ccie.ucf.edu · Web viewKelli Suding: Hae. Dr. Chapman: Good. evening everyone . and. welcome. to....

This transcript was exported on Nov 06, 2020 - view latest version here .

Kelli Suding: Hae.

Dr. Chapman: Good evening everyone and welcome to our live broadcast of T's today Q&A sponsored by the Toni Jennings Exceptional Education Institute located at the UNIVERSITY of Central Florida. We are broadcasting live over YouTube and Facebook. I am your moderator Dr. Deshawn Chapman. I'm an educational programmer in the Center for Higher Education Innovation at the University of Central Florida. Tonight's topic is engagement through technology. The panelists who I will introduce momentarily will discuss pre-submitted questions on the topic. However, if you have a question please type it into the comments on YouTube or Facebook and we will make every attempt to address it tonight. If we don't get to your question we'll be happy to send a response later. You can, uh, you can add your email to the comment, um, or chat box or contact us @[email protected]. As we answer questions tonight, please be aware that the responses from our panelists are their own views and do not necessarily represent the views of the Toni Jenny's Exceptional Education Institute.

Now, I would like to introduce our panelists so that we can begin the dialogue. Dr. Matt Marino is a professor of exceptional student education in the College of Community Innovation and Education here at UCF. His research focuses on the design and implementation of technology-enhanced STEM curricular materials. He successfully implemented the Universal Design for Learning framework into mobile, video games and apps most recently for PBS kids. These games have been played by thousands of parents, students, and teachers across the country. Welcome, great to have you here tonight. Our next panelist is Kelli Suding. Welcome Kelly all the way from Indiana, so glad that you're joining us tonight.

She works at, she works at the PATIN- PATINS Project which is a statewide technical assistance network that connects Indiana's local education agencies to assessable materials, assistive technology, professional development, and technical support through the Indiana department of education and administration, to ensure that all students can participate and progress within their general curriculum. She has a background of special ed general education and her instructional experience has been with students requiring mild, moderate and intense interventions. So thank you both for being here and thank you all who are watching on YouTube and Facebook. As I stated previously, our topic is engagement through technology. So we want to invite the audience to ask questions through the chat, [inaudible]-

Dr. Marino: Sorry. That was me.

Kelli Suding: [crosstalk]-

Dr. Chapman: (laughs) that's all right. This is a little background music (laughs).

Kelli Suding: [crosstalk]. This is good music (laughs).

Teach Today Q&A Engagement Through Technology (Completed 11/06/20)Transcript by Rev.com

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Dr. Chapman: Yeah. It's all good. It's all good. So just drop those questions in the chat, we'll be monitoring and we would love to engage you in the conversation. So let's jump right in with our first question and I like both of you to answer this one-

Kelli Suding: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Okay.

Dr. Chapman: How do we engage students with different modalities at the same time?

Kelli Suding: Matt, you're welcome to go ahead.

Dr. Marino: Okay. So I- if we're servicing students with different modalities or from different moda- modalities, I interpret that question is being, I'm a teacher with kids sitting in my class and I have kids that are attending the class remotely. So let me just say that first because if that's inaccurate, then my whole, uh, explanation of how to do that is gonna be off. So then let's say that's the case. Now, you could do it traditionally at the elementary level if all the kids are working together on similar content by having, having discussion-based assessments, right? So what I would do is go around the room talk to students in the room and through the technology and ask them what their understanding of the concept is to start. And then have them do a collaborative activity together. That way the students who are home are not just doing something on their own and the kids in the class are interacting. You're having them interact through Zoom or some other, uh, type of interactive software. Kelli, what do you have to add to that?

Kelli Suding: Yeah. So I think when we think about students with different modalities it comes down to just making sure that we are designing our instruction with Universal Design for Learning in mind. So that's going to reach all of our learners in the classroom, whether they're virtually or in the Fort or, or in the buildings. So that is if UDL, uh, Universal Design for Learning is new to you, um, we could probably talk all day. I know I can talk all day about UDL and I've got that framework just set in my mindset as an educator-

Dr. Chapman: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Kelli Suding: So that it's basically in a nutshell, um, UDL is making sure that we are offering multiple means of engagement for students throughout the entire lesson. We're representing our, our instruction in, in multiple ways. And then students will be able, can be able to show what they know in different ways.

So this is not, so what this looks like is not every single student holding a pencil and a piece of paper when they're turning in an assignment, this may be students who need to do a verbal response, this may be students who are keyboarding their responses or using speech to text. So we're reaching all of stu-, all of our students is basically on what type of learner they are. So that, that really is when we think about that framework and that mindset we gonna reach all of our students and try to all ready be prepared for those barriers that


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come our way. And so this could be, uh, again, multiple ways that they can a- access the instruction. So that could be a digital format, um, paper, it even comes down to making sure that students seating and positioning is in a way that is, that they can be engaged and comfortable that day.

And even before that, when we think about that is just making sure that all the barriers before the instruction even starts, and that could be reaching those students who have sensory needs. So if students are in the classroom and they are getting, um, sensory support from the OTs, thinking of how we can transfer that from the classroom to the virtual, um, environment is equally as important. So setting them up for success on the all of the resources that they had in the classroom and making sure that's transferring to wherever they're learning. So again, I'm really big about UDL, Universal Design for Learning.

And so this is something new if you have more questions about that, please ask us because this is a way, um, again, I'm gonna keep talking about it because I think this is the core of everything, and this is how we're gonna support all of our learners is, um, like right now we're doing video for instruction. So we may show a video, we may have a paper document, we may have just a visual to be able to reach, um, all of our learners on whatever we're teaching them, asynchronously and synchronously.

Dr. Chapman: Thank you for your comments. I think you all provided a great overview to the conversation. And I would like to dig a little bit deeper and maybe talk about some digital tools or some, uh, practical instructional strategies that could allow teachers to really implement that Universal Design for Learning. So for example, um, if you're trying to support a student sensory abilities, what are some ways that you can do that if that student happens to be at home? Another question I have is thinking about digital tools. Um, what's a tool that might allow a student to speak their response or just having to type it?

Kelli Suding: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Dr. Marino: Sure. Well, so Microsoft Word has a, the ability with a microphone now to actually translate speech, um, to text. And th- and that's used in most districts, at least in the State of Florida. How about up in, um, where you are Kelli.

Kelli Suding: Oh yeah. A lot of schools do use that as well, Microsoft. Mm-mm (negative).

Dr. Marino: Right. And, and so the place that, that's a challenge I'm finding is with students who are still working on their handwriting skills. So-


Dr. Marino: ... we have standards in Florida where the students have to be, um, have to be competent with their handwriting skills and so they actually don't let them use those tools until they get to fifth grade, which I just learned this year-


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Kelli Suding: Wow!

Dr. Marino: Because my, my son who is in third grade this year was using that to construct all of his essays and he was doing very well on them. But then his teacher said, you need to hand-write these because you need to learn how to write by hand in order to pass the third grade assessment (laughs). It was quite interesting.

Kelli Suding: That is, and I may or may not be on the same page there. Uh-

Dr. Marino: I, I am not on the same page.

Kelli Suding: Okay. Uh, just beca-

Dr. Chapman: (laughs).

Kelli Suding: ... just because it really comes down about what are we actually testing, if we're testing handwriting and the ability to hand-write then that would be a fair assessment. But if we're testing about what the student actually is comprehending or what all of the great brilliant things they have in their mind and they're, they're really struggling to get that on paper, that would be something like using speech to text, using word prediction, using the keyboard, um, using, um, the, the, um, uh... What was the other thing? Oh, text to speech, then they can, they can gather all that information. So it's really comes down about what exactly we're testing. So making sure that those students have an equitable education so they're accessing the curriculum on the way that they learn best.

And so here in Indiana, we, so I cover, um, the, all the districts here are K through 12. And, um, so all of the schools use different devices, but the one thing that I always have, um, my fellow teachers dive into are the accessibility settings and the devices that they use. It's like, it's like an Easter egg-

Dr. Chapman: Yeah.

Kelli Suding: ... or it's this happy show when you get on an iPad and you go into the accessibility settings and you find that there's built-in dictation, there's built-in word prediction, there's built-in speak select where a student can just touch on the screen and start speaking those words. And then in the Chromebook the same way. So all of those different, um, built-in features are wonderful to try to use. And I wish that we could just say, go turn on accessibility settings. But when we're thinking about new tools and new accommodation, so our students can really show you what they know and really get to know our students they're all skills that need to be taught. So as we're talking and we, we will probably end up talking a lot about tools. So I just feel like I need to set the groundwork here-

Dr. Chapman: Okay.


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Kelli Suding: ... that we can't necessarily say, go forth and use this because students get frustrated and they get burned out because it's really their new skills that need to be taught. So if we're using speech to text, which means I'm speaking and the, my device is typing the text there's often a delay when we speak. And so some students are like, oh, that messes me up. I, I don't like this it doesn't work. So little tips like covering the screen with a piece of paper, have the student just speak and let it type, and then they can go back and make edits and, and, and hear what they wrote. So just keep in mind that every single tool means training.

Dr. Marino: And I would say that that training can occur through exploration. So you can start your, your lessons or, at the beginning of the school year by saying, hey, let's figure out what our computer or, or iPad can actually do for us. And have them go on, you know, a- a goose hunt, if you will, to find different goose egg hunt where you're looking for different goose eggs within the accessibility features. So they go into settings and each person is gonna bring back one thing that they thought was super cool that they found while they were on that exploration.

Kelli Suding: I love that so much. Yeah, definitely starting with preferred activities when we're teaching new tools can be the key to-

Dr. Marino: Yeah.

Kelli Suding: ... success. So I love how that's a, that's a super fun way to get that started.

Dr. Chapman: That sounds incredibly engaging. And I can just imagine the students going home knowing more about the cell phones than their parents-

Kelli Suding: (laughs).

Dr. Chapman: ... you know, all of the settings. So as you all have been working with practitioners, what are, how are teachers supporting students with the most significant cognitive delays, uh, disabilities virtually?

Kelli Suding: Yes. Um, so I'll just jump in here and Matt-

Dr. Marino: [crosstalk], please do, please do.

Kelli Suding: Just (laughs) just stop me if I start talking too much. So this has been one of, a big struggle that teachers here in Indiana and just all over. I noticed I'm very active on Twitter and, and working with a lot of teachers just, you know, during that virtual format. So this has been one of the, probably the most difficult things to figure out and we're all figuring out together. And there have been so many out-of-the-box ways with technology that we're figuring out. But again, like I mentioned earlier, it's really about what were the students being able to, what supports were they getting in the classroom? And if our students were,


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who needs higher supports more intense needs, who may, who are more susceptible to COVID and they cannot attend the classroom so now they're at home.

So it's with a lot of visuals, like lots and lots of visuals, a big thing is about making sure that they still have a consistent schedule. So the visual schedules in a way that they had in the classroom and versus virtual, but even in, in the classroom visuals can make a world of difference. So that student knows what the expectations are and what the changes are. And that could be done in multiple ways, um, digitally with, um, a Google Doc, Google Forms, um, a calendar, even just on, on paper with the dry erase, uh, board and marker whatever we can use to make sure that we're consistent so that students know what those expectations are. And again, those, the sensory needs that are being met.

So this is really a, not a time for us to not use our OT services, but it's really a time to m- embrace our OTs and ask them and, and working with parents about what, what can I do with my student. And there's tons of ways that we can me- meet those needs just with a lot of things that students have around their home, that we can really go back and start MacGyvering things, which I'm sure we all have (laughs) to, to-

Dr. Marino: Yeah. You know, I would add to that, that, um, we really need to consider that parents are exhausted at this point, right?

Dr. Chapman: Yeah.

Dr. Marino: Especially parents who are working or if they're lucky enough to be able to work from home. And if you think about the added work that having a student with a significant cognitive disability adds to their lives, it's important that whatever we do is not an add on it's something that they can do easily and seamlessly supports them. And so I agree with, with everything that you're saying about communication, having that be open, um, but just having visual schedules around the house I think is also very helpful for students like that. So, you know, you get up at this time and then this is followed by breakfast, and then you brush your teeth and we're gonna start work-


Dr. Marino: ... at this time. Having that type of continuity within the student's day is, and for the parents sanity is very important.

Kelli Suding: No, that's right Matt, and just kind of, uh, building upon that the parent coaching is so, so important, right? And even making sure that our students are getting breaks when they're at home doing the virtual learning, sometimes that's-


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Dr. Chapman: Right.

Kelli Suding: ... forgotten because as a parent we think we have to get it done right now, but just coaching them and talking about how much breaks are so important as well.

Dr. Chapman: I love that we'll be able to share this with educators as well as parents. So there's some really great nuggets. So thinking about, you know, all that students have to do and varying levels of parents support that they may have at home, how can teachers hold students accountable for turning in work, especially when they're working remotely?

Dr. Marino: Yeah. You know, that's something that we've been asked several times. And I think that as a teacher what you need to do is make sure that you can see when the assignment has been submitted. And it's a good idea to have the students submit it before they leave. So once they go out of the classroom they forget about it, it never gets turned in. If you can say, okay, I see that 15 of you have turned it in and you, you, and you have not please turn it in now and confirm that with them, at least, you know, it's been submitted, Kelli.

Kelli Suding: Yeah. I think it's gonna be different across every, every school district for sure. I know here in Indiana that a lot of our students don't have access to technology and they're, they're trying to do the remote learning so they've had packets sent home. So the students are working on those packets and then dropping them off with the bus drivers that come by. So whatever it takes or parents are just taking pictures of what the students, um, activities that they have been doing, or it could be, um, the work, if they're remote learning, especially with our students with more intense needs that, um, it could be just a video of what they're doing or, a, not necessarily, um, we need to have high expectations for all of our students. So it's not the expectations if our students are working virtually, but continuing with those high expectations.

But this can also be if, uh, if, if a lot of work is being sent home like math, it may not be doing that math packet, but pulling out, um, that actual goal that's ma- made in that packet and that may be looked differently. That may be more hands-on working at home whether it's using rocks from the driveway to count or it's, is turning your, your windows into whiteboard by putting white paper behind it. So now the student is, is standing up and getting that, that blood flowing and kind of more engaging their brain or we're getting that big movement when we're doing that for them to do their assignments and then pictures taken. So it really is gonna be a lot different. But, um, again, with that parent coaching for taking pictures could be a way a lot of students can't just, um, turn in things on the learning management system if they're virtually learning.

So we really have to think out of the box, how can I ensure that my students are, um, doing the work at the best that they can? And how can I, um, look at that differently versus what's going on inside the classroom?


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Dr. Marino: Right. And, and in Florida, what we're doing is we're using, uh, the teachers are using discussion-based assessments. So after students go through, uh, two or three modules they've taken tests online, but then what happens is they have to get on the phone with their teacher and the teacher will ask them some very high level conceptual questions about what the tests were just to ensure that there's redundancy in the assessment that we're giving. So it's not one modality. It's going back to the UDL piece you are talking about Kelli, where you, you have multiple types of assessments that actually keep students engaged in their learning.

Dr. Chapman: Speaking of engagement, right? You led right into my next question.


Dr. Chapman: So we know that student engagement can be cognitive, it's emotional, it is behavioral. How can teachers ensure that, um, there's engagement throughout the lesson, throughout the whole lesson not just at the beginning and how can they, um, assess this engagement from students given that they're not, you know, right there with them to observe, you know, all of the actions and behaviors, and to have that discourse that they would have during or face-to-face instruction.

Dr. Marino: You want to start Kelli this time?

Kelli Suding: Oh, sure (laughs). I can do that. So engagement is really the biggest piece, right? If our students are not engaged, it is not meaningful and it's not relevant to them, they are gonna check out no matter what grade level, at what ability, um, what they have. So it's about engagement. So-

Dr. Chapman: Yeah.

Kelli Suding: ... engagement does not mean entertainment. So those are two very different things. So when we're engaging our students we're doing things that are meaningful and relevant to them and they understand why they're doing it. So we're not just giving them busy work, right? And so even starting that for engagement we just have to make sure that all of our materials are accessible for students. So if we have a student who, with dyslexia who needs their formats in an audio format because they're auditory readers, which means they read with their ears, then they're gonna be engaged because now they have that accommodation. So they can be independent and they're learning. Not having to wait around for, um, mom or dad or guardian to read everything for them or if they're in the classroom, the teacher.

So the, one of the biggest pieces for engagement is just making sure that our instruction is accessible and there are tons and tons of different free ways that you can make your instruction accessible. Whether if a student has a piece of paper, how can they quickly have that text spoken to them? So there's tons of


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different ways that that can happen. So it comes down to accessibility and, um, independence, that's a big thing. If our students are independent this is where we often see behaviors happen. So it's much easier for students to check out than say, I cannot read the directions to this math test, because my comprehension level is a grade level, but my independent reading level is way below grade level. They're never going to say that probably. And oftentimes they don't even, they can't express that because they're not really sure what type of learner they are.

So these are students who are not feeling very smart because they don't have those accommodations in hand, so we're not. Again, accessible instruction and there's ways to make sure that all our instruction, our instruction is accessible. And then again, offering those multiple ways that we're representing our materials, offering ways that there would be able to show you what they know, and then being able to interact and engage with instruction. Because again, if students cannot access the text they are gonna completely disengaged and again, we're gonna see those behaviors.

So again, independence, how can our students be independent? If they can comprehend at grade level they should have access to grade level curriculum. So this is not a time that we lower those expectations because all we have is higher level instruction. And, and so our students, who's like a sophomore in high school who can comprehend at a sophomore grade, but they're independent reading level is first grade, these are not students who should be going to the library getting first grade reading materials. This is when we offer them the appropriate accommodation which could be a specialized format of audio. So now all of their formats and audio.

Dr. Marino: Uh, I would agree with that. And having compensatory assistive technology is extremely important for those kids. The other piece that I wanna add to that Kelli, is that when we're providing instruction and engaging students we really need them to have personal buy-in. And so at the outset of the lesson you've got to get the kid to think, what impact does this actually have on my life and make it personally relevant to them. Because once you do that, then they understand the purpose in the learning. But if they don't have that opportunity to personally engage with the material that's when we lose the kids.

Kelli Suding: Yes. I love that, student voice being student centered-

Dr. Chapman: Yes.

Kelli Suding: Again, keep saying, this is the key, this is the key, I guess there's lots of keys, but this is a big key, student voice. And even just stepping back and saying, how would you like to do this?

Dr. Marino: Exactly.


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Kelli Suding: Can make a huge game changer, that could be a huge game changer.

Dr. Marino: Agree.

Dr. Chapman: So Matt, I'm gonna throw this, uh, next question to you.

Dr. Marino: Okay.

Dr. Chapman: Considering the [crosstalk]-

Dr. Marino: [crosstalk].

Dr. Chapman: (laughs) considering we talks about, you know, you supporting, uh, Universal Design for Learning with PBS kids. How can we effectively assess students with game-based learning?

Dr. Marino: Oh, I love this question. Thank you so much for asking it.



Dr. Marino: I, I, I spent-

Kelli Suding: [crosstalk] everybody.

Dr. Marino: ... I spent several years actually studying this. Um, and, and so let me give you kind of the primmer to where I'm at now. Back in Washington State when I was a, a young professor out there, I had a three-year project where I went out and I studied game-based learning across 20 different states. And we looked at, um, about 4,000 students who were middle school kids. And what we did was we built a series of video games that corresponded to the materials they were learning in their science classroom. And so they had their materials that they read and it was your very traditional textbook, followed by worksheet, followed by test, which I find to be incredibly boring which is why I wanted to build games about them. Um, and we compared the analysis of the games we had built and the student learning. And what we found was as the kids played through the video games, they were demonstrating their conceptual understanding of concepts like bacteria and viruses.

But on the paper and pencil test that knowledge was not reflected, because they were struggling with the text. And so they were taking these 20 item multiple choice tests and doing, it, we gave them a pre and a post-test. They were doing this very similar. So they would all increase in their performance after they worked through the paper and pencil materials, but they, their performance wasn't nearly accurate when we compared it to the games, right? So they had to actually play through and complete the game successfully. And


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that told us that they had conceptual understanding of the topics, but that was not reflected in paper and pencil tests. So the point I'm making is, that games are actually more accurate for measuring students knowledge and skills than the traditional assessments are.

Dr. Chapman: Wow.

Kelli Suding: Yeah. And if I could pick, I love everything about that. Um, if I can just piggyback off of that, I was, um, we were, I was talking with some colleagues and, and, and some teachers and they said, "Well, all I do is want to play games." And I was like, and we were thinking, well, students can be so engaged for a very long time when they're playing a game, right? For a very long time. But then in the classroom they say, but then they're not engaged they, you know, what, it looks like they don't wanna do the work but we know that there's other things going on. So I asked a student, I was like, have, we should just ask.

So I asked a student with, uh, dyslexia and the student's self-esteem was very, very low but he loved to play games. And I said, "Hey, tell me about games. What, what do you love games so much what, so much." So he was telling me about how fun they are and all of that. But, but then as I kept asking him the questions, that one thing that he really hit home with me he said, "Well, I really like playing this game because it's not just focusing on one strength of mine, is focusing on all of these strengths. So no one's looking at me saying, you need to read this, you need to try harder." Because it's not just focusing on that one strength he can get to the goal are using all of his strengths to get there. And so when he was in a classroom he just, he just felt like he could not do anything because reading was his barrier and he wasn't offered different ways to, that were accessible to him. So that's when he would disengage.

So I love that, it was a huge eye-opener. And I think as educators if we really take that and think about, how can we really bring all the strengths and every lesson of all of our students so they can truly show you who they are and what they know. So if I am not testing handwriting by goodness, my students will use speech to text because that's how I'm really gonna, for them to show what they know.

Dr. Marino: Can I just tell you what my, my current most favorite game is?

Dr. Chapman: Please.

Dr. Marino: It will, so a high school level I've been playing this game called TerraGenesis and it's a game about the colonization of Mars. It was developed in cooperation with NASA. And so everything that's in it is, um, is actually based on science. And you can go in and you colonize this planet. It takes several days to play through. So it's not something you would play through in a lesson, but if you were doing a unit it would be a great ancillary tool to use. And it would also you, um, an


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assessment of students problem solving abilities and all of these other concepts that all fall under science. So TerraGenesis, check it out if you haven't seen it.

Dr. Chapman: Oh, I hope our educators do. Um, a question from a viewer. How do you see virtual reality and mixed reality changing access and engagement in education?

Dr. Marino: It's gonna be a [crosstalk]-

Dr. Chapman: You love that one too (laughs).

Dr. Marino: [crosstalk]. We're putting, we're putting a lot of research into that right now. Virtual reality is amazing. The military has been using it for years as a training tool. It allows for fully immersive environments so for example, um, I actually have the NASA space station on my virtual reality and I can put it on. I happen to live three miles from NASA and so I had an engineer from NASA who worked on the space shuttle come down here and, and, or the International Space Station, I mean, come down here, he put on the headset and was amazed at the, how real the, um, the feeling is when you're in that environment. So I see that as being the next thing.

Kelli Suding: Yeah. And it's also a great opportunity, um, for students with intense needs who perhaps cannot go on those field trips. I know we're not going on field trips now or students who just are not getting out now to be able to explore places they never could with virtual reality. And it's so easy now as an educator by using Google Earth to create your own virtual reality thing. The only one thing downside for virtual reality for me is that it's not accessible for those students who have blindness or low vision. So if you are creating anything that has with virtual reality is making sure that you have voiceover and every in, in descriptions of every image that they're seeing. So every piece of navigation should have points that are accessible for those students. So they can have equally, uh, participate with virtual reality. And I love, um, augmented real- augmented, augmented reality as well. So that's using, um, your actual space and bringing in things that are virtual, right Matt? So-

Dr. Marino: Yeah. Yeah. The- so, it's like you can overlay the, the actual reality with virtual tools Kelli.

Kelli Suding: Yeah. So I could have like a little monkey sitting on my shoulder sort of like those Snapchat filters when you can add things on you, that would be like more AR. But I love if you are a primary educator, actually if you are any educator, because even high school kids love this. So don't let them tell you they don't because they do, it's this app called Catchy Words, C-A-T-C-H-Y and it's for iOS devices. So what it does is it, um, you put in s- different words, like just say like a long spelling word, you type that in. And then it goes into this bubble. So then once the student holds up their iPad, they have to walk to the bubble that's in their world and then they have to tap it with their iPad and then all the letters


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explode. And then the students have to walk around to find those letters and put them into place.

So we're getting movement in, we're getting a really engaging way to practice spelling. Even if your high school student is still really fun because they fly all over the place and we're walking, of course, we have to be safe. We have to be safe friends. We're gonna do it in a-


Kelli Suding: ... an area governed, we're not running into each other. Um, so Catchy Words is just one AR that I love. And there's another one called Moment that works on behavior. It's social, emotional learning, and I love it and it's free and it will have like an angry guy pop up out of nowhere on the table. And he's doing things that are very angry and it's really good conversation starters to have with students. There's a sad guy, a happy guy, uh, sharing, and they can be in any space at all. So that app is called Moment. If in fact, you need to work on any kind of social narrative, social stories with your students.

Dr. Chapman: I love the apps you shared. I think our, our viewers are gonna find those incredibly helpful. Um, I wanna take a minute to bring our other panelists into the broadcast. Dr. Lisa Dieker, hi, welcome.

Dr. Lisa Dieker: Thanks. Thanks for having me-

Dr. Marino: Glad to have you too here.

Dr. Chapman: Thank you.

Dr. Lisa Dieker: Perfect timing. ARVR, my favorite world.

Dr. Marino: (laughs).

Dr. Chapman: Yeah. That's what I was thinking. So I wanna read, um, and it, just introduce you to our viewers real quick, and then have you circle back and answer the question that we just asked because I think-

Dr. Lisa Dieker: It's okay.

Dr. Chapman: ... like you said, it's gonna be right up your alley. So Dr. Lisa Dieker is a Pegasus professor and Lockheed Martin Eminent Scholar at UCF. Her primary area of research focuses on collaboration between general and special education with a specific interest in the unique opportunities that exist for students with disabilities in STEM areas, in urban and rural settings. She also has a passion for how technology and simulators can be used to impact teacher preparation and student learning-


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Dr. Lisa Dieker: I know.

Dr. Chapman: So I will read the question that, um, we just responded to-

Dr. Lisa Dieker: Yeah.

Dr. Chapman: ... and get your input. [crosstalk]-

Dr. Lisa Dieker: I was listening to my, to my colleague at the same time, so I didn't hear-

Dr. Chapman: (laughs) so you're ready.

Dr. Lisa Dieker: Yeah.

Dr. Chapman: So let's start, how do you see virtual reality and mixed reality changing access and engagement in education?

Dr. Lisa Dieker: Yeah. So one of the things that I've had the privilege of developing at UCF is something called TeachLivE which is mixed-reality. And it was way before it was cool. And this is just a quick laugh for the, for the audience is, um, when we first created it, I would call deans and I'd say, hey, we've got this really cool thing where you can train teachers and kids with avatars. And they're like, "Can you spell that?"


Dr. Lisa Dieker: Like ava what? Ava, and I'm like, and then the movie avatar came out and they kept saying, are your characters blue?

Dr. Chapman: Yeah (laughs).

Dr. Lisa Dieker: So those people don't know what mixed reality is, if you've seen the movie Avatar and the guy inhabits a virtual character that's when it's mixed, it's part real and part human. And so, so I think that what we will see in our lifetime, and it's gonna disrupt the spaces, we're gonna start to have, we now have voices to cleanse and Google and all that. We're gonna have, we're gonna have AI assistants, we're gonna have mixed reality assistance. Pokemon go was the big phenomenon for a while, that's definitely the best example most people know, but I think the other thing we're gonna find is this good, beautiful intersection between human and technology. I think this pandemic allowed us to see the benefits and some of the evils of technology, like not being able to hug and touch. Um, AI is so far away from that, that hugging and touching needs to come back really fast in the human sphere.

So I think we're gonna see this new blend, but I think we're gonna learn just like anything when you eat too much cake and your blood pressure and the cholesterol is too high, you find you have to mediate it. I think we're gonna find


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the same thing with technology. It's gonna be a part of our life, but I don't think it can take over. My favou-

Dr. Chapman: [crosstalk] avatar.

Dr. Lisa Dieker: Yeah. And my favorite, my favorite, before I forget website 'cause I heard you all saying it's Discovery VR. If you haven't been on, they've really pledged a lots of money and they're like two minute segments. And it's one of those things because you, you gave my bio of rural and urban. I worry about kids not getting to go to [Monte P two], um, and not getting to go to Egypt and through Discovery VR, they now have put it all out, uh, on the web so that it's also closed caption. So at least our friends can hear what's going on, our friends can see and then if you didn't know, you can buy like 100 of those plastic, uh, disposable, uh, goggles for VR for, for like a dollar or 80. And so thinking about putting some iPads in the classroom and kids taking field trips in ways that we know they're never gonna maybe be able to do in their life. Um, especially with right now, the pandemic could really change our learning scheme. But that's why I love Discovery VR.

Dr. Chapman: That is excellent. And that's something that I really thought about, um, in preparing for this conversation is that we know our audience will represent educators from rural, suburban and suburban schools each, uh, having a different local context. So let's consider educators who work in communities that experience economic disinvestment or limited access to resources such as food, internet, transportation, and other social conditions that challenge students opportunities to learn. So how do the ideas that you all have shared during our conversation tonight, how do they speak to those rural and urban communities, educators in those communities?

Dr. Marino: I- it certainly is a challenge.

Kelli Suding: It is a challenge and there are multiple ways to again, engage our students if, if that in fact is the case which, you know, we have a lot of students who come into class with a lot of trauma in their background. And so if our students are at home when they're not in a classroom now, that is just a real thing happening. So how we engage those students who, who are having those struggles. So, um, even if our students are at home there are so many ways. Um, in one, one of the biggest things, if a student even has a television at home, I think one of the most underused accommodation to improve literacy skills is closed captions.

I wish we had our captions on now. Unfortunately we do not, um, be- because of unforeseen happenings, but, um, right now I would love to have our, our captioning on because that's gonna improve, comprehension is gonna improve, um, um, comprehension and literacy skills, the vocabulary. And it's also gonna be considered time spent reading. So one of the greatest predictors of reading growth is time spent reading and that's having our captions on. So if we can have families turn those captures on, on television at home, that can be


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considered time spent reading because even though if I'm at a hotel on the treadmill or in the airport, the captions are on and I don't necessarily need them, but I'm still reading them at the same time. So then they're getting that auditory feedback, plus the visual part to be able to have better comprehension.

Especially if we have students with auditory processing disorder, who really the sounds are coming from, we're not really sure. So this looks like a student with ADHD perhaps, or with, with true auditory processing is having those captures on is gonna be very beneficial. And then just using things around home. Like even if it's primary grades that could be like pulling out grass and counting the grass or making letters with the grass, we're gonna be working on those fine motor skills, taking objects around the house and tracing them on a piece of paper. And then students have to walk around the house and find things that match that drawing. Going out and finding rocks and having, um, uh, trace the rocks. So then, and then they're in a, they're in a bucket. So that day students can get those rocks and find what matches those shapes.

There's tons of ways, uh, to engage our students who perhaps don't have that technology, maybe they don't have electricity even. Um, that's, that's really a difficult thing. And it could be using your junk mail, using, uh, newspaper clippings, using anything you can to cut out words or having the students cut out those words. So then they can make sentence, uh, sentences, or if they struggle with writing they can do a whole paragraph with cut out magazine clippings with words or letters. And again, we're working on those fine motor skills at the same time. So it's just really thinking about what we could use us in their environment if they don't really have that connection. Again, this counts with parent coaching, um, that they can still be engaged in learning, but just in a different way.

We're working on goals, but this is gonna be looking a little bit different. It's not gonna be on the computer necessarily, but it's just gonna be more hands on things that's around the house. I don't know if I answered that question because I got on a soapbox, which I do, and I'm very passionate about those students-

Dr. Lisa Dieker: (laughs).

Kelli Suding: ... all students, but, uh, my heart just breaks especially myself coming from a rural community that, um, I've got a lot of students who still, you know, have food deficits and, um, a lot of trauma in their background. So how can we continue to reach out to them?

Dr. Chapman: No, I think parents and educators will appreciate the practical examples that you gave. I do have one question about it, is there a time that's too early? So I, I heard you mentioned about the closed captioning. When should parents start that?

Kelli Suding: Now.


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Dr. Lisa Dieker: I don't think it's too early, ever.

Dr. Chapman: Never too early.

Kelli Suding: No, never. And if you, okay, friends, educators, if you are looking for captioning when you're in the classroom have captions on all of the time. So this is so simple to do even in, um, and if you are in Google you can use it. Google slides, it's free, they're built-in. So if you're using a smart board or projector on a whiteboard just have a blank, um, Google Slide up and it just can have captions going the whole time. So everything you're saying is going to be coming on your screen. There's also one called Web Captioner that we'll just continue to do live captions for you in class all day. If you're doing online, learning, use those slides and turn on the captions for sure.

And then I think Matt mentioned earlier about Microsoft. Microsoft translate we'll do the same thing, but it, it does live captions but it also translates in different languages which is a game changer for our stude- our ELL students. So there are ways. And so if you're creating videos, turn on the captions, um, upload them in YouTube and put captions on. Use the app, the free app on iOS called Apple Clips. It does live captioning. So it's really easy to do and use those videos for your students. Early, it doesn't matter start it early.

Dr. Lisa Dieker: (laughs) and I was just gonna answer the question with keep it simple. The simpler the technology the better options you for your kids of poverty to have access. And, and I'll give you a real example. I had the privilege of teaching, we have a 100 title 1 teachers in the Lockheed Martin Academy right now and I had a class with them when COVID hit. And I said to them, "You know, we're pivoting right now, whatever we were gonna talk about, we're gonna talk about is how to help you." And the one thing that came back as the two tools they kept using over and over and believe it or not as Google classroom, go- a ClassDojo, I'm sorry, ClassDojo because they could send parents messages and they taught their parents how to use Google Translate. So again, very low and they said, "We learned to write really simple text messaging to the families, then they could use the Google Translate." Yes, it's not perfect, but it allowed them to look.

So I think we often go for what's the bells and whistles that are fancy. And yet what I would recommend is the lowest denominator is really, really important for our kids with very limited bandwidth and access.

Dr. Marino: And I would add that it's getting better, right? So w- we know that once we have the Starlink satellites system up there, North America is going to be able to connect to the internet. Um, and that is scheduled, they're supposed to be using the beta version of that in the beginning of next year. So it's, it's close. And hopefully that will be available at a, um, at a price that people can, can afford to join.


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Kelli Suding: Yeah. So a lot of our families cannot afford the internet even if they have access. So just reach out to your communities there. I know in my community and in Indiana general there's a lot of grants, there's a lot of, um, wifi places that are donating hotspots for students, we have hotspots on top of buses that are parked in different areas in our community, so students can still access the internet. So, um, we just have to be mindful that even though we may have access, uh, to internet our families can't afford it.

Dr. Chapman: Thank you.

Dr. Marino: Absolutely.

Dr. Chapman: Considering our topic, um, engagement through technology. What is, um, maybe something you thought we would talk about that I didn't bring up or something that's just like a burning, you know, something that's burning in your brain that you just really wanna share around the topic?

Kelli Suding: Um, well, I guess I'll start. Is, but now I forget what I was gonna say, what was burning. Um, just that, um, using what the students all ready used. So making sure that the technology is usable to them. So if they're really, if they're at home and they're, what's comfortable to them is their, their phone, then just allow them to be able to use the device that's usable and most comfortable to them. And again, everything is just about teaching those skills. I know I all ready said that earlier and I forgot what I was gonna say. So now I'm going to just slide it over to Matt, and then you can circle back to me-

Dr. Marino: (laughs).

Kelli Suding: Was that, was that good or what (laughs)?

Dr. Marino: I, I would say you need to make sure that you're having fun with your children. The, um, level of stress in our society right now is incredibly high as all of us now. And kids are looking to have a good time, forget about all of the bad stuff that's happening and trying to learn. And in order to do that, they need to enjoy it. So that would be my burning take home is make learning fun for the kids.

Dr. Lisa Dieker: Yeah. And my, my mine is a mantra that, uh, actually I love my, my friends at UCP actually made T-shirts from this, but, uh, you know, my mantra has been, keep calm and teach on, you know. We, I think we, we, what I really wanna remind teachers out there is your main thing. You know, how to teach, technology is just a tool. And what I think we made the mistake is whichever way you pivoted. And I work across several states and I love that state has all kids with disabilities and this group's coming eight days and this three days, and some are coming in the morning and then some of the afternoon, but it doesn't really matter. You all ready know how to teach. So take a deep breath as Matt said, and think clearly about what you want kids to do. And no matter which


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way you're serving them keep it consistent, keep it engaged and keep it with choice.

And if you do that, you know, if you always turn homework in, in a red folder in your classroom, then put a red folder out on Google Classroom or whatever you're using. If you have kids start with silence and meditation do that online. I, I think the mistake we've made is we've tried to make them different worlds. And it's that seamlessness between worlds that is really good for all kids, but especially good for kids with disabilities.

Kelli Suding: I love that. The consistency from using the red folder. So that just brings me back. I can't believe we haven't brought up executive functioning skills. So if we went to virtual learning and we're used to being in the classroom, we use that red folder for math, we have to make sure that we teach our students how to organize their online materials. So if they are, have a locker or a desk, that is which I'm sure none of your students ever lose anything, but I will say that mine have. So let's just say that your students are not very organized and they lose things all the time. Just think about what their, their computer, their Chromebook, their iPad looks like when it comes to organizing materials and just trying to find things.

So even taking that time to, if you have students who aren't turning in many things, it could just because they can't find it, like it's done they just don't know where it's at. So I know like if you are, so when you are, uh, they're setting up folders. Teaching them how to set up folders, for instance, like in Google Chrome they can set up folders, but you can change the color of that folder to red. So if they're used to using a red folder for math, their, on their Google Drive that folder is also red. And also in Google Drive or when you're, actually when you're saving anything online, you can also put little, uh, emojis or icons on the actual name. So if you have math go to an emoji website, copy and paste that, and then you're gonna paste it right next to that folder that may have a plus and minus sign.

Or the music folder find a music note and, and put that in the folder name as well. So it would have like a music note, a blue folder for music and is gonna save music. So now students have that visual as they would in class. Those, if you have students who really rely on those visuals in class, again, how can we transfer that from the classroom to a digital world? And if our students struggle with the executive functioning of organization is gonna be a nightmare for them. So taking time to teach those skills is really going to save you a lot of time and make them more independent and consistent on what they're actually turning in.

Dr. Marino: That's a great point, Kelli. I actually I'm, I'm doing that with my two children who are being schooled at home right now. They have their folders on their desktop each one for different subject area and then they have colored post-it sticky notes with what's due on Friday this week. And they have to go through and


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check those off, but it all gets back to executive function, which is exactly what you're talking about.

Dr. Lisa Dieker: And, and, you know, I'm gonna just share. I use my own teachers, I use my own Google, um, uh, Home or Alexa to even keep me on task-

Dr. Chapman: Awesome.

Dr. Lisa Dieker: So think about how you could use that. You know, when I feel like I just can't grade one more paper, I set it, you know, set the timer for 10 minutes. It was like, okay, now I can go eat some ice cream or I can go for a walk or whatever. But again, I think we all struggle with this lack of some, I don't know about you, but I get up and go, is it Tuesday or Friday?


Dr. Lisa Dieker: Because we've not left in our routine. So do you think about that for your students? How could you set, you know, something like an Alexa in your classroom, in your home to go off every 10 minutes and have people self monitor, you know, was I doing these three things when the Alexa said, how are you doi- you know, time's up. And, and because like, were you looking at your screen, were you, again, or if you're in the classroom, because you can't socially go over to the student, are you sitting in your desk? Are you looking at your material? Are you, you know, putting, doing what you want to? And I think it's those simple kinds of things that, again, really make a big difference.

Kelli Suding: Absolutely. That whole self-regulation, the students need to be able to self regulate. So there are things like, um, this extension for Google Chrome called Move It. And so once that is turned on, uh, every, whatever amount of time you set it up, it could be every 10 minutes. So once it pops up, the movement, uh, the movement app actually kind of... Excuse me, takes over your screen. And it may say, okay, do, um, 10 armed pushups. So the students like doing this on their desks. So now they're re-engaging so once they're done, they get done. So it's, it's helped them. So we're not saying, hey, it's time for a break. They're able to self regulate themselves by using that extension called movement, uh, Move It.

And then there is a timer app, uh, extension that will... It's called, it's not time timer I think it's just called Timer. But it's like this green clock that pops up on the top, right of their, their, um, their Chromebook. And it follows them around so they can set it for every 10 minutes or 15 minutes for the next transition to the next class. So, um, so students can self regulate themselves, which is really important.

Dr. Chapman: Thank you all so much as we, uh, near the close of our discussion, I just wanna thank our panelists for your time and expertise. You provided so many, uh, practical things that I think that teachers and parents can start tonight or, or


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even tomorrow. So thank you all so much for being here with us. I also wanna thank our viewers for participating and submitting your questions. If we, uh, weren't able to address your question or you have developed another question while listening to the discussion feel free to send it to [email protected] and we will do our best to, um, answer that question for you. Also, please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and feel free to submit your questions there as well.

And my last ask is that you join us next week for accessibility in an online environment. We'll be broadcasting live again on YouTube and Facebook. So submit a question, engage in the conversation. Um, thank you again and have a great evening, everyone.

Dr. Lisa Dieker: Thank you.

Kelli Suding: Bye everyone.

Dr. Marino: Thank you Deshawn.

Dr. Chapman: Bye.


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