Week 5

Scaffolds vs. Inclusion

Technology Supports

In the article I read, the study was focused around technologies supporting literacy in the classroom. The conversation was centered around how tools like text-to-speech, speech-to-text, screen readers, and multimodal composition platforms are used remedially but should really be used to level the playing field in classrooms. The article argues, “These tools deserve a permanent place in classrooms in the same way they have permanent places in the work world” (Varinda & Pilgrim, 2021, p. 54). This type of inclusion makes sense to me if our goal is to prepare students for the world ahead of them. It is important to have the technologies that will be available to them in the world as tools in the classroom. This way students can be confident and skillful with these types of tools and be able to access more inside and outside of the classroom.

Connecting to Math

I enjoyed reading this article because of the close crossover with mathematics. Many people say that math is its own language, and the way that people are able to access it today with new technologies mirrors what the article expressed about literacy. In my lesson, students will be using multiple technologies to explore data. Students will be using graphing calculators for this, but will also be using a platform called Desmos. Many teachers like to use Desmos as a scaffold for students, but I believe that this should be a consistent tool in the math classroom. Not all students are able to visualize data, systems of equations, or linear regression on their own. A graphing calculator can give some visuals, but is mainly used to retrieve values that represent the context. If students can use a tool like Desmos, they will be able to access this content in a whole new way. There is so much variability in the way students learn and understand math. If a platform is able to help students reach that understanding on a deeper level, or help students access content they would have never been able to grapple with before, then this is a perfect UDL tool teachers should be using.“The UDL framework applies aspects of inclusive design in the process of creating accessibility, particularly when designing solutions for people “in the margins” in terms of learner variabilities” (Varinda & Pilgrim, 2021, p. 49). The future of learning and applying math is heavily related to these new technologies, and it is important for teachers to ensure students have the ability to use and be fluent in these technologies.




Resources

Vasinda, S. and Pilgrim, J. (2021). Technology supports in the UDL framework: Removable scaffolds or permanent new literacies? Reading Research Quarterly, 58(1), 44 - 58.

Comments

  1. Mr. FryNovember 16, 2025 at 5:50 PM

    Hello, I always enjoy your blogs as an intervention specialist that pushes and teaches my own math classes without being a math certified teacher. I totally agree on your thoughts on text to speech. Whenever students have one to one tech especially. Having a student that is profecient in this technology allow them to not have the barrier of reading something when they are trying to work on math.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jenna JendreNovember 16, 2025 at 7:13 PM

    Hi Carson! I feel like math is never really talked about when it comes to UDL because it's so concrete. Desmos is a great app to help bridge that gap for students who need those extra visuals and support. You did a great job connecting the article!

    ReplyDelete

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