Technology in classrooms has revolutionized how students learn and educators teach and contribute to students’ learning development. Novel designs for teaching and learning have emerged to support personalized pathways of learning. Technologies are helping support enhanced human interaction for better learning and teaching opportunities. The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) released standards for educators to support them in providing a technology-amplified framework for leading, teaching, and learning (Crompton, 2017). The standards have made it possible for teaching critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity using technology. As such, the ISTE standards reflect a development in education that focuses on technology to empower students and teachers. The educator standards include learner, leader, citizen, collaborator, designer, analyst, and facilitator.
Educators, further, utilize the Universal Design for Learning guidelines, the framework for optimizing and improving teaching and learning for students based on scientific insights concerning how people learn. The UDL guidelines help learners to become motivated, knowledgeable, goal-driven, resourceful expert learners (Lowrey et al., 2019). It designs learning environments that can be used by every student without requiring specialized design adaptation. Advances in online learning have created possibilities for learners through access to courses without the limitations of traditional classrooms. The UDL has been successful with online learning and teaching since it allows learners to access courses without adaptation (Lowrey et al., 2019). The UDL is a viable solution for helping learners meet their needs and abilities in the classroom through innovative ways by educators.
The UDL guidelines provide suggestions to ensure all students access and take part in challenging and meaningful learning opportunities (Lowrey et al., 2019). They are designed to create expert students who can command their own learning by gaining control over their choices and lives in what they learn or do. Therefore, the UDL guidelines provide a proactive approach that teachers can utilize to anticipate the students’ potential needs, and, thus plan instructions accordingly. The UDL guidelines are applied in educational technology through engagement, representation, as well as expression and action. Different means of expression and representation help increase and maintain learner engagement in the classroom, especially with discussions with other students and demonstrations and simulations from educators (Lowrey et al., 2019).
The importance of the ISTE standards in educational technology include emphasizing empowering students to be in charge and take advantage of learning (Crompton, 2017). Teachers participating in ISTE Standards-based professional learning programs attest to seeing positive results, improved ability with technology, enhanced student engagement, and student learning gains. The standards emphasize what learners need to know and do to attain success in both online and physical classroom. The standards are applied in preparing learners to become responsible citizens in the digital age and can use the new technologies to succeed academically. It is through the ISTE standards that students leverage technology to choose, achieve, and establish competency in their learning goals (Crompton, 2017).
Additionally, ISTE standards are applied by teachers highlight the relevance and utility of learning to show relevance through meaningful and authentic activities. They establish expectations for learners in understand how they should learn and how technology can hinder or enhance the affective and cognitive processes for deeper learning. The ISTE standards help students to own the fundamental understanding of how their brains work. For online learners, the standards help students become good digital citizens by acting legally, ethically, and safely online. They, further, help learners and educators know how personal information works online, as well as, understand and contextualize information online (Crompton, 2017).
The UDL guidelines provide an innovative way in which educators to reach the diverse population of online students. The guidelines help teachers address the what, how, and why of learning. It is a scientifically valid framework for guiding learning practice that provides flexible ways of presenting information to online learners in a manner that students demonstrate skills and knowledge. They are applied to reduce barriers in teaching and maintaining high achievement expectations for online learners (Lowrey et al., 2019). Therefore, the UDL guidelines provide students with different means of accessing online course content through interaction, engagement, expression, action, and presentation. They provide a unique set of opportunities and challenges for learning and teaching.
Further, the UDL approach increases positive learning outcomes for online students, and links with learner development theories that recognize the value of supporting each student. The UDL guidelines are applied in the design of course content, materials, and instruction to benefit students and their teachers with new learning styles without retrofitting (Lowrey et al., 2019). They ensure that students take control of the methods of accessing information as their online tutors and proctors monitor their learning progress to initiate other beneficial methods of learning. As such, UDL guidelines enhance pedagogy and instructional practices for students online.
The ISTE standards and UDL guidelines designate technology-facilitated skills for both teachers and learners. They help guide educators to create curricula that helps students leverage technology in learning the pedagogies, content, and technology skills suitable for their careers. The ISTE standards, for example, provide a framework for leading, teaching, and learning that is augmented by technology. The UDL guidelines, on the other hand, provide teaching strategies for educators to optimize learning opportunities for diverse group of online students. The flexible course design offered by both ISTE standards and UDL guidelines help with presentation, engagement, interaction, and expression, in addition to providing support to online students and making classes more accessible.
References
Crompton, H. (2017). ISTE Standards for educators: A guide for teachers and other professionals. International Society for Technology in Education.
Lowrey, K. A., Classen, A., & Sylvest, A. (2019). Exploring ways to support preservice teachers’ use of UDL in planning and instruction. Journal of Educational Research & Practice, 9(1), 261.
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