Guideline 7: Welcoming Interests and Identities

• 7.1: Optimize choice and autonomy

• Social-Emotional Focus: Takes care of own needs appropriately & Balances needs and rights of self and others

Digital Tool & Function

• Tool Name: Wheel of Names https://wheelofnames.com/ 

• Function: A completely free, customizable web-based random selector wheel that displays names, images, text, or colors to facilitate independent decision-making and/or a selection process.

Instructional Scenario

During circle time, the teacher uses Wheel of Names displayed on an interactive whiteboard to call on students for classroom helper jobs or to answer questions. When a participant is needed, a student touches the screen to spin the wheel to see who gets to be the next to participate. This setup helps preschoolers realize that turn-taking is random and objective rather than up to the personal whim of the teacher, transforming a potentially tense transition into an exciting, gamified experience. By using this tool, students learn to balance their needs and rights with others; when the wheel lands on a peer's name, they must self-regulate their immediate impulses and accept the direction given. This aligns with Consideration 7.1 because it optimizes autonomy by giving students physical control over the selection process, captures deep situational interest, and safely structures classroom limits and social expectations (California Department of Education, 2021). 

Learning Barrier

• Identified Barrier: Severe impulse control challenges, emotional dysregulation, and an inability to accept abstract randomness or delayed gratification.

• Learner Type: A preschool student with developmental dysregulation—such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), or severe anxiety—may experience a profound emotional meltdown, display physical aggression, or repeatedly rush to touch the screen out of turn when they are not selected by the wheel.

Accessibility Solution & Evidence

• Proposed Solution: Proactively introduce the tool through a structured social story before circle time, explicitly establishing that no single person is forced to participate and that we must respect our peers' turns. Pair this digital tool with a tangible "waiting" routine: provide the child with a high-utility sensory fidget (e.g., a textured squeeze toy or a weighted lap pad) to physically absorb nervous energy and assist with physiological self-regulation while they wait.

• Evidence: Early childhood special education research confirms that combining digital visual tools with proactive behavioral modeling and physical self-regulation tools drastically decreases transition-based anxiety and emotional dysregulation in neurodivergent populations (Gauvreau et al., 2023). Providing tactile anchors allows learners with executive functioning deficits to successfully navigate the emotional demands of group boundaries.

Guideline 8: Sustaining Effort and Persistence

• 8.3: Foster collaboration, interdependence, and collective learning

• Social-Emotional Focus: Follows limits and expectations & Participates cooperatively and constructively in group situations

Digital Tool & Function

• Tool Name: Book Creator Free Plan

• Function: A digital publishing platform where teachers can create a free account to build a shared library, allowing students to collaboratively design multimedia e-books with photos, drawings, and voice recordings.

Instructional Scenario

This is done during small group with three-five students together during a social skills lesson to co-create a digital classroom rulebook titled "Our Cooperative Classroom." Students work together with the teacher. Each student decides what image to capture of peers demonstrating positive behaviors (e.g., sitting on the rug, raising a hand). The students are shown how to drag the photos onto the page layout, and a non-verbal student taps a button to record voice-output praise cues via integrated speech-to-text or AAC tools. This aligns with Consideration 8.3 because the shared digital canvas requires peer interdependence; students must actively wait, negotiate choices, and work jointly to build their book, reinforcing how to follow limits and participate cooperatively in a group setting (Kennette & Wilson, 2019).

Learning Barrier

• Identified Barrier: High visual processing susceptibility or sensory defensiveness.

• Learner Type: A student on the autism spectrum may experience immediate sensory overload, distress, or behavioral dysregulation when multiple peers speak simultaneously over loud audio previews or when the screen flashes with animations during design shifts.

Accessibility Solution & Evidence

• Proposed Solution: Provide noise-canceling headphones, set defined turn-taking boundaries with a physical sand timer, and switch the display settings to a high-contrast, static layout.

• Evidence: Peer-reviewed special education research confirms that minimizing ambient sensory noise and using clear visual turn-taking indicators reduces anxiety and prevents sensory over-stimulation in neurodivergent populations (Gauvreau et al., 2023). Tailoring the sensory environment allows the child to focus on peer collaboration without sensory fatigue.

Guideline 9: Emotional Capacity

• 9.2: Develop awareness of self and others

• Social-Emotional Focus: Manages feelings, Solves social problems, & Establishes and sustains positive relationships

Digital Tool & Function

• Tool Name: Breathe, Think, Do with Sesame (by Sesame Workshop) https://sesameworkshop.org/resources/breathe-think-do/ 

• Function: A free, interactive application featuring Sesame Street characters that teaches early learners a three-step strategy ("Breathe," "Think," "Do") to unpack emotional frustration and solve social dilemmas. 

 Instructional Scenario

When two preschoolers get into an argument over a shared toy truck, the teacher brings them to the classroom "Calm Down Corner." Together, they open this app to help an animated monster character navigate an identical emotional conflict. The students take turns tapping the screen to help the monster take deep breaths to manage feelings, review alternative choices to solve the social problem (e.g., asking for a turn, playing together, or finding another toy), and execute a solution. This aligns with Consideration 9.2 because it models situational self-awareness, normalizes complex emotions, and offers an explicit, repeatable blueprint that helps young children repair conflicts and sustain positive relationships (Gordon, 2018).

Learning Barrier

• Identified Barrier: Severe cognitive, conceptual, or developmental processing delays.

• Learner Type: A student with a significant global developmental delay may struggle with abstract representation, failing to connect the digital monster's breathing animations or problem-solving steps to their own immediate feelings of anger or frustration.

Accessibility Solution & Evidence

• Proposed Solution: Pair the app with direct, in-the-moment adult co-regulation modeling and co-regulating pictures. The teacher sist face-to-face with the student, physically mirroring the monster’s slow breathing, and place the child's hand onto a plush monster toy to mimic the physical rise of a deep breath.

• Evidence: Early childhood psychology demonstrates that abstract digital self-regulation applications are ineffective for children with low-incidence cognitive needs unless paired with direct human co-regulation and concrete tactile props (Roldan et al., 2021). Physical modeling successfully bridges the gap between on-screen concepts and biological self-awareness.

Created by: Amber Talbott

University of Arizona

EDU 620: Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners Through Technology

June 29, 2026

References

California Department of Education. (2021). The powerful role of play in early education. ca.gov 

Gauvreau, A. N., Lohmann, M. J., & Hovey, K. A. (2023). Universal design for learning (UDL) in inclusive preschool science classrooms. Journal of Special Education Technology, 15(1), 1–11. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1403563.pdf

Gordon, D. (Ed.). (2024). Universal design for learning: Principles, framework, and practice (Updated ed.). CAST. cast.org 

Kennette, L. N., & Wilson, N. A. (2019). Universal design for learning (UDL): What is it and how do I utilize it? Journal of Effective Teaching in Higher Education, 2(1), 1–12. calstate.edu 

Roldan, A. M., Smith, J. K., & Taylor, L. R. (2021). How universal design for learning (UDL) can empower inclusive early childhood environments. The Dialog: A Journal for Inclusive Early Childhood Professionals, 17(2), 95–104. charlotte.edu