My UDL Journey

Pre-2023 Posts

Hi!  I'm Ryan Edel, an Adjunct in the Heartland English Department!

And with this, I introduce myself to my colleagues in the Alternative Delivery Certification course at Heartland Community College...

Websites Are Hard

Who would have thought that writing a new website could be so challenging?

Improvisation and Teaching

Plans don't always work.  But as a teacher, I'm sometimes surprised by how much I don't realize I know.

The Language of Writing

Can Your Own Tongue Be a Foreign Language?  Yes, I think so.  Especially for a student in a writing classroom.

Past Technology and Teaching Experiences

This week in our Alternative Delivery Certification at Heartland, we had a quiz about experiences with online classes and plans for how to use Canvas.

On (Not Doing) the Assigned Reading

So what happens when you have a student who doesn't do all the assigned reading?  Here are my thoughts from a UDL perspective.  And reflecting on that time I didn't read Madame Bovary before writing an essay on it…

Students Teaching Me Social Media

I thought I understood how to use (and teach) social media.  But I was mistaken.  From talking with my students, I learned that social media has fundamental effects on student writing habits that I couldn't have anticipated.  Unlike me, my students already knew how best to use online tools to improve their classroom writing.

Backward Planning...Is Hard

After writing my page on Course Design and Backward Planning, I went back to designing my course.  And what did I do?  The opposite of what I recommended for others...

Saving Some UDL Resources

It's hard keeping up with a website like this.  So I threw together a quick post with some UDL Resources that will hopefully reach a more central page.  At some point.  When I find more time.

Thoughts on UDL

For the Alternative Delivery Certification course, we explained our thoughts on UDL in the discussion forums.  Given the focus of this site, I figured those thoughts might be somewhat relevant...

Social Presence Failed in an Online Creative Writing Course

Yes, I've taken a lot of creative writing classes over the years.  Most have been excellent — I recommend them for anyone, regardless of your major or career track.  But in one course, a few offhand remarks from a classmate and the instructor left me feeling like a total pretender.