{"id":304,"date":"2019-09-27T06:00:50","date_gmt":"2019-09-27T14:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/?p=304"},"modified":"2019-12-06T14:18:09","modified_gmt":"2019-12-06T22:18:09","slug":"informing-as-a-starter-step-in-udl-lessons-from-singapore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/informing-as-a-starter-step-in-udl-lessons-from-singapore\/","title":{"rendered":"Informing as A Starter Step in UDL: Lessons From Singapore"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How was my summer? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My summer was great because I got to travel to and through\nSingapore. Since I travelled to see and stay with a very best best friend (my\nheart, walking around outside my body) I got treated to special and secret\nplaces. We scooted down fragrant paths in Tiong Bahru, walked over a forest\nbridge (watch for monkeys) somewhere only my Runkeeper app knows, ate bak kut\nteh in a sweaty colonial soup house near Clarke Quay, and drank iced lime jelly\nwith dinner in Sembawang. I also developed a raging bubble tea problem but\nthat\u2019s not for now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the gazillion things I loved, one was the Singaporean\napproach to informing. Information is everywhere and readily available from\ngiant signs on roadways, byways, buildings, MRT stations, restaurants and\nbathrooms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are signs posted everywhere reminding you not to\nforget your stuff, like a gentle mum who wants the best for you always \u2013 did you\nremember your phone? Keys? Bags? Please don\u2019t forget them on the very\nconvenient shelf we provide in every bathroom in our city! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
photo credit: Seanna Takacs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are signs to tell you how many spots are available at\neach underground parking venue so you don\u2019t have to drive around searching and\nsearching (wasting important bubble tea time)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
photo credit: Seanna Takacs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are signs showing places to stop your car in case\nthere is a torrential downpour and driving becomes too perilous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lost in the MRT (subway) system? Turn anywhere and you\u2019ll\nfind not one but three large colour maps. Still lost and confused? There are\nalways people to ask (\u201cAuntie, please where is Chinese Garden?\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dengue fever outbreak? Giant neighbourhood signs let you\nknow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There was even a notice that trees are being trimmed along\nthe motorway so you can plan accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
photo credit: Seanna Takacs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I found that having so much information and notification relieved me of the worry of navigating and\nallowed me to focus on relishing my surroundings<\/em> and plan for my steadily\nintensifying Tiger Sugar cravings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel this is an important key in planning our courses.\nStart by thinking about the load students carry in figuring out interpersonal\nexpectations, assignment parameters, structure, and location of information. Is\nthe effort going into FINDING or is it going into PROCESSING and LEARNING. If\nan assignment was a delicious cold milk tea, how much time is the student\nspending finding the shop as opposed to sucking back the pearls?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These ten tips can help you be more informative about your\ncourse to move students from hunting for information to savouring the content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Start with a clear syllabus that solicits\nfeedback on accessibility in particular;<\/li>
  2. Organize materials meaningfully rather than\ndumping information into Moodle;<\/li>
  3. Use captioned videos;<\/li>
  4. State your expectations about grading and\nhonesty but also interpersonal and email communication;<\/li>
  5. Provide multiple communication options, list\nthem, and be explicit in helping students exploit them;<\/li>
  6. Create a climate of sharing content through\nmultiple communication channels;<\/li>
  7. Build in reminders for due dates, concepts, and\ngoal setting;<\/li>
  8. Use colourful maps; appoint \u201caunties\u201d or\n\u201cuncles\u201d who are responsible for verbally clarifying written material;<\/li>
  9. Check in with students to see if they feel lost,\nlost with a map, or on the right track;<\/li>
  10. Review where you\u2019ve been and where you\u2019re going\nfrequently.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    If you try out some of these aspects of providing\ninformation and feel this was a good start for you in mobilizing UDL\nprinciples, please let me know. And if you get stuck in a rain shower, pull safely\nto the side and call me for help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    How was my summer? My summer was great because I got to travel to and through Singapore. Since I travelled to see and stay with a very best best friend (my heart, walking around outside my body) I got treated to special and secret places. We scooted down fragrant paths in Tiong Bahru, walked over…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","iawp_total_views":12,"footnotes":""},"categories":[84],"tags":[75,41,42],"class_list":["post-304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-universal-design-for-learning","tag-access","tag-udl","tag-universal-design-learning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":315,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304\/revisions\/315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}