Early Morning Curriculum Design

Sometimes I wake up in the dark and my mind begins to chatter. Sometimes I worry about painful things, but often I can redirect my stream of words into ideas, sentences that are planning rather than fretting. So at 5:00 I lay restlessly and thought about a new course I'm planning, about scripting and audio and documentaries culminating in podcasts. After I'd heard the furnace kick in and felt the air a little warmer, I got up and made some notes. Good ideas, if I do say so myself, including wondering if I should ask the students to learn a little about how the brain deals with sound as part of their thinking about audience. With that as an excuse, I woke up my computer and started googling. Many search terms, many sites briefly checked and rejected – and then a HIT! – http://www.learningthroughlistening.org/Listening-A-Powerful-Skill/The-Science-of-Listening/History-and-Overview-of-Listening/91/

I find the information clearly presented and it appears to be up-to-date. I especially love the use of the same video clip with different sounds to illustrate the affective impact of sound – http://www.learningthroughlistening.org/Listening-A-Powerful-Skill/The-Science-of-Listening/Learning-Through-Listening-in-the-Digital-World/How-New-Technologies-are-Changing-our-View-of-What-Listening-is/Helicopter-Videos/264/

Although it is aimed at teachers, especially those who teach dyslexic and/or disabled students, the information is valuable for a more general audience, in my opinion.

A little further exploring of this extensive and very rich site, and I discover that it advocate a Universal Design for Learning (or UDL). http://www.cast.org/research/udl/index.html

I quickly bookmark these sites (and write up this post) and wrench myself away from exploring further (later!) so I can get on with my planned day. (Sometimes insomnia can be valuable;->)

Joan Vinall-Cox, PhD – joanvc@jnthweb.ca
JNthWEB Consulting – http://jnthweb.ca/
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