I've got my UDL BookBuilder project up on the CAST site now. It was harder than I expected - meaning it required more creativity than I anticipated - but I really enjoyed the process.
A lawyer buddy of mine is working on a new book called The Search and Seizure Handbook. I thought that would be a cool one to use for this project. Then I went to the screening for DGW and was thinking a lot about civil rights and spectrums of physical ability. That got me even more excited about tackling this particular book, and focusing on ways of communicating the information in engaging ways.
The Search and Seizure Handbook
I used all three avatars, each targeting a different cognitive process: strategic, affective, and recognition. I tried to use language that fit the character's purpose, without "dumbing it down" and making it seem condescending. I'd appreciate feedback on whether other people feel that I have achieved this balance, or have suggestions for improvement.
I also included an audio track of me reading the first page - which is really the introduction to the book.
It would be worthwhile, I think, to go back now and look at content relevant and irrelevant properties of the media. For example, an obvious next step improvement would be a Spanish translation. It is hard for me to imagine how to convey this information with pictures. But I can envision using movies to tell stories which illustrate the principles.
This leads to what could be an interesting area of civil rights law: How do we teach people in this country about their rights, and do the approaches that we are currently using include construct irrelevant barriers to learning which make it difficult or impossible for people to actually understand both their rights and their responsibilities? Is the UDLification of our social science curricula actually a required step toward building an educated and informed population?
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Dan, These are really good questions. One other thing I was thinking about when you mentioned a Spanish translation is how principles that are based on cultural values translate. I have had this discussion with some of my Latino friends and it is a bit of a dilemma.
What other representations can be used to convey higher order concepts? I think maybe you would have to convey such things through activities that help create the conceptual change necessary. Steve Burns has an interesting book builder book on the concept of abstract. Be sure to check it out.
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