple has significantly improved through this fourth-generation unit. This annotated directory identifies the apps that I use on my Apple TV unit at home on a regular basis for personal use and to identify news stories that I could integrate into my global history course. There are many other apps that I do not profile in this abridged directory simply because they require an additional charge for their use or are not of interest. A good example is all the educational apps for children and older youth. I remember when I purchased my first iPhone and then with the first iPad and there were a relatively small number of apps. Now the library of Apple apps exceeds half a million. While I don’t expect the same exponential growth for Apple TV, their library will rapidly expand. Many of these Apple TV apps are also available for use on iPhones and iPads. If you have set up for automatic download of new apps on all your iOS devices, do not be surprised to see some of these apps appearing on other Apple devices.
Open the App Store on your Apple TV to browse apps. When you find an app that you want to add to your Apple TV, select the app. Then select the price (Buy) for a paid app or select Get for a free app. For some apps, the app can be used for free with limited access to the contents, but an “in-app purchase” unlocks all the content. If prompted, enter your Apple ID password. Learn more about how to browse and buy apps. With the revision of the App Store in May, you now can see the top paid, top grossing, and top free apps. It appears that the list will list the top 200 of each category.
Some apps might require that you sign in; subscribe to a service; activate your account through your cable or satellite provider; or use another device, such as a computer, to complete the sign-in process. If you can't sign in to an app on your Apple TV, contact the content provider. Apps that you currently have on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch might also be available for your Apple TV. You can see your previous App Store purchases in the Purchased menu at the top of the main App Store screen. Find out how to get your past purchases on your Apple TV.
The Apple TV device allows many free Internet video sources to be accessed through televisions. Unless noted otherwise, all apps in this directory are free to download and use on Apple TV. There are others (especially games) that require a small fee to download (most under $5) and may also include in-app purchases for additional features or for games to obtain more resources.
Creating Folders/Subdirectories to Organize Apps
Just as with the iPad and iPhone, custom subdirectories can be created to organize these apps. The process is the same for creating this subdirectories as with the other Apple mobile devices, click on an app until it begins to wiggle. Then drag that app onto another to create a subdirectory. The Apple TV is intuitive and will recommend a name for this file folder. If you want a different one, the name can be replaced by typing a new one. The file folders can be dragged and dropped in different locations as well. If you want to add a new app to a preexisting folder, clip on the app until it jiggles. Then click the bottom button on the left side of the controller and a menu will appear. Click on the preexisting folder and it will automatically move there. Or create a new folder by clicking on the first option in the menu.
In-app Purchases
Some apps are free and offer in-app purchases for additional services. In the Apple TV settings this ability to make these purchases can be disabled. This is especially important with the game apps and use by children who might not feel inhibited regardless of what you say.
Some Apps Download to Other iOS Devices
A side benefit of some of the Apple TV apps is that they will download to your other iOS devices such as iPhone or iPad. Part of the reason is that these apps were originally developed for those devices and then adapted for use on Apple TV. This automatic downloading only occurs if the iOS devices have the automatic downloading enabled through the settings of the iOS device. I have noticed that some Apple TV apps will download to the iPad but not to the iPhone. This may have to do with whether they can display on the smaller iPhone screen than the larger iPad.
Voice Command through Siri
With the new Apple TV and remote, Siri is at your voice command. Speak your requests and it'll get you results, even if they're really specific, like all movies directed by a particular director of featuring a specific actor. If you use Siri from the home screen, it can search for a show, movie, or particular app among all apps. Request a specific app ("Find the Tasting Table app") or a category of app ("Find music apps"). The software update also added support for dictation, so you can speak into search boxes or dictate usernames and passwords letter by letter. Just press the microphone button on your remote and spell things out. If your passwords have uppercase letters, just say it (for "davidA," say, "D-A-V-I-D uppercase A").
Check the App Store Often
This abridged directory contains apps that are often free and are of my interest and taste. With additional ones being added weekly, this directory does not try to be inclusive of all of them.
Annual Scope of Learning Assistance (Part Three)
The following is an excerpt from my book, Learning Assistance at the Crossroads. More information about obtaining a copy of the book is provided in the upper left-hand column. It may already be in your school library.
About 30 percent of first-time, first-year students enrolled in one or more developmental reading, writing, or mathematics courses since the 1980s. This rate rises to 40 percent of students who are the first in their family to attend college (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003, 2005). For the past two decades, 600,000 to 700,000 first-year students enrolled annually in such courses. As a result of the research protocols used by the federal government for these studies, the data do not include sophomores, juniors, seniors, or graduate students who enroll in remedial or developmental courses; students who participate in noncredit academic enrichment activities such as tutoring, group study review groups, learning strategy workshops, or similar activities; and students of any classification who enroll in remedial or developmental courses in science or study strategies. Therefore, it is reasonable to estimate the number of students accessing credit and noncredit services at 2 million annually (Boylan, 1999).
The following finding comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s study focusing primarily on developmental courses (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003). Of students enrolling in these courses, three-quarters successfully complete them. Most students enroll in developmental courses during only one academic term. Students are twice as likely to enroll in the courses at two-year institutions than in four-year colleges and universities. About three-quarters of institutions offer only institutional credit for the courses, while others offer graduation credit. In these cases, the credit counts as a free elective. About three-quarters of institutions require students to enroll in remedial or developmental courses based on their entry-level test scores. This percentage has increased during the 1990s. About two-thirds of institutions restrict concurrent enrollment in graduation-credit courses and developmental courses. Nearly a quarter of institutions establish a time limit for successfully completing these courses. A traditional academic unit such as the English or mathematics department is the most frequent provider of developmental courses, with a separate developmental department following in frequency. Learning centers are less frequently used, though the percentage has grown.
Annual Scope of Learning Assistance (Part Two)
The following is an excerpt from my book, Learning Assistance at the Crossroads. More information about obtaining a copy of the book is provided in the upper left-hand column. It may already be in your school library.
Understanding the scope of learning assistance throughout the United States requires careful review of national studies of enrollment patterns in developmental courses, participation in noncredit activities, and institutional and state policies affecting learning assistance activities. Table 1 focuses on one element of learning assistance, developmental courses in reading, mathematics, or writing. No uniform state or national reporting systems exist for noncredit services such as tutoring and attendance in learning centers (explored later in this report). The terms “remedial” and “developmental” course are used interchangeably in this section.
Learning assistance often expresses itself differently among various institutional types: two-year and four-year, public and private. The services also appear differently in these categories among institutions of differing admissions selectivity. Although noncredit services such as tutoring and learning centers are commonly found among institutions, the provision of developmental courses is more commonly found at two-year institutions. Many institutions, however, provide both credit and noncredit services.
Many students who enroll in postsecondary education participate in learning assistance activities in one form or another. Boylan (1999) confirms that nearly 2 million of the 12 million students enrolling in U.S. postsecondary education enroll in a developmental course or participate in other noncredit services such as tutoring or use of a learning center. Because 600,000 to 700,000 students enroll in the courses, more than 1 million students access noncredit services such as tutoring and learning assistance centers (Boylan, 1999; National Center for Education Statistics, 2003). For the past twenty years, nearly three-quarters of higher education institutions enrolling first-year students have offered at least one developmental reading, writing, or mathematics course. Although four-year research institutions decreased course offerings in this area during the 1990s (Barefoot, 2003), most institutions showed little overall significant change (National Center for Education Statistics, 1991, 1996, 2003). Offerings vary widely among institutional types. The highest percentage offering such courses are public two-year colleges (98 percent), followed by public four-year (80 percent), private two-year (63 percent), and private four-year (59 percent) (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003).