Nice article here from the CSTA Voice newsletter: Improving Accessibility in the Classroom With the UDL4CS Interactive Table | Computer Science Teachers Association
Here is a quote from the article:
We believe this means all students, including ones with disabilities, should receive computer science education along with necessary support structures.
The article then goes on to describe a framework that teachers can apply when thinking about inclusive CS classrooms. I think the a lot of the points in the articles are useful.
A few questions for our community:
-
What is your experience in teaching neurodiverse students?
-
Do STEM/CS classrooms present new/uniques challenges for neurodiverse students?
-
Have you had any success using products like VEX 123 or VEXcode VR to make your classroom more inclusive?
I’m looking forward to everyone’s thoughts. Thanks!
While I cannot speak to the classroom aspect of using VEX 123 with neurodiverse students, I have used VEX 123 one-on-one with a child on the autism spectrum and loved the interactions her and I had.
This is a bit of a longer story to illustrate the about two hours her and I spent together coding, but the basic summary is that VEX 123 and the multiple coding methods gave her options to choose how she wanted to interact with the robot. She felt most comfortable with the tactile options of the Coder cards and when things got too loud for her, I was able to turn the volume down using the Classroom App.
In a classroom setting, I think these same options could apply. Having these students be able to choose their coding method to solve the same challenge allows them to choose what is most comfortable to them (touch buttons, the tactile nature of the coder cards, or the comfort of a touch screen/mouse click with VEXcode 123). Using the Classroom App to turn down or entirely turn off the sound levels also creates a great option for those students who may be overly stimulated by the noises of the robot.
--------Story Time--------
For background information, she is in 3rd grade and has never had a coding class. While we started with the touch buttons on the 123 Robot, she became frustrated at the inability to do more in order to code the robot from the start to the goal location. Specifically she wanted to be able to use one press in order to move the two steps.
So we switched to the Coder and she fell in love. Was testing different cards and combinations of cards to see what behaviors they had, then she noticed the colors of the cards and how they made little groups. This was a great bit of visual feedback for her to quickly recognize what type of card she was testing.
She solved the challenges I gave her VERY quickly, so I ended up using a VEX 123 activity pulled up on my phone to do more with her. Having extra activities ready for use for those students who move more quickly can help to also keep everyone in class engaged longer. Then students who need additional time have that available to them.
Wow - terrific story. Thanks for sharing @Alaina_Caulkett
