Program Details
Steve Fadden, Ph.D.
Vice President for Research and Institute Operations, Adjunct Associate Professor
Usability and Technology to Promote Learning for all Students
Many educators and designers find themselves struggling to understand how new technologies and resources can be used to improve education for all students. While the goal of developing instruction to promote universal usability and education for all is well-intentioned, it is challenging to understand and even more difficult to implement: Our students are more cognitively diverse, our workforce is changing, educational priorities seem to be in flux, and the designed world around us continues to change with new technologies and modes of interaction that are unfamiliar and even daunting.
The goal of this presentation is to acknowledge the anxiety and confusion caused by some of these factors, and to consider the following questions: How do we develop education to promote access and learning for students across a continuum of cognitive abilities and cultural backgrounds? What is the role that technology and design should play in meeting the needs of students who struggle in conventional academic environments? How can educators be effective role models when many are challenged to simply keep up with students, who seem to bring new gadgets and interaction styles to class each new semester?
This presentation will conclude with a discussion of a profile-based method for designing educational activities, with an overview of promising uses of technologies and methods to promote education for a wide array of diverse learners.