Igniting Agency and Elevating Learning: Personalized Pathways Through Depth, Design, and AI

Outline

Total Time: The timeline below is for a 90 min lab, but it can be adjusted if it’s approved for 60 min.

1. Welcome and Interactive Introduction (10 minutes)
Content and Engagement:
The session opens with a quick check-in activity inviting participants to reflect on how they currently differentiate or design for diverse learners.
Process: Participants connect their own practice to the session focus through guided reflection and prompts.
Engagement: Digital participation using phones or laptops (shared FigJam/Padlet board).

2. Understanding the frameworks (10 minutes)
We’ll introduce Universal Design for Learning, Depth of Knowledge and the 3-Story Questioning Model, highlighting how these frameworks complement each other in promoting accessibility and deeper thinking. Participants receive quick reference resources and examples to ground their understanding before applying them in practice.

3. Setting the Stage (10 minutes)
Content and Engagement:
We’ll present a real classroom example showing how Universal Design for Learning, Depth of Knowledge, and AI intersect to create more inclusive and reflective learning. The case includes data and short artifacts from students and teachers that show measurable growth in engagement and agency.
As the example is being shared, participants will reflect in small-group or table discussions.

3. Deep Dive: Designing Through the Lens of Depth of Knowledge (45 min - 3 stages: 15 min each)
Attendees will use prepared topics or a content area of choice to reflect on as they go through this next section of designing through the lens of depth and knowledge.

Content and Engagement: Participants will explore how to elevate tasks across DOK levels using AI and UDL principles. For each level, we’ll share examples of how technology and AI can be used responsibly to scaffold complexity and reflection.
Process:
Facilitator models each level with concrete classroom examples.
Participants apply these ideas to their own context, sketching or planning a short learning experience.
The three levels will include:
Think It Through: Recall and comprehension; building the base. (15 min Gathering)
Make It Matter: Applying and reasoning through new contexts. (15 min Processing)
Push It Further: Designing, evaluating, and transferring knowledge creatively. (15 min Applying)
Engagement: Hands-on design work time using a guided template or framework. The facilitators circulate to provide feedback and inspiration

4. Wrap-Up and Sharing (15 minutes)
Content and Engagement: Participants share their ideas, experiences, or insights from the design activity.
Process: Digital showcase (Figjam/Padlet) followed by a closing reflection prompt.
Engagement: Sharing, followed by a short reflection on next steps and key takeaways.

Outcomes

After this session, participants will be able to:

- Implement strategies that foster student agency and help every learner take ownership of their learning journey.
- Apply a practical framework for creating intentional, inclusive, and empowering learning pathways.
- Integrate Depth of Knowledge levels to plan tasks that promote deeper thinking and meaningful learning.
- Incorporate 3 story questioning model and Blooms questioning strategies to empower students’ thinking about their thinking and learning
- Use AI as a reflective and creative partner to personalize feedback and support self-directed learning.
- Use the skills, templates and resources provided during this lab to design learning experiences that apply Universal Design for Learning principles to support accessibility, engagement, and expression for all students.
- Leave with a toolbox of activities and resources to assist in implementation with students and a plan/decision on which activities are best to meet their needs.

Supporting research

https://udlguidelines.cast.org/more/research-evidence/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

https://www.ed.gov/sites/ed/files/documents/ai-report/ai-report.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/391390736_Generative_Artificial_Intelligence_Amplifies_the_Role_of_Critical_Thinking_Skills_and_Reduces_Reliance_on_Prior_Knowledge_While_Promoting_In-Depth_Learning

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03075079.2025.2487570?utm_source=chatgpt.com

https://www.cast.org/what-we-do/artificial-intelligence/

Bloom’s Taxonomy And Costa’s Levels Of Questioning
https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.egusd.net/dist/8/289/files/2012/12/BLOOMS-TAXONOMY-AND-COSTAS-LEVELS-OF-QUESTIONING-WITH-PROMPTS-AND-TASKS-uph34h.pdf