EDDL 5111 Assignment 2A: Draft Unit Plan

Feedback for Kate-Nicole’s Draft Unit Plan
Overview
Hi Kate-Nicola. Thank you for sharing your Unit Plan with me. I was excited to read it, as I did student teach a unit on genocide several years ago, and found the material very challenging. I was excited right away to see how you would incorporate technology in this unit. I really liked how you considered presenting the unit with both synchronous and asynchronous possibilities.
The Learning Outcome is Supported by the Learning Activity
I would suggest a clearly written list of unit learning outcomes (these might even come directly from the curriculum?) in order to take some of the guess work out. In the Design section, you write “Introduction to the concept and desired outcome of the unit would be stated clearly in digital, verbal and print formats”, but it is unclear to me what you take to be the exact desired outcomes of the unit. If I am understand this, it would likely include gaining an understanding of genocide, but this remains vague and further illustration of the exact desired outcomes would improve your unit plan.
The Learning Technology and Activity Align with UDL
In the Analysis section, you write “Reliable internet (especially outside of school) and access to technology other than a cell phone are issues that can impact a student’s ability to complete this unit.” I’m wondering if you have considered how to minimize the financial barriers for students taking this course? It seems to me that in the Design section, when you write “this unit would ideally be part of a blended delivery model, with both synchronous and asynchronous possibilities”, students who do not have access to reliable internet or a proper learning device may be able to use technology in the classroom (or perhaps the in-person delivery mode would not be reliant on technology). A bit more detailed explanation would be helpful.
I also wonder how MS Teams and OneNote would work from an Accessibility standpoint (students who are visually impaired or have a reading disability)? I wonder how presenting visuals will work on MS Teams under a UDL model? Do you have an Assistive Technology Advisor who works with students with a diagnosed disability to help you determine if your method is accessible? (In my institution, our Assistive Technology Advisor would probably tell us that we need to post any course materials in D2L, so that students that require Read/Write Gold text-to-speech software, can access it).
The Learning Technology is Appropriate
In the Development section, you say that the technology you will focus on is MS Teams and OneNote. This seems to me to be an appropriate learning technology, especially since (I presume if your institution is similar to mine) students will have access to these technologies though their student accounts. Additionally, you mentioned in the Analysis section that “it cannot be assumed that students have the prerequisite digital literacy foundation” (which I find is true at my institution as well). I think that for a synchronous online course, the use of a meeting program like MS Teams (or Zoom) and inclusion of a visual with the use of a program like OneNote (or PowerPoint) would be a necessary minimum requirement. I wonder if you have thought of any additional technological resources that might be beneficial for a group of students if they do have the prerequisite digital literacy foundation? In the Implementation section, you write “The goal of this unit is to have students examine genocide websites, lyrics or photos that they bring to class”. This makes me wonder what the conversations will be like in MS Teams, and what visuals you will provide with OneNote? I worry about what the students will bring to class, in terms of websites, lyrics or photos, and how they will be critically examined (as you note that the students will be also developing the criteria).
Clarification of the Learning Technology Prototype is Clear or Required
In the Design section, you write “Providing students with a copy of the criteria they will be using throughout the unit in a multi-modal way is also imperative. https://usm.maine.edu/library/checklist-evaluating-web-resources?ID=0 can be used to utilized as an example of criteria that students can use as a baseline.” I was unclear what they would be using this checklist to evaluate and why. It seemed to me that the primary technologies that you would be using were MS Teams and OneNote, so I found it a bit confusing how students would also be doing research on genocide websites, lyrics or photos. I wasn’t sure if this was to bring to face-to-face class, to virtual class or both. I also wasn’t sure if they would be required to discuss the criterial of the genocide websites, lyrics or photos through the use of the checklist provided in the conversation in MS Teams. I think that your unit plan would benefit from more explicit explanation, and perhaps a mini-schedule of what would happen when.
Questions
In the Analysis section, you write “Being that this course is often chosen rather than assigned to students, motivation and engagement are also tricky, especially if there is only one student taking the course.” I found this sentence confusing, as it seems to me that if the student has chosen rather than been assigned this course, then they would be more likely to be motivated or engaged? Maybe I’m reading this wrong?
Closing Remarks
Overall, your Unit plan was clearly organized and easy to follow. It followed the ADDIE model, and provided relevant information under each section. One general theme I noticed when reading it was: I would have liked to know more. I was curious how you would differentiate the synchronous and asynchronous delivery, and if students would have the ability to choose how they participated. I also wondered what guidance they would have in choosing the websites, lyrics or photos relating to genocide.