Hi Miranda! Your blog post about barriers to learning and the value of Universal Design for Learning was great! I appreciated how your example of your Interpersonal Relationships class clarified the ways that UDL is applicable to your own learning. I also found your connection between Inclusive Learning and Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development interesting — I hadn’t thought of it that way before. In your discussion of Tjahjana’s 2023 paper, I wonder if you could include some ways that to foster a sense of community in a fully asynchronous course like this one, where there are no synchronous or in person meetings? Best of luck with the semester!

Hi Simon! I loved reading your blog post about designing for inclusion and diversity. I enjoyed that you started off your post by personally acknowledging feedback from both us and our instructor. I also appreciated your discussion of barriers to learning, and how you made your points clear by including a screenshot of the lecture slide. I liked your example of your CSC 466 project being open-ended, but I wonder what your thoughts are about the multiple means of expression making assignments too open, which might lead to learners struggling to pick a project to do? Best of luck in the rest of the semester!

Hi Larissa! I enjoyed reading your blog post about designing for inclusion and engagement. I appreciated how clearly you applied the concepts to microbiology, especially through your use of tables. I also found your insight about Dr. Terence Brady’s TED talk interesting, and I agree with your point about how we should be proactive in our approach to designing. In your discussion about motivation and engagement, I wonder if you could expand more about how constructive alignment strategies and motivation interact? Best of luck with your semester!

Hi Anna! I enjoyed reading about your insights about backward design, as well as empathy’s role in design and the spiral model of learning. I agree with your thoughts about how starting with the “why” of learning was powerful for your grade 4 students’ diorama project – I find that to be true for both my teaching and my learning experience. I found the spiral model of learning interesting, since that’s something I haven’t heard of before. I wonder if you could add a little bit more about that topic to clarify, or another resource that the reader could use? I’m looking forward to reading your third blog post, and I wish you luck in the rest of the term!

Hi Kynan! I enjoyed reading your second blog post. I agree with your point about how learning becomes much more motivating when you have an end goal in mind, like your example about creating a video game in C#. I also found your point about design thinking for software engineering interesting. I wonder if next time you would be able to include an example of how implementing design thinking shifts away from simple information delivery in your blog next time? I’m looking forward to reading your third blog post, and I wish you luck with the rest of the semester!

Hi Anthony! I loved reading your blog post introducing you and your learning journey. I appreciated your honesty about how it was overwhelming at first at your summer internship, but you managed to equip yourself with the tools you needed to learn the way you learn best. I also found it interesting that confidence is the strongest factor in the ARCS model of motivation for you, because from the one computer science class I took (for my Psychology degree), I felt the same way! I had never programmed before and it gave me the most intrinsic motivation when I was confident about my progress. I wonder if you could go more in depth about how you have found navigating the technology for this class? I’d love to hear your thoughts about Mattermost and WordPress. I’m excited to learn with you this semester!

Hi Neeraj! I enjoyed reading your blog post about what learning means to you. As a fellow psychology student, I appreciated how you linked learning theories like Vygotsky’s with your understanding of learning, as well as how you discussed relevance being your driving factor for motivation. I wonder if next time you would be able to expand a bit more about your prior knowledge and how it affects your learning now? I’m looking forward to the rest of the semester with you!

Hi Harwin! I appreciated hearing your story about your learning journey. Your points about learning through projects and taking the reins for your own career resonated a lot with me. Job security and figuring out what to do after graduating seems to be almost a universal struggle for us students, so I’m glad to hear your perspective on it. I wonder if you would be able to go deeper in to some of the computer-science “jargon” in a future post? I would love to learn more about how your prior experience with JavaScript helped you with React. I’m excited to see how this course shapes your learning throughout the rest of the semester and your future career!