Tips for creating inclusive learning environments
The irony for me is that when an educational environment is inclusive we are not focusing on inclusion – we simply move in a way that suits difference. Everyone is different, some of us just stick out more than others!
Engagment
So you make your material accessible in all 4 learning styles
Move differentially every 10 minutes
switch it up and you will keep people engaged for hours – even those with severe visual stress.
change the focus within visuals,
auditory, practical and kinesthetic skills
Engaging with Zoom Chat comes at a cost – don’t assume everyone can read – it’s scrolling and bombarding and distracting!
You don’t want to make mistakes and be judged.
To record information or find
information in the chat means you have to disengage from all other activities and miss everything else happening at that moment.
Anyone with learning challenges will fear having their work corrected by others
– they hate showing their handwriting to others. Do not have students correct each other’s work
– you can all correct the ‘teachers’ work
Do not introduce the idea of unmuting because the chat is not accessible –
anyone can unmute if it is their
preferred way to express themselves –
it’s not about what you can’t do but how you prefer to express yourself.
How you present is fundamental to the material being accessible.
Use colour, space, shapes to denote ideas
Fonts:
Don’t ever use Times New Roman Font – or similar font.
Use double spacing
Don’t use white backgrounds
Avoid Italics – robotic fonts
Try not to have words separate out on next line of text (I’ve had to go through this and put words on the next line)
The use of comic or storyboards take people to childhood and naturally more creativity.
Resources:
Your font choice determines if anyone can engage.
Not everyone likes Dyslexia fonts but I use it for all my own work so I can read better, faster and more accurately.
Use sans serif fonts, such as Comic Sans, as letters can appear less crowded. Alternatives include Verdana, Tahoma, Century Gothic, Trebuchet, Calibri, Open Sans
It’s about space around the letters and a short sentence structure.
I use columns for this reason.
I use Grammarly for everything and the new desktop app even works in Zoom chat!
I have a difference in print material and screen material.
I have made the images a white
background here so you can pull them off and print the information. I have used a template to keep ideas contained.
I use a dark background for all
on-screen shares.
Screen shares are about visuals, videos, engagement in sounds and images
Benchmarks or expectations to a task – a list of instructions for those who can’t take these in an auditory way – so they should be presented as steps (see templates below)
They are fundamentally not about recording details – books – research – anything that requires you to write it out – this is why we have
shared spaces for information!
The screen is to engage in NOW nothing else
The same applies to the board and whiteboard in the classroom or lecture room.
If you make people move in a more childlike way they will naturally have more creativity and leave down fears from learning challenges or radicalisation.
The point in time where it was great to be different and think differently – have FUN!
Template examples:
I make all my templates using
http://tentouchapps.com/grafio/
Template ideas:
