Universal Design for Learning

Get the Universal Design for Learning Guidelines Here: http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines/downloads

Universal Design for Learning

December 2012

From the desk of you friendly building instructional technology specialist:
Christie Cutshall

What is UDL?
UDL is the Universal Design
for Learning. The UDL was developed by CAST: the Center for Applied Special Technology. When CAST began researching this topic, they focused specifically on making the general education curricula accessible to students with disabilities. They quickly realized this goal was too narrow. The goal of UDL now is to help educators develops curricula and units of study to meet the needs of all learners from the start.

UDL is NOT “fixing” the
students. We are altering the way we think about curricula so more students can access it easily. UDL is getting away from the mindset of cookie- cutter students and one-size- fits-all curricula. It must be flexible. When curricula are designed to meet the needs of an imaginary “average” student, they do not address the real learners.

The Main Principles of UDL are:
1) To Provide Multiple Means of Representation
2) To Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression
3) To Provide Multiple Means of Engagement.

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Lorem Ipsum

Ways to transform your classroom using UDL:
1. Vary the font used in print materials. Vary the speed and the volume of sound and speech.
2. Provide students with many visual texts, diagrams, and charts.
3. Use physical objects, models, and manipulative in addition to pictures and text descriptions.
4. Pre-teach content vocabulary and activate background knowledge.
5. Incorporate movement and music.
6. Give multiple examples and non- examples.
7. Chunk information into small pieces
8. Remove unnecessary distractions from the learning space.
9. Provide checklists, organizers, sticky notes, and electronic reminders.
10. Use text-to-speech software, spell checks, and grammar checks.
11. Provide differentiated feedback. 12. Help students set personal goals.
13. Ask questions to guide self- monitoring and reflection.
14. Give students as many choices as possible.
15. Plan learning activities to be authentic and meaningful.

If you want further information on UDL: CAST: http://www.cast.org/
National Center for UDLhttp://www.udlcenter.org/
UDL Center Resources: http://www.diigo.com/list/udlcenter/ Guidelines-Examples-and-Resources 

My UDL Response 

I do not think the UDL guidelines are just for special needs students,
they can be beneficial for all students. We just need to be careful that we
don’t think UDL guidelines are just best practices, because much of the
research I found warns against this. I think that many teachers are using much
of the UDL guidelines, but I do not think many teachers are aware of the actual
guidelines themselves. I know in all my district PD and meetings I had never
heard of the UDL guidelines specifically before. When I am lesson planning I
definitely take many of the guidelines into account, however I do not
specifically think “how can I incorporate the UDL into my teaching?” The way I
plan automatically includes UDL. I think that constructivism matches well with
the guidelines because it gives a lot of wiggle room for inquiry and
responsibility on the student’s part. Marzano’s theories line up well with UDL.
The ultimate goal of both of those guidelines is to incorporate 21st
Century skills in the classroom and they go together well. 

Annotated Bibliography 

CAST (Ed.). (2012). CAST universal design for learning. Retrieved November 30, 2012, from http://www.cast.org/about/index.html 

       This is the homepage of CAST. The Center for Applied Special Technology

(CAST) is a non-profit organization trying to enhance learning opportunities for all students, especially those with disabilities. It explains that the primary principles of the UDL are to give diverse learners options for acquiring information and knowledge, to provide learners options for demonstrating what they know, and to tap into learners' interests, offer appropriate challenges, and increase motivation.

CAST. (2011). Universal design for learning guidelines version 2.0. CAST. 

       This article contains the full text of the Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.0. UDL is all about mastery of not only content, but mastery of the learning process. The three principles of UDL are: Provide Multiple Means of Representation, Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression, Provide Multiple Means of Engagement. It helps teachers to get rid of their mindset of the “average” student, and to really focus on the students we have. 

Edyburn, D. (2010). Would you recognize universal design for learning if you saw it? Learning Disabilities Quarterly, 33(1), 33-41. Retrieved from http://www.cldinternational.org/Index.asp

       Edyburn begins by discussing the history of UDL and how it came about after IDEA legislation was put into place. The flaw in this may have been that students with disabilities, while gaining physical access to the general education classroom, do not have access to the general education curricula. He also explains that We need to define UDL before we can effectively use it to teach. Universal Design for Learning is not just good teaching. We need to be proactively valuing diversity, and intentionality.

UDL Center. (2011, February 2). What is UDL? Retrieved November 30, 2012, from National Center on Universal Design for Learning website: http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/whatisudl

       This is the website for the National Center on Universal Design for Learning. It explains that Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a set of principles that give all students equal opportunities to learn.  The website goes on to explain that UDL is not a one-size-fits-all quick fix, but rather a flexible and customizable approach to education. They also gave excellent diagrams on what parts of the brain are activated during different learning activities.

UDL technology tool kit wiki. (2008). Retrieved November 30, 2012, from

     http://udltechtoolkit.wikispaces.com/

       This is a fantastic wiki that compiles many technology resources for helping educators with incorporating UDL in their classrooms. Some of the categories that are included are graphic organizers, audio books, math tools, literacy tools, research tools, and study skills. Each category has a list of links to created resources and other websites full of information. 

Digital Divides

Digital Divides Response

I believe there are digital divides occurring in schools today. One school that I observed in was a very middle of the road school. They were not Title 1 and they did not have many Talented and Gifted students. Because of this, they were at the bottom of the barrel when it came to technology from the district level. Their need was not seen as great enough. Financially, I think that some students will never get to use technology in school. The district has to have some way of divvying out resources that they deem “fair.” If students and schools aren’t labeled “high risk,” or “G/T,” or “special needs” they don’t need any extra help according to the district. So any middle of the road “average” student might fly under the radar and never have access to these super cool resources.

I think we need to stop looking at technology as something only very low schools or very high schools “need.” In this day and age, every single student needs access to technology in order to be successful.

Technology is being used in classrooms. How effectively depends entirely on the teacher, and their level of familiarity with the technologies. A document camera might sit in a classroom untouched because a teacher doesn’t know how to use it and won’t take the time to learn.

Specific schools might have a technology focus, and therefore might be given extra resources, but otherwise, technology is distributed according to school performance.

Digital Divides

1)   Middle-of-the-road-schools are not getting technology resources.

If a school has low test scores, districts will give them money to try to raise their test scores. If a school has high test scores and many Gifted and Talented students, they receive extra funding to enrich those students. Schools that are in the middle can often be ignored because the are “doing just fine,” or so the district thinks. This is caused by funds needing to be allotted and districts do their best to work with what they have. Middle of the road schools can talk to their districts, attend meetings to get their say in, and write grants specifically for technology for their school. 

2)   Special needs students are allotted more technology than “regular” students. It is mandated by law that students on Individualized Education Plans receive more funding for their schools. They require services that general education teachers cannot provide. Other teachers and specialists must be hired. Schools need to be cognicent of how they distribute school wide technology funds and make sure that all students have access to technology. Schools can put a committee of teachers together to help them make this plan and effectively go through with it.

3)   Students with Special Needs Might Possess the Technology, but They Still do not Have Access to it. Physically having the technology in their hands is a start, but students with special needs, just like any other student, require a specific skill set to be able to work with different technologies. Too many people think give a student an iPad and they will teach themselves. This is the cause of the problem. These technologies are not just toys to distract them with. They need to be used purposefully. This needs to spill over into the general education classroom as well. Teachers need to make a plan altogether, perhaps in the IPE, of how we are going to make the curricula, and technology accessible to all of our students, and especially students with special needs.

Digital Divides Annotated Bibliography

Hardaker, G. (2010). Cognitive learning styles and digital equity: Searching for the middle way. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 14(8), 777-794. Retrieved from http://www.informaworld.com.dml.regis.edu/openurl?genre= article&id=doi:10.1080/13603110802680786 

Hardaker explains how he thinks the most important first step teachers need to take in order to be most effective in working with students of diversity is to recognize their cognitive learning styles. In order to better support these students we need to be relevant to the virtual generation.

Hudson, H. T. (2011). The digital divide. Instructor, 121(2), 46-50. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=EJ945726

Hudson discusses how traditionally the term “digital divide” has been used to describe the gap in socio-economic status. However there can be another divide found: the gap between how teachers see school technology and how students see it. She claims we as teachers are still using technology in the classroom to teach at students, rather than put it in their hands to learn with.

Institute of Museum and Library Services. (2011). Proposed framework for digitally inclusive communities. Institute of Museum and Library Services, 99. Retrieved from

http://www.eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED521127

This document of proposed framework for digital inclusion was put out by the Institute of Museum and Library Services in 2011. This document fosters the understanding that everyone in the United States has the right to access technology resources equally. In this article they discuss their plan for implementing this digital inclusion framework.

Seale, J. (2010). Digital agility and digital decision-making: Conceptualizing digital inclusion in the context of disabled learners in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 35(4), 445-461. Retrieved from http://www.informaworld.com.dml.regis

openurl?genre=article&id=doi:10.1080/03075070903131628 

In this article, Seale discusses how digital inclusion has always been thought of as just accessibility to the technology resources. Studies are now being done that say students with special needs require much more than just access to the technology: they require access to the curriculum and knowledge of the technology as well.  The authors propose there be a conceptual framework instated in education that focuses on concepts of digital inclusion. 

Warschauer, M. (2010). New technology and digital worlds: Analyzing evidence of equity in access, use, and outcomes. Review of Research in Education, 34(1), 179-225. Retrieved from  http://dx.doi.org.dml.regis.edu/10.3102/0091732X09349791

This article discusses not only the availability of technology to different groups of youth, it also addresses the social implications of those youth on the technology. Warschauer states that how we measure student success in different socio-economic statuses affects their mastery of 21^st Century Skills.

Warschauer, M., Knobel, M., & Stone, L. (2004). Technology and equity in schooling: Deconstructing the digital divide. Educational Policy, 18(4), 562-588. DOI: 10.1177/0895904804266469                                                                                   Warschauer explains how there is a gap in the use of technology in schools depending on the socio-economic status of the school and its student population. He believes that there is not one inherent factor, but many. The study done tracked technology use in several high SES schools and several low SES schools. The subject matter made a difference. In math, for instance, the high SES schools might have used computers for statistical analysis in an AP Stats class. This class was not offered at the low SES schools. The low SES schools had students working on computers for individualized algebra instruction. This kind of instruction was not needed by the students in the high SES schools.

Worcman, K., & Holland, M. P. (2002). Digital division is cultural exclusion, but is digital inclusion cultural inclusion? D-Lib Magazine, 8(3). 

In this article, the author discusses the paradigm and relationship between a culture of a people and the amount of digital resources they have access to. Worcman discusses several different indigenous communities and how they have digital equity. She also looks at their culture and how technologies fit in.