UDL Lesson Plans
Research Publications
Planning computer science instruction for students with high-incidence disabilities.
States increasingly are adopting computer science standards to help students develop coding and computational thinking skills. In an effort to support teachers in introducing computer science content to their students with high-incidence disabilities, a new model, computer science integration planning plus universal design for learning (CSIP+), offers ways to integrate computational thinking and coding into content area instruction. This column presents an example of how a teacher might implement the CSIP+ model when designing instruction accessible to all learners. Guiding questions to support teachers at each phase of the planning cycle are provided. VIEW
Amy Hutchison & Anya Evmenova
2022
Technology and Teacher Education
Empowering students with digital skills: Digital literacy as a pathway to joy in learning.
Recommendations to support coding in the elementary classroom
The purpose of this article is to provide recommendations for teachers, drawn from research, on how to select apps and begin practices that support computational thinking.
Anne Estapa, Amy Hutchison, and Larysa Nadolny
2018
Technology and Teacher Education
Using coding apps to support literacy instruction and develop coding literacy
Educators strive to ensure students are prepared for the 21st century. Learn how teachers can use coding apps to blend skill development and content learning to provide rigorous learning opportunities. VIEW
Amy Hutchison, Larysa Nadolny, and Anne Estapa
2015
The Reading Teacher
Evaluating the role of professional development on elementary teachers' knowledge, comfort, and beliefs related to teaching computer science to students with high-incidence disabilities.
This paper reports results from the implementation of a model of professional development (PD) to help K-5 teachers develop the knowledge and skills to teach Computer Science (CS) in classrooms of diverse students, including students with high-incidence disabilities. This paper describes our Inclusive CS model of PD, how we made the PD model available to teachers during a pandemic and presents quantitative and qualitative results about the impact of the PD on teachers’ knowledge, comfort, and beliefs related to teaching computer science to students. Results indicate that the teachers’ knowledge, comfort, beliefs and perceptions about teaching CS to students with disabilities significantly improved. Teachers’ knowledge and understanding of Universal Design for Learning for supporting students in learning about CS also improved.
Amy Hutchison, Jamie Colwell, Kristie Gutierrez, Anya Evmenova, Jeff Offutt, and Maggie Gross
2022
Journal of Research on Technology in Education
Designing a model of computer science professional development for elementary educators in inclusive classrooms
New computer science standards are being rapidly introduced at the elementary level but little is known about how to prepare teachers to learn and teach the content of these standards, or how to support students with disabilities in learning computer science. Accordingly, we designed and studied the Inclusive Computer Science Model of Professional Development to prepare teachers to integrate computer science for students with disabilities. This paper presents results from this design-based study to understand the factors that inhibited and enhanced teachers’ participation in the professional development and how participation in the professional development influenced teachers’ instruction and perceptions about teaching computer science to students with disabilities. Results revealed two inhibiting factors and one enhancing factor for participation. Further, although teachers did increase their integration of computer science for students with disabilities, it was challenging for teachers to learn and apply new computer science content and approaches for supporting students with disabilities at the same time. Future professional development efforts should focus on careful scaffolding and release of responsibility when preparing teachers to support students with disabilities in learning computer science. VIEW
Amy Hutchison, Jamie Colwell, Kristie Gutierrez, Anya Evmenova, Jeff Offutt, and Valerie Taylor
2021
Technology and Teacher Education
Programming: What should be mandatory?
Two educators weigh in on one of digital and computer science literacy's hottest topics. VIEW
Sam Patterson and Amy Hutchison
2016
Literacy Today