What’s on the Menu? Building Student Agency through Choice.
See if any of this sounds familiar: read this chapter, watch this video, or complete this assignment. If any of them do sound familiar, that probably is not surprising. While our intentions may be good, this lack of decision-making opportunities for students limits their agency and can create barriers to engagement within the classroom. As we know, when students are not engaged, they are likely not learning.
While there is no one solution to learners’ engagement, UDL principles tell us that learners want multiple means of representation when it comes to content. Likewise, we can build student agency by offering those multiple means of representation.
For instance, consider Learning Menus and Choice Boards. These boards allow for multiple means of representation allowing students to choose how they will learn. Instead of dictating that students “read this article,” a Choice Board encourages learners to “choose an article” that will all lead to the same outcome. A.K. Juliani provides more details on how Learning Menus can be used to promote learner choice and engagement.
These Learning Menus can be easily integrated right into your Canvas modules through “Pages.” Want to know more?
Request a Course Technology Consultation
Resources
The Ultimate Guide to Choice Boards and Learning Menus by A.J. Juliani
Contact
Justin Littlefield
Instructional Support Specialist
Learning Technologies Implementation and Support