Teaching by Design: Using Your Computer to Create Materials for Students with Learning Differences

Website: woodbinehouse.com

This book introduces a collection of educational materials that can be used to help children learn. The author is the mother of a daughter with multiple disabilities. Her goal with this book is to create educational bridges to leave no one behind.



The first section of the book is devoted to discussing the variables which one can use to create and design learning materials including text, font type, design style and size. Each section has a summary of the main points presented in the section. Other variables discussed include how to use images and icons, making sure that the choices fit the child’s experiences.



In the section on print layout, the author uses communication board layout principles to help guide the layout of educational materials that include predictability and simplicity. These are good reminders to anyone who prepares class materials and wants to have important concepts stand out in overheads as well as in personal notes. The media section introduced all sorts of options such as using magnets and decals to print on and choosing colored paper for good contrast.



Each chapter is just long enough and the author demonstrates her suggestions throughout. For example, in the graphics section, simple instructions with pictures of how to use graphics programs to design the educational materials are included. Tons of information is presented simply and appealingly.



The chapters on designing specific materials give instructions and material lists at the beginning and the skills that can be taught using the end product.



A CD ROM containing templates for all the designs presented in the book is included. A note: In order to use some of the templates you may need additional software such as Adobe Illustrator or other programs but all of the materials are viewable in PDF format. Finally, a resource list and colored pictures of some of the final products round out this useful book.