Education edu 542 9 assignment

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Educational Equity Plan: Accessible Digital Learning in a Grade 6 Inclusive Classroom

Courtney Hopkins

Professor Katz

EDU 542 Integrating Technology into Education

August 19, 2026

Educational Equity Plan: Accessible Digital Learning in a Grade 6 Inclusive Classroom

The educational environment and specific need.

This plan is designed for a Grade 6 inclusive classroom that includes students with dyslexia and/or students with other reading impairments, students with hearing impairment or visual impairment, and English language learner (ELL) students. This type of learner can face difficulties with instruction that relies on reading, on-fast oral explanations, or uncaptioned media. Assistive technology may be necessary for students who have reading challenges that can lessen the decoding difficulty without compromising the academic purpose. The importance of proper implementation and individual support for effective assistive technology has been highlighted (Murillo-Jiménez et al., 2025). ELLs may also experience difficulty with words that they do not recognize, accent, and speed of speech. School-age readers can be supported in their development of English literacy through digital reading instruction (Murphy and Arciuli, 2024). Thus, the equity goal is equipping students with several entry-levels to the same curriculum while holding the same academic objectives.

Technology and Required Resources

The technology chosen is an accessible digital learning platform that is utilized on school Chromebooks or tablets. The platform will support text-to-speech (TTS), speech-to-text, font-size and contrast, screen-reader compatibility, captions and vocabulary and/or translation supports. The studies conducted with students with disabilities, ELLs and general education peers indicates that when academic content is longer or more challenging, students are more likely to use TTS (Wei, 2024). Captions can be useful for many multilingual English language learners who require a written version of the spoken language. There is evidence that captioning has an impact on listening comprehension for multilingual learners (Murphy and Arciuli, 2024).

Student devices, headphones, internet access, accessible digital texts, teacher training, and technical support are needed for implementation. Accessibility of the digital materials must be checked prior to lessons by teachers. When technology or Internet access is not available, the school shall offer alternative materials or devices. An equitable approach to personalized educational technology can be achieved when hardware, software and teachers are created to meet the needs of students' diversity (Layachi and Pitchford, 2025).

Integration Into the Educational Experience

Technology will be used in EDL daily lessons for science and English lessons in Universal Design for Learning (UDL) manner. In science class (Grade 6), students will read a digital article about ecosystems during a 6th grade science class. Students with dyslexia can start/stop TTS, change reading speed and font. Students who are visually impaired can make text bigger and contrast higher. The video is captioned for students who have a hearing impairment. Vocabulary supports and captions help ELLs to make connections between unfamiliar words in English and their meaning. Studies from K–12 EL contexts suggest that technology-based reading instruction can be beneficial for the development of literacy when coupled with meaningful instruction (Zuo and Ives, 2024).

Students will also employ speech-to-text where the production of print is not necessary. As a form of assessment, students may either type an answer, dictate a response, or provide a brief explanation while performing the learning objective. Teachers will demonstrate supports, offer guided assistance, and let students select supports on their own. Digital collaborative activities can be used to promote participation and shared responsibility in inclusive classrooms (D'elia et al., 2025). Student's progress will be assessed by completion of assignments, comprehension check, student feedback and participation. The teacher will modify supports as evidenced by the child's needs and not as if all students require the same support.

References

D’Elia, P., Stalmach, A., Di Sano, S., & Casale, G. (2025, January). Strategies for inclusive digital education: problem/project-based learning, cooperative learning, and service learning for students with special educational needs. In  Frontiers in education (Vol. 9, p. 1447489). Frontiers Media SA. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2024.1447489/full

Layachi, A., & Pitchford, N. J. (2025). Formative evaluation of an interactive personalised learning technology to inform equitable access and inclusive education for children with special educational needs and disabilities.  Technology, Knowledge and Learning,  30(3), 1395-1419. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10758-024-09739-0

Murillo-Jiménez, H., Centeno-Alarcón, M., Buele, J., & Yumbla, F. (2025, November). Analyzing barriers to the effective implementation of technological tools in inclusive education: a scoping review. In  Frontiers in Education (Vol. 10, p. 1687664). Frontiers Media SA. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2025.1687664/full

Murphy, A., & Arciuli, J. (2024). Digital reading comprehension instruction in English for children with English as an additional language: A systematic review.  Journal of Research in Reading,  47(3), 348-394. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-9817.12448

Wei, X. (2024). Text-to-speech technology and math performance: A comparative study of students with disabilities, English language learners, and their general education peers.  Educational Researcher,  53(5), 285-295. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/0013189X241232995

Zuo, X., & Ives, D. (2024). Technology-assisted reading instruction for English language learners: A methodological review.  ECNU Review of Education,  7(2), 258-282. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/20965311231179490

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Technology Review Proposal: Integrating Padlet and Vyond into Higher Education

Courtney Hopkins

Professor Katz

Week 3 Assignment - Identifying Technology Needs

July 21, 2026

Technology Review Proposal: Integrating Padlet and Vyond into Higher Education

The fast advancement of educational technology has changed the way that educators create learning experiences and the way students learn the material of a course. The use of technology enhanced learning environments is slowly phasing out the traditional lecture-based instructions and creating learning environments that encourage teamwork, creative thinking and participation. In this proposal, Padlet as the collaborative learning tool will be used, and Vyond as the multimedia creation tool. The choice of these technologies was based on the fact that they are consistent with the current instructional methods, encourage student-centered learning, and address a variety of learning requirements. Collectively, they provide dynamic experiences to learners to collaborate, visualize, and showcase knowledge outside of conventional tasks. Recent educational studies show that new digital technologies enhance engagement and collaboration among learners, critical thinking and retention of knowledge when used effectively with good pedagogical practices.

Padlet and Vyond are regarded as the up-and-coming technologies in higher education due to a number of reasons. First, they encourage interactive and cooperative learning and not passive intake of information. Padlet allows students to add ideas and multimedia contents, engage in peer-feedback, and in real-time conversations using an interactive online board. This is in line with the constructivist learning principles that focus on knowledge construction in the form of collaboration.

Second, multimodal teaching and individualized learning is facilitated by these technologies. Vyond enables teachers and learners to produce animated education videos that integrate narration, graphics, movement and narration. These multimedia tools can serve both visual and auditory learners as well as verbal ones and enable students to show their comprehension in the creative manner (Almufarreh, 1). Current educational technology studies emphasize multimedia learning as one of the successful approaches to enhancing understanding and motivation of the learner.

Third, the two technologies are still being developed to have cloud-based capabilities, enhanced accessibility, and easy integration into learning management systems. The emerging technologies are not just novel but also define the ability to change the way of teaching and to bring about true learning experiences. Recent systematic reviews find that novel digital tools enhance learner engagement, and increase instructional flexibility and equip students with relevant digital skills needed in the modern labor market (Lindin, 2).

There are a number of significant advantages to integrating Padlet and Vyond in the classroom of the higher educational establishment. The first advantage is the more engaged students. Multimedia, interactive discussions and collaborative activities get students to be more engaged than the traditional lectures. Second, the technologies enhance the process of collaboration, as they enable the learners to share the ideas, give peer feedback, and do group projects independently of the location. Third, they promote access and inclusive learning by making the information available in various formats, which is beneficial to students with various learning styles and capabilities. Fourth, they promote creativity and higher-order thinking since students do not memorize the information to produce original digital products. Lastly, the two platforms enhance digital literacy through offering real practice with technologies widely applied in workplaces. These advantages resonate with the existing evidence that shows that the integration of technology can make learning more effective in case it is backed by a good instructional design.

There are also other key instructional objectives that are facilitated by the proposed technologies. The initial learning outcome is to enhance student engagement by offering them active learning opportunities. Padlet will encourage all learners to share their ideas, thoughts, and questions in classroom tasks, thus fostering equity. The second objective will be enhancing collaboration and communication skills. Learners are able to collaborate on group boards, share positive feedback and accumulate knowledge during a course. Third, Vyond helps to achieve the aim of content mastery by giving an instructor an opportunity to showcase the complex ideas in engaging animated videos and giving students an opportunity to show that they have learned by means of multimedia projects. Fourth, the technologies also promote critical thinking and problem solving as it entails organizing information, analyzing evidence, and expressing ideas in a creative manner. Lastly, both tools encourage learner independence and self-directed learning through flexible reflection and collaboration as well as creating content outside of regular classes. These learning objectives are in line with the recent suggestions on technology-based learning environments which focus on engagement, authentic assessment, collaboration and learner centered instructions (Perez, 3).

To summarize, Padlet + Vyond is a research-based solution to enhance higher education teaching and learning. These technologies are emerging in education technologies since they facilitate collaborative learning, multimedia learning, accessibility, and authentic knowledge building. Their use facilitates the instructional objectives that are beyond conventional teaching strategies and equips the students with valuable digital communication and collaboration skills. With the adoption of these technologies, the institution will be able to design an interactive, inclusive and futuristic learning environment that enhances student performance and meets the best practices regarding educational technology at the moment.

Sources

1.Almufarreh, A., & Arshad, M. (2023). Promising emerging technologies for teaching and learning: Recent developments and future challenges.  Sustainability,  15(8), 6917. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/8/6917

2.Lindin, C., Engel, A., Gracia, M., Rivera-Vargas, P., & Rubio, M. J. (2023). Literature review on emerging educational practices mediated by digital technologies in higher education, based on academic papers.  Sage Open,  13(4), 21582440231204677. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/21582440231204677

3.Perez, E., Manca, S., Fernández-Pascual, R., & Mc Guckin, C. (2023). A systematic review of social media as a teaching and learning tool in higher education: A theoretical grounding perspective.  Education and Information Technologies,  28(9), 11921-11950. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10639-023-11647-2

2

Educational Equity Plan: Accessible Digital Learning in a Grade 6 Inclusive Classroom

Courtney Hopkins

Professor Katz

EDU 542 Integrating Technology into Education

August 19, 2026

Educational Equity Plan: Accessible Digital Learning in a Grade 6 Inclusive Classroom

The educational environment and specific need.

This plan is designed for a Grade 6 inclusive classroom that includes students with dyslexia and/or students with other reading impairments, students with hearing impairment or visual impairment, and English language learner (ELL) students. This type of learner can face difficulties with instruction that relies on reading, on-fast oral explanations, or uncaptioned media. Assistive technology may be necessary for students who have reading challenges that can lessen the decoding difficulty without compromising the academic purpose. The importance of proper implementation and individual support for effective assistive technology has been highlighted (Murillo-Jiménez et al., 2025). ELLs may also experience difficulty with words that they do not recognize, accent, and speed of speech. School-age readers can be supported in their development of English literacy through digital reading instruction (Murphy and Arciuli, 2024). Thus, the equity goal is equipping students with several entry-levels to the same curriculum while holding the same academic objectives.

Technology and Required Resources

The technology chosen is an accessible digital learning platform that is utilized on school Chromebooks or tablets. The platform will support text-to-speech (TTS), speech-to-text, font-size and contrast, screen-reader compatibility, captions and vocabulary and/or translation supports. The studies conducted with students with disabilities, ELLs and general education peers indicates that when academic content is longer or more challenging, students are more likely to use TTS (Wei, 2024). Captions can be useful for many multilingual English language learners who require a written version of the spoken language. There is evidence that captioning has an impact on listening comprehension for multilingual learners (Murphy and Arciuli, 2024).

Student devices, headphones, internet access, accessible digital texts, teacher training, and technical support are needed for implementation. Accessibility of the digital materials must be checked prior to lessons by teachers. When technology or Internet access is not available, the school shall offer alternative materials or devices. An equitable approach to personalized educational technology can be achieved when hardware, software and teachers are created to meet the needs of students' diversity (Layachi and Pitchford, 2025).

Integration Into the Educational Experience

Technology will be used in EDL daily lessons for science and English lessons in Universal Design for Learning (UDL) manner. In science class (Grade 6), students will read a digital article about ecosystems during a 6th grade science class. Students with dyslexia can start/stop TTS, change reading speed and font. Students who are visually impaired can make text bigger and contrast higher. The video is captioned for students who have a hearing impairment. Vocabulary supports and captions help ELLs to make connections between unfamiliar words in English and their meaning. Studies from K–12 EL contexts suggest that technology-based reading instruction can be beneficial for the development of literacy when coupled with meaningful instruction (Zuo and Ives, 2024).

Students will also employ speech-to-text where the production of print is not necessary. As a form of assessment, students may either type an answer, dictate a response, or provide a brief explanation while performing the learning objective. Teachers will demonstrate supports, offer guided assistance, and let students select supports on their own. Digital collaborative activities can be used to promote participation and shared responsibility in inclusive classrooms (D'elia et al., 2025). Student's progress will be assessed by completion of assignments, comprehension check, student feedback and participation. The teacher will modify supports as evidenced by the child's needs and not as if all students require the same support.

References

D’Elia, P., Stalmach, A., Di Sano, S., & Casale, G. (2025, January). Strategies for inclusive digital education: problem/project-based learning, cooperative learning, and service learning for students with special educational needs. In  Frontiers in education (Vol. 9, p. 1447489). Frontiers Media SA. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2024.1447489/full

Layachi, A., & Pitchford, N. J. (2025). Formative evaluation of an interactive personalised learning technology to inform equitable access and inclusive education for children with special educational needs and disabilities.  Technology, Knowledge and Learning,  30(3), 1395-1419. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10758-024-09739-0

Murillo-Jiménez, H., Centeno-Alarcón, M., Buele, J., & Yumbla, F. (2025, November). Analyzing barriers to the effective implementation of technological tools in inclusive education: a scoping review. In  Frontiers in Education (Vol. 10, p. 1687664). Frontiers Media SA. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2025.1687664/full

Murphy, A., & Arciuli, J. (2024). Digital reading comprehension instruction in English for children with English as an additional language: A systematic review.  Journal of Research in Reading,  47(3), 348-394. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-9817.12448

Wei, X. (2024). Text-to-speech technology and math performance: A comparative study of students with disabilities, English language learners, and their general education peers.  Educational Researcher,  53(5), 285-295. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/0013189X241232995

Zuo, X., & Ives, D. (2024). Technology-assisted reading instruction for English language learners: A methodological review.  ECNU Review of Education,  7(2), 258-282. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/20965311231179490