5 Examples of Universal Design for Learning in the Classroom

Table Of Content

• Forward Together: Helping Educators Unlock the Power of Students Who Learn Differently
• Voyager Sopris Learning Resources
• Flexible work spaces
• Designing Assessments of Student Learning
• Expression & Communication
• Increased Engagement and Participation
• What does UDL look like in the classroom?
• Include Diverse Cultural Perspectives

To get a deeper understanding of UDL, it also helps to see how it’s different from a traditional approach to education. Explore this chart that compares UDL and traditional education side by side (opens in a new window). By applying UDL principles, teachers can effectively instruct a diverse group of learners. They do this by building in flexibility in the ways learners can access information and in the ways students can demonstrate their knowledge.

Forward Together: Helping Educators Unlock the Power of Students Who Learn Differently

It’s about building in flexibility that can be adjusted for every person’s strengths and needs. There’s a lot of uncertainty around the future of work and our world. The ultimate goal of UDL is to develop “expert learners” who are purposeful and motivated, resourceful and knowledgeable, and strategic and goal-directed. When teaching, I aimed to address many barriers before we began a unit.

Voyager Sopris Learning Resources

Moreover, UDL goes beyond providing equitable access to marginalized students to enhancing the learning experience for everyone. Mindful tactics such as sharing study resources and providing assignment options offer all students meaningful support and ownership in their learning. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a way of thinking about teaching and learning that helps give all students an equal opportunity to succeed. This approach offers flexibility in the ways students access material, engage with it and show what they know. Developing lesson plans this way helps all kids, but it may be especially helpful for kids with learning and attention issues.

Flexible work spaces

UDL brings that approach to the classroom or to workplace training. UDL helps build in more ways a diverse group of learners can access information and show what they know. Even if you’re not familiar with the term universal design, you’ve likely encountered it in your everyday life. Common examples include automatic doors and dictation tools on smartphones. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an approach to teaching and learning that gives all students equal opportunity to succeed. Effective UDL requires forethought and strategy in all areas of course planning and design.

Designing Assessments of Student Learning

But the end result allows students to access, learn, and interact in a variety of ways, addressing the needs and preferences of a wide range of learners. Sheryl Burgstahler and Rebecca Cory (2009) identify the following key principles of UDL. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn.

5 tips on how unis can do more to design online learning that works for all students - The Conversation

5 tips on how unis can do more to design online learning that works for all students.

Posted: Tue, 08 Sep 2020 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Expression & Communication

But while accommodations happen on a case-by-case basis per legal requirements, UDL is a holistic course design framework. For example, closed captioning on TVs allows people with hearing impairments to see onscreen text of what is being said. If you’ve ever tried to watch the news or a game in a noisy restaurant, you probably used the closed captions to follow along. For purposeful, motivated learners, stimulate interest and motivation for learning. Waterford.org is a 501(c)(3)organization, and gifts aretax deductible as allowed by law. In all aspects of life, students must learn to separate critical information from information that isn’t as important.

Increased Engagement and Participation

He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education and holds a PhD in Education from ACU. Teachers can present information in a variety of modalities, including print, digital formats, audio or visual forms. This fits with the UDL concept of adapting to the needs of students. If you were to browse through picture books and story books for young learners in the early part of the century, you would think that a majority of the world consisted of one race. This disparity between what is portrayed in books and what exists in the population also exists in the media.

This article originally appeared on Understood.org (opens in a new window), a free online resource for parents of children with learning and attention issues. The chart below includes the three UDL principles adapted from CAST. It also gives you some questions to consider and lists some examples of the principles in action. You can print a one-page version of this chart to have on hand while planning a lesson, activity, or routine for your students. You don’t need specific tools or technologies to follow UDL’s principles either.

Integrating support, choice, and flexibility in course activities and assessments will benefit all of your students. Learn more about best practices for Designing Assessments of Student Learning. As you create your course, review your materials to ensure that students won't miss information if they opt for different means of representation. To understand what Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is, it helps to understand what it’s not.

Sometimes students didn’t have background knowledge, so we’d cover relevant topics and skills at the start. Other times, content wasn’t academically interesting or culturally relevant, so we found ways to tie it to their lives. I realized that many students needed clearer directions, checklists, and check-ins, so I created systems within our classroom to address this. One of the simplest ways to implement UDL is to offer multiple pathways to learning. This means providing students with different ways to access and understand the content.

For example, with digital content on the computer, students can be allowed to control with voice, joystick, or an adaptive keyboard when necessary. That way, each student gets to complete the assignment in the way that is best for them, while all students demonstrate a reasonable understanding of the topic. For example, students who prefer to create a video instead of completing a written essay can be grouped together to create a video project together. Everything starts with how students engage with the class and the subject. UDL describes human variability based on parts of the brain that manage the “why” (affective network), the “what” (recognition network), and the “how” (strategic network) of learning. Watch as CAST co-founder David Rose explains why UDL emphasizes variability instead of disability.

Make sure that children in your classroom feel comfortable and safe bringing their whole selves—including their race, heritage, gender identity, and disabilities—into your classroom and address bias. One simple but effective way to do so is by stocking your classroom library with books that reflect your students’ diverse backgrounds and experiences. For example, imagine a lesson in which your students read about the stages of butterfly metamorphosis and then draw a diagram of the process.

UDL is based on brain science and evidence-based educational practices. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST. The UDL Guidelines can be used by educators, curriculum developers, researchers, parents, and anyone else who wants to implement the UDL framework in a learning environment. After all, full accessibility for all learners sounds like an impossible task. Some educators may feel overwhelmed or unsure how to start, while others may fear that UDL will sacrifice the quality of the whole for the benefit of a few. But in practice, UDL can streamline instructor labor by providing an intentional framework for course planning and by reducing the need for later remediation.