Universal Design for Learning is a curriculum design framework that helps educators to plan for learner differences. The UDL philosophy believes that we need to:
1) Represent information with multiple formats and media
2) Provide multiple pathways for students to engage with information and materials
3) Provide multiple ways to allow students to show what they know and express themselves
1) Represent information with multiple formats and media
2) Provide multiple pathways for students to engage with information and materials
3) Provide multiple ways to allow students to show what they know and express themselves
Dr.
David Rose, a neuropsychologist, who co-founded CAST, a non-profit
society with a mission to improve education for all learners through
innovative uses of modern multimedia technology says, "We want learners
to be the best kind of learner they can be" and if this is true then we
need to plan for student differences so that students can be
successful. When we differentiate instruction we proactively plan
our lessons based on student interest, readiness and learning needs and
provide students with various ways to engage with the information and
show what they know. We provide choice so that students can pick the
best way they can demonstrate their learning. Digital technology can be
used to provide learners with a range of effective ways to support
their learning!
I'd like to introduce you to a student named David. David has apraxia and autism and he finds it difficult to think about his learning and write it down at the same time. He also finds it hard to keep up with the pace of reading that his grade 5 peers are doing. Enter technology - the pathway. David loves using technology and is motivated to use it. He has a SET-BC lap top and we access ARC-BC for free resources that he can read. We download kesi (Kurzweil) files and his Kurzweil program reads the books to him (see graphic). Kurzweil highlights the text as it reads and this helps David to track with the text and read the words himself. With Kurzweil he can also click on the highlighted green words and look up what they mean. David is engaged with the learning material and is able to read text that he would not have been able to do without the technology.
David also uses a program called Clicker 6 which allows him to express his ideas in writing with a click of a button. Because it is hard for David to start writing we create templates for him that include prompts. Once he has the prompts it is much easier. For example, the students in the class have to create a journal of what they did on the weekend. In the picture below I have created purple buttons to help trigger his ideas on what he saw, played, felt etc. The white buttons contain quantity words and the yellow buttons tell when it happen. David can click on the words and phrases, or use his own words to create text. Clicker 6 has a word prediction component that displays 4 words based on the first few letters that the student types. You can see it working in the image below. When the correct word comes up, David can click on the word or enter the number that is beside the word, and this will appear in the correct place in his text. Clicker 6 also reads the text back to him and this helps him to make sure that what he is writing sounds right. When David is finished and he prints off his piece, it looks professional and he's so proud of it! If David was to write this journal entry with a pen, it would be hard to read and he wouldn't get as much accomplished.
UDL is an effective framework on which to build our curriculum. It keeps all kids in mind and is very efficient. If we design for all people from the start, then more people can access the curriculum. It's a good way to think!