The purpose of the projects in each unit is to provide you with hands-on experience with the content in the unit. Each unit will have several project options. You should choose the one project that best aligns with your personal interests and your context.

Option 1: Conduct an Accessibility Review

Providing accessible content is an ongoing challenge for schools and districts. Despite the legal requirement to ensure that all digital content is accessible, many school districts still fall short. To complete this project, you should:

• Review your school website (including PDFs and documents being distributed), one of your district’s social media feeds, one learning object, and one educational software package for review against WCAG2.1-AA standards and against the UK infographics shared in the course.
• Create a write-up for each of the four items indicating the deficiencies found and recommended solutions.

Grading

The assignment will be graded with 2.5 points per write-up and the write-up should indicate which deficiencies were found (or why no deficiencies were found), and a recommended course of action.

Option 2: Develop a high-quality UDL-aligned learning experience

Designing high-quality lessons for all students is a challenge. For this project, you should design an instructional module (lesson or small unit) that implements UDL principles with fidelity. You may create this for yourself or in partnership with another teacher. You should develop or select the instructional materials and strategies to be used and develop a lesson plan (any format, though this site may help). In your write-up, explain the decision you made, how the elements align to UDL principles, any struggles you faced, and what implementation may look like. I’ll award up to three bonus points if you implement this lesson and complete a reflective write-up at any point during the semester.

Grading

The assignment will be graded as follows:

• 3 points: High quality instructional materials used
• 3 points: Lesson plan write-up is coherent and aligns to UDL principles
• 4 points: Reflection connects lesson activities and materials to UDL principles and explains the decisions made, rationale, and difficulties.

Option 3: Conduct a Thorough Software Review

For this project, you should conduct a thorough software review for a large software package like a curriculum, an ILS or Intelligent Tutoring System, or 3-5 smaller packages like learning objects or lesson plans. You should include results of all of the NC Quality Review Tools checklist, one of the EQuIP rubrics, and the Culturally Responsive Scorecard. You should also evaluate curricular alignment, coherence, cultural responsiveness, actionable data, accessibility, and TCO. Submit a write-up summarizing your results.

Grading

The assignment will be graded as follows:

• 1.5 points: NC Quality Review Tools
• 1 point: EQuIP Rubric
• 1.5 points: Culturally Responsive Scorecard
• 2 points: Write-up summaries curricular alignment and coherence
• 2 points: Write-up summaries cultural responsiveness and accessibility
• 2 points: Write-up summaries actionable data and TCO

Option 4: Create Creative Commons and Copyright Guidance

For this project, you should plan a professional learning module for teachers in your district to learn about copyright and Creative Commons. This should include activities focusing on copyright dos/don’ts, what CC licensing is, and how teachers and students can license their own work. It should be customized to the needs and policies of your district. Submit all of the training materials, as well as a write-up explaining your module, what you customized for your district and why. The module may be designed for online or face-to-face delivery.

Grading

The assignment will be graded as follows:

• 2 points: Copyright content explains how to avoid violating copyright law
• 2 points: CC licensing is accurately explained
• 2 points: Module explains how teachers and students can license their work as Creative Commons based on school and district policy
• 4 points: Write-up explains the process for building the module and how it addresses specific district needs

Option 5: Review Materials from the OER Commons

OER materials can vary greatly in quality and depends on the crowd to help promote the best resources. As the #GoOpenNC initiative is new in North Carolina, this is an opportunity to help seed this initiative. Within the #GoOpen NC system, complete evaluations (rubric, quality of alignment to standards, and comments) for 10-15 items in the platform on the topic of your choice (include a variety of topics, subject areas, and grade levels). Include a cursory accessibility review as a part of this process. In a write-up submit copies of your results and a summary of any reflections of the process and any consistencies noted across all of the materials.

Grading

The assignment will be graded as follows:

• 0.75 points each: Reviews complete and comments are of high quality, including accessibility notes if any exist.
• 2.5 points: Reflection includes any key takeaways about the process and any consistencies

Option 6: Create a Sample Policy for Teacher-Created Materials

Create a sample policy for your district that defines the Intellectual Property rights of teachers for the lessons they create. Get feedback from at least three stakeholders in different audiences. In your write-up, include the policy, a summary of the decisions made based on the needs of your district, the feedback provided from your stakeholder reviews, and how the policy changed as a result.

Grading

The assignment will be graded as follows:

• 4 points: Policy document is clear and actionable
• 3 points: Review includes documentation connecting the policy to the needs of the district
• 3 points: Write-up includes the stakeholder feedback and how the policy changed as a result.

Option 6: Create an AI-infused Activity

Create an instructional learning object that uses AI in some way - either to generate the content or for use by students. Include a lesson plan, student-facing materials, and an example of what students would complete. In your reflection, share the role AI plays in your lesson, how you chose to use this tool, the pitfalls you have, and how you balanced the innovation of this lesson with safety and best practices in AI.

Grading

The assignment will be graded as follows:

• 4 points: Policy document is clear and actionable
• 3 points: Review includes documentation connecting the policy to the needs of the district
• 3 points: Write-up includes the stakeholder feedback and how the policy changed as a result.

Option 8: Choose Your Own Adventure

If there is another project option that you would like to pursue, please contact me with a pitch.