Here is a lesson plan that has been created in accordance with the "Warmer, Web, What's next" framework proposed by Dudeney and Hockly (2007). To enhance my lessons and make them more inclusive, I’ve decided to use five apps: cram, natural reader, learnhip, bubbl us and slides.com. You will find in this entry reasons why these apps are beneficial for students and reasons why we should use them in accordance with different frameworks. 

Theme/Topic: Healthy food at school

Time allotted: from 1 to 4:30 pm

School: Private bilingual school in Palermo

Students: 3rd year students. There are 18 students in total.

WARMER:

The teacher will stick cards on the board and she will also send students the link to those cards https://www.cram.com/flashcards/food-13894680 She will ask students to think how these items of food are related and if they can be classified in a certain way. Expected answer: healthy and unhealthy food. We will all classify the items of food on the board. Then, the teacher will ask students to come up with other food items and classify them as well. For this, she will let them use cram to look up other flashcards on food. They can search flashcards on “healthy food” “unhealthy food” and/or on “food” in general. Then, the teacher will give students some time to have a look at the  tutorial above on how to create flashcards on Cram and  learners will be allotted five minutes to add the new food to the existing flashcards set. 

WEB

Students will be given the following text: 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2001/02/27/schools-hooked-on-junk-food/02ab5622-d078-45f3-b39d-ec3ac21b2815/ .  First, sts will work on discourse. The teacher will ask them questions such as when the article was published and who it was published by to establish whether the article is accurate and updated. Then, students’ attention will be directed towards the title and image. The teacher will ask sts what they think the article is about. She will write sts’ predictions on the board and then she will give them some time to skim the text for general information and to check their predictions. 

Then, students will be given 15 minutes to read the text for specific information and complete a multiple choice activity on Learnhip to check comprehension.  Students will be given the option to either read the text online or to use apps like natural reader

Students will complete the following mindmap on bubbl us. They will have the words from the text and they have to collaboratively insert images. They can use an online dictionary, such as cambridge.com to check the meaning of new words if they cannot guess them from the context. 

Complete the following mind-map on food items extracted from the text by adding images.

Then, students will collaboratively complete the following chart on bubbl us: 

Complete the following chart with the problems and some possible solutions presented by the article . 

Example: Problem: Vending machines are the main food source at schools

Possible solutions: Snacks sold at school should meet the federal government's nutritional standards

Then, we will have an oral discussion in class to discuss the ideas provided

WHAT’S NEXT

Students will watch the following tutorial on slides.com and they will be presented with the following scenario: 

“Your school has asked you to create a presentation on slides.com to help the school cafeteria include a healthier menu. Take into account what has been discussed so far and put forward what problems the current food supply system has and bring some possible solutions. Your presentation should be 5 slides tops”

BENEFITS 

WHY IS CRAM BENEFICIAL FOR SEN STUDENTS AND TO ENHANCE OUR CLASSES? 

Cram allows students to adjust the font, text size and background colour to enhance readability. Also, when creating flashcards on this app, little text can be included. Flashcards can contain pictures and students are also provided with the opportunity to listen to the text/word on the flashcard. All this is especially beneficial for students with visual impairments or dyslexia (Delaney, 2016). In addition, the type of activities that can be created on this app help learners who struggle with information retention. This is so as this tool gives learners the option to test themselves and play,  most of the flashcards are topic-related and therefore, they are repetitive. Last but not least, this app allows students to work collaboratively in real-time activities, which fosters team-work and problem-solving skills. 

WHY IS NATURAL READER BENEFICIAL FOR SEN STUDENTS AND TO ENHANCE OUR CLASSES? 

This app is especially helpful for students with dyslexia or with visual impairments (Hockly, 2017). In the first two cases, this tool proves to be helpful as it can read aloud text from digital documents, websites, or textbooks, making the content more accessible for these types of students. Furthermore, in this app, users can customize the voice speed, pitch, and other parameters to tailor the reading experience to their preferences and special needs (Delaney, 2016) . This app will also help these and all students to understand the correct pronunciation of words and will expose learners to different accents and dialects enhancing their language skills. 

WHY IS LEARNHIP BENEFICIAL FOR SEN STUDENTS AND TO ENHANCE OUR CLASSES? 

First of all, it is worth mentioning that Multiple-choice questions provide a clear and structured format which can benefit SEN students who may struggle with open-ended questions or have difficulties with organization and structure (Delaney, 2016). Also, this app gives the option of including pictures which makes it easier for students to have a clearer visual image of what is expected of them. This tool allows the teacher to further enhance her classroom by providing immediate feedback. It also allows learners to complete the task at their own pace. 

WHY IS BUBBL US BENEFICIAL FOR SEN STUDENTS AND TO ENHANCE OUR CLASSES? 

This app helps students with visual representations, which is beneficial for students with dyslexia and ADHD (Delaney, 2016). Although I used it to create a chart, it is worth noting that it can also be utilized for mind maps, flowcharts, and other visual representations of information. This tool is highly beneficial for SEN students, particularly those who have difficulty processing information presented solely in text form (Hockly, 2017). In this lesson plan, this app is used to provide clarity and simplicity in the presentation of information and also to represent complex ideas in the text through shapes and images, which can lead to improved memory retention compared to plain text. Bubbl.us encourages collaborative learning by enabling learners to collaborate on group projects in real-time, which fosters learners’ teamwork  and communication skills.

WHY IS SLIDES.COM BENEFICIAL FOR SEN STUDENTS AND TO ENHANCE OUR CLASSES? 

Slides.com predominantly focuses on visual content. Visual presentations can be advantageous for SEN students, offering an alternative method for delivering and comprehending information that may be more accessible than text alone (Delaney, 2016). What’s more, this tool supports multimedia elements, such as images, videos, and audio. These features can  cater for multiple intelligences and learning styles and can also engage learners and help them understand the material better. This app also allows learners to work collaboratively in real-time which fosters their communication and teamwork skills. In addition, this app offers interactive features like hyperlinks, animations and transitions. These interactive elements can make the learning experience more engaging and help maintain students' focus.

FRAMEWORKS

SAMR MODEL

SAMR is a paradigm for understanding how we can integrate technology into education (Puentedura, 2006). This paradigm consists of four stages: substitution, augmentation, modification and redefinition. 

Substitution: technology acts as a direct substitute with no functional change. The task remains the same, but a computer is used as part of that task.

Augmentation: Technology acts as a direct tool substitute for an analogue activity, but with functional improvements.

Modification: Technology allows for significant task redesign.

Redefinition: Technology allows for the creation of new tasks previously not possible.

In the case of cram.com, I think we are at the augmentation stage. Although at the very beginning of the task we are at the substitution stage as the teacher is merely replacing physical cards to online ones. But, as the task develops, students are given the opportunity to use an unfamiliar tool which helps them develop some of  their 21st century skills such as collaboration, communication and critical thinking (they have to look up already made cards and determine under which category each one falls- healthy or unhealthy- and whether they could be offered at a school cafeteria and then they have to add those cards up to the ones provided by the teacher in a collaborative document). Also, by using cram the students have the possibility of having certain features like audio flashcards,which would not be possible if they just had physical cards.

In the case of natural reader, I think we are again at the augmentation stage, as there is meaningful enhancement of the learning experience. Natural Reader goes beyond simple substitution because it offers a transformation in how students engage with text. It addresses a specific learning need (dyslexia or visual impairment) by providing an audio format, which can significantly improve the accessibility and comprehension of text. Last but not least, the use of this app may also enhance learners’ comprehension, listening, and vocabulary skills. 

In the case of learnhip, I believe we are at the augmentation stage. While the core learning task remains the same, technology adds some benefits that enhance the experience for both students and educators. With this tool, we can create multiple-choice quizzes which provide a wide range of advantages such as automated grading, instant feedback, and the ability to track and analyze student performances. 

In the case of bubbl us, I think we are at the modification stage, as the main task is transformed by allowing all students to engage in problem-solving by enabling them to work together in real time, adding, rearranging ideas on a digital platform. Students are not just individually considering problems and solutions; they are collaboratively constructing knowledge and solutions as a group, which goes beyond what is typically achievable in a non-digital classroom.

In the case of slides.com, we are at the redefinition stage, as students can create a presentation that includes multimedia elements, interactive features, and real-time collaboration. A presentation that includes all of these features cannot be made in a non-digital classroom. Also, it is worth mentioning that students’ proposals will actually be taken into account by the school cafeteria to change its menu. In addition, this tool empowers students to be content creators, fostering higher-order thinking skills and encouraging them to take ownership of their learning.

BLOOM’S TAXONOMY

It is a pedagogical framework that categorizes cognitive skills for designing learning experiences (Dincer, 2020). This taxonomy proposes various levels of thinking, characterized by action verbs such as remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. These levels guide students from basic to advanced cognitive abilities (Sneed, 2016).

In the case of cram.com, I think we are at the remembering stage when students have to look at the flashcards provided by the teacher and when they have to look up their own cards, and at the analyzing level as students are to later select the food they saw in other cards and analyze what categories those cards fall into. 

In the case of hablalo and natural reader, we are at the remembering and understanding stage. When dyslexic students use Natural Reader to convert text to audio, their main goal is to access and remember the content more effectively. Also, this tool assists dyslexic students in understanding the content better by providing an alternative way to process text.

In the case of learnhip, we are again at the remembering and understanding stage. When students work on multiple-choice questions, their main task is often to recall and remember facts and concepts that have already been learnt, but in order to answer these questions correctly, learners must also make use of their understanding of the material.

In the case of bubbl up, we are at the evaluation stage, as students are required to engage in critical evaluation, assessing the reliability, importance, and efficiency of the problems and solutions outlined in the article. Students consider the importance and relevance of the identified problems and solutions. They examine whether these issues have a substantial impact and they analyze the proposed solutions to determine how well they address the identified problems.

In the case of slides.com, students are at the creation stage of the taxonomy since learners are generating new ideas and creating a final product by combining existing information and concepts in an innovative way. 

As can be seen, throughout the plan, learners  begin at the lowest level of thinking in this pyramid which is remembering. Therefore, only their basic order thinking skills are at work. As the plan advances, students move from one level to another until they reach the creation level where they create a final product, integrating both what they knew and what they have learnt through the lesson, in a freer activity. Students end up putting into practise their higher order thinking skills.

UNESCO ICT COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK FOR TEACHERS

The ICT CFT (2018) argues that teachers need to use teaching methods that are appropriate for evolving Knowledge Societies and that students  need  to  be  enabled  not  only  to  acquire  thorough  knowledge  of  their  school  subjects  but  also  to  understand  how,  using  ICT  as  a  tool,  they  can  generate  new  knowledge.  

I believe my plan caters for UNESCO principles as it allows for flexibility, accessibility, inclusivity. In terms of knowledge acquisition, cram, learnhip and natural reader provide a structured and efficient way for students to review and memorize facts, concepts, and vocabulary (either through the use of flashcards, questions or converting text to audio). As regards knowledge deepening, bubbl us allows students to create charts that analyze and visualize the relationships between problems and solutions presented in an article. Knowledge creation is seen when students work on slides.com as students have to consider a problem and come up with solutions in a creative way by making an interactive and collaborative presentation. 

REFERENCES

Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy Verbs For 21st Century Students (2016) https://www.teachthought.com/critical-thinking/blooms-digital-taxonomy-verbs-21st-century-students/

Wedlock, M.S (2017) The Technology Driven Student: How to Apply Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy to the Digital Generations  http://jespnet.com/journals/Vol_4_No_1_March_2017/4.pdf

Sneed (2016) Integrating Technology with Bloom’s Taxonomy https://teachonline.asu.edu/2016/05/integrating-technology-blooms-taxonomy/

García, M. Ledesma, P. Cendoya, A., Samuel, V. (2017) “Creating technology enhanced language learning materials”  (On Classroom) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X-jfzh_iUf1WsRITQNekMpKKoJ9KHWsW/view?usp=drive_link 

UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000265721 

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Hockly, N.(2017) Unit 45: 10 things to know about SEN students and technology. EtPedia: Technology. pp. 159-161. Hove: Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd. 

Delaney, M. (2016) Special Educational Needs.  Chapter 6: Assistive Technology. Oxford: OUP