For a master's project, I chose to research and evaluate the CAST UDL Book Builder online tool. Book Builder was developed with support from the Massachusetts Department of Special Education, NEC Foundation of America, The John W. Alden Trust, and The Pinkerton Foundation. (http://bookbuilder.cast.org/) This online resource and tool allows users to read books from public libraries, or model books created by other users to the website. These books are very helpful to younger readers, and also readers with visual and/or other reading learning disabilities. Each book comes with a text-to-speech tool, translator for other languages (usually Spanish only) and helpful cartoon coaches that can help a struggling reader, or a first time user to the site to navigate through the digital audio books. I found these coaches to be very helpful upon my first visit, as I wasn’t sure which buttons to hit in order to try everything out. They remind me of the little cartoon drawings in the Map Champs books for kids that help guide third graders through their exploration of the Earth through maps.(http://www.nystromnet.com/index.cfm?fa=Products.product&CATEGORY_ID=3&CHILD_ID=381&PRODUCT_ID=637) The website is very user friendly, and the data base for searching content online is easy to follow and to use. Within the database you can search by date published, title, author, illustrator, genre, content area, school group, grade level, average rating, and by key words. Each book can also be rated and there is an area to leave a comment to the database and to the creators of the book. This makes it very easy to browse through the database to find a book that is just right for your student(s).
Along with libraries and model books, you can sign up for a free account to create your very own book. This is a great way to get all of your students to create digital books, and to also offer assistive technologies to students that may need the text-to-speech or translation features for stronger comprehension. “Assistive technology has historically been considered part of service delivery for children with special needs. However, the emphasis of universal design for learning in the creation of accessible and effective curriculum- based instruction can support the educational needs of ail learners.” (Gavigan, 2009)
This tool may have started with an intended audience, targeting ELL students or students with physical or reading learning disabilities, but this tool could be used for all students. Introducing this tool to students before a project could yield some interesting presentations that could last a lifetime. Imagine proposing a project based learning with multimedia project within your classroom with an open ended way to present. Some groups may want to construct a physical product or representation, others may want to embed more technology into it and create slideshows, or multimedia stacks, and others may want to create a visual representation that can be used in years to come that would benefit all students no matter their skill level or abilities. Book Builder could definitely transform a product into a wonderful teaching tool for the future, and best of all, the students would create it themselves. “When educators plan and support instruction using universal design for learning, there is the expectation that a wide range of learning styles and abilities be served in the classroom.” (Gavigan, 2009)
Book Builder is truly a web 2.0 tool as students can read, but also create and publish their work to this resource. These books can then be read and shared with students all over the world. Comments and edits can be made to build skills in communication and writing with voice or to an intended audience as well. Universal Design for Learning, or UDL, offers students many different routes to take in order to find their best learning style, and to experiment with different formats of learning and presenting to find greater success. An open ended project expands upon this idea and offers students a chance to think outside the box and perform in their most comfortable setting, and with ideas and programs they are more familiar with or more interested in.
Book Builder could be used by teachers too. It is often difficult to teach all of our children with the same text book any more, due to learning disabilities of various types. Modifications and adjustments for each individual student can be a daunting task, however, when done correctly, the students will benefit and succeed at a much higher rate, and the resource can be used in future years to come. Teachers could certainly reword texts and/or create more student friendly versions to apply to all of their learners in class, and help to individualize the content to meet each student’s need. King-Sears states, “Taking a UDL approach to textbook usage, these weakly designed features are redesigned before instruction is delivered, so that key facts are targeted and relationships among them are determined.” (2009) A text book could be reworked to drive home key points to students in a manner of different ways using Book Builder to help students with learning disabilities.
The technology should not be the only focus, however. In the terms of reworking text books to meet the individual needs of students, Book Builder is just the tool and not the means by which teachers create resources for all learners. “Equitable use of instructional materials can be achieved via technology, such as digital texts for students with LD. However, when the instructional material is a textbook that is not well designed in terms of how its content is organized, depicted, and sequenced, pedagogical features that increase the content's accessibility for many learners become the focus.” (King-Sears, 2009) A teacher must be skilled in UDL design and implementation in order to create these resources for each individual child. Book Builder allows a skilled professional to not only model, but to also create books to individualize instruction and promote UDL within their classroom.
In conclusion, I found that CAST UDL Book Builder was an extremely valuable tool that is easy to understand and navigate, not only for teachers, but for students as well. I could see using this for ELL, physical and learning disabled children in reading, and for creating presentations in project based learning with multimedia projects for all students. This resource offers many valuable tips on teaching with UDL and offers model books and lessons for teachers. I will certainly bookmark this site and share it with my colleagues for projects in the future.
Resources
Gavigan, K. & Kurtts, S. (2009).. AT, UD, and Thee: Using assistive technology and Universal Design for Learning in 21st century media centers. Library Media Connection, 27(4), 54-56. Retrieved June 21, 2010 from Academic Search Premier
Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education, NEC Foundation of America, The John W. Alden Trust, and The Pinkerton Foundation (2006). CAST UDL Book Builder. Retrieved from http:bookbuilder.cast.org/ on December 1, 2010.
