CIDDL’s mission is to increase the capacity of higher education faculty to use state-of-the-art technologies coupled with sound instructional design in personnel preparation programs for special education, early intervention, and related services. But, what supports do stakeholders need? In order to determine the needs of the populations we serve, CIDDL conducted a Needs Assessment.
As technology continues to shape the world we live in, its integration into the education sector has become a powerful tool for enhancing learning experiences. One of the most promising advancements is Artificial Intelligence (AI). With the start of a new school year, teachers have a unique opportunity to leverage AI to create engaging, personalized, and efficient learning environments for their students. In this blog, we will explore some innovative ways teachers can embrace AI at the beginning of the school year and reap its benefits.
Dr. Basham shares the exciting innovations on the horizon of education, including personalized learning, design thinking, UDL, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). He shares how to bring these concepts into personnel preparation programs and how teaching future educators and related service personnel to think in this way will lead to supporting all students, with or without disabilities.
Artificial Intelligence (AI). It seems to be everything we are talking about, not only at CIDDL, but in education and the world as a whole. There is more to AI, though, than ChatGPT. As we’ve noted in other blogs, AI has been integrated into several technologies that we regularly use and have used for years. Supports like Grammarly and Alexa or Siri, integrate AI into their systems to predict what you might want. But, how does one find AI supports outside of Google’s Bard and other explicit language models?
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a powerful framework that emphasizes the importance of empowering students to be the owners and leaders of their learning. UDL leads us to ask what are students needing from higher education institutions to help them reach their goals? The Student Voice survey study from Inside Higher Education and College Pulse has given us new insight into what students are asking for, and what role UDL can play in helping all students succeed in their postsecondary careers. The study received responses from 3,004 responses from students at 128 two- and four-year institutions of higher education. Students from around the world are clearly asking for what UDL has been recommending for years!
A question that has been on a lot of our minds is “How does AI fit into the IEPs?” The conversations around accommodation, modification, cheating, or universal support are plentiful and, just like all things related to special education and IEPs, there is no “one size fits all” answer. To tackle this question, we are going to break down how one might use AI and offer various ways to classify it.
Summer is here. It’s a time students (both K-12 and college), teachers, and teacher-educators relax, rewind, and re-energize. And, mixed in with that re-ing is excitement for the future. Whether you dream of the back-to-school sales with aisles filled with the prettiest pens and folders or the first day of classes when everything is shiny and new, at least part of summer is spent in anticipation for the coming year. In this CIDDList, we will share some must-have items to take with you on vacation to allow you to do the re-ing and the prepping!
Hot off the presses is Apple’s announcement of their new AR/VR/XR headset, “Apple Vision Pro Glasses”. Like anything Apple, it is not only aesthetically pleasing, but technologically advanced. This is Apple’s first spatial operating system which is said to be intuitive and magical. From the released images, it is apparent that Temple Grandin was right when she said that Apple designs with beauty and simplicity in mind in her newest book, Visual Thinking. But don’t get in line quite yet. The device will not be available to purchase until early next year.
The US Department of Educational Technology released its much-awaited report on how AI will impact teaching and learning. The report recognizes that many educators are already using AI-powered tools in their classrooms (like Grammarly and Canva) and that educators and students have been experimenting with AI-powered chatbots (like ChatGPT). The report sets out to provide a starting point to explore how AI can be leveraged to support teachers and students. The authors also recognize that AI is a complex topic and that they cannot answer all questions or resolve all issues within the report.