Ellipsis Education curriculum writers focus on diverse representation across the curriculum.
Ellipsis Education is designed with culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1995) as a central tenet of the content and focus so that teachers can empower all students to have access to CS curriculum, see themselves in CS, and engage in doing CS and using it as a tool to make their community and the world around them a better place. Ellipsis Education includes attention to the three broad characteristics of teacher-enacted culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) in the lens of CS, including teacher conceptions of self and others (confidence to deliver the curriculum and break down barriers of access to all students from various underrepresented backgrounds), teacher structured social relations (teacher as facilitator who pulls in student experience and ideas – funds of knowledge – as real-world examples), and teacher conceptions of CS knowledge (Ladson-Billings, 1995). Ellipsis Education holds CRP central as an important component within the curriculum for students from various ethnic/racial groups, English Language Learners, and has been applied with groups from lower socio-economic status, and gender groups.When creating lessons, Ellipsis Education curriculum writers focus on diverse representation across the curriculum by incorporating diverse imagery including varying physical abilities and appearances. Where possible, writers also include methods for student participation regardless of the stability of their internet connection or access to devices.
Within lessons, educators are provided with discussions that encourage students to question the design of everyday things and identify opportunities to increase their usability by different user types. Students projects include building tools and programs around a specific user base and need to cater features and input/output to each user's persona.
Ellipsis Education is committed to providing support for students currently learning the English language and for students with individualized education plans (IEPs). These accommodations come in the form of separate language objectives and comprehensive slide deck versions of lessons. Ellipsis Education has begun integrating this support into all courses.
Related Articles on ellipsiseducation.com: