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https://www.readingrockets.org/article/universal-design-learning-udl-what-you-need-know

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Universal Design for Learning (UDL): What You Need to Know

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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.

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Moving Beyond Choice - article by Katie Novak

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Moving Beyond Choice - article by Katie Novak

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Provide multiple means of engagement. Provide multiple means of representation. Provide multiple means of action and expression. At a glance, it is easy to interpret the three principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) for what they are: offering options to students. It seems like a simple feat.

But offering choice is just skimming the surface of full-scaled UDL implementation. When UDL is done well, its efforts result in expert learners: students who are purposeful and motivated, resourceful and knowledgable, strategic and goal directed. When you examine this - the end goal of UDL - it's clear that you will need to go far beyond offering choice in order to fully implement UDL in your classroom.

At its heart, UDL is a standards-based framework. This means if your students don't meet a standard - whether that standard is a content standard or methods standard - then you haven't done enough to remove barriers to learning in your lesson design.

UDL isn't a framework you can implement overnight. It takes time, patience, and continued practice to eliminate academic, behavioral, and social emotional barriers that prevent all students from learning at high levels. Even the most experienced teachers can sometimes struggle with universally designing learning experiences, but that's okay. Struggle isn't a bad thing. It means you're sustaining effort and persistence as you work toward a goal that matters. Sometimes, like students, educators need the option to access scaffolds, rubrics (see the UDL Progression Rubric), exemplars, and graphic organizers to help self-assess, monitor progress, and set goals for continuous improvement. That is what this UDL flowchart is here for. It's a visual that helps you to imagine what a lesson would look like if you eliminated all barriers to student learning. Now, of course you may be implementing aspects of the framework all the time. But if you're looking where to grow, consider this tool as your map to UDL-topia.

When you design a learning experience, and you want to determine if you have in fact, considered all the barriers that prevent students from learning, take a moment to look over the UDL flowchart. Have you addressed how you will provide options for motivation, ensure there are options for students to sustain persistence, and help students cope when things get difficult? Have you provided a variety of materials and supports to assist students with comprehension? Have you allowed students to take ownership of their education and choose the way that they express to you what they have learned as they work toward a standard? And finally, have your students met or exceeded that standard or goal?

It's a lot to think about, no doubt, and we'd love to hear your feedback on how the tool helps you get closer to universally designing your lesson plans at an expert teacher level and determine where barriers may be that are preventing full implementation of universally designed principles in your classroom. And don't get discouraged. I promise you that when I was first universally designing lessons, I didn't even get past the first step, but it gave me something to shoot for. You got this!

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Provide multiple means of engagement. Provide multiple means of representation. Provide multiple means of action and expression. At a glance, it is easy to interpret the three principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) for what they are: offering options to students. It seems like a simple feat.

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGQ_7K35ysA

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What is Universal Design for Learning (UDL)?

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What is UDL? Universal Design for Learning Explained (3 minutes)

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The Myth of Average:  Todd Rose at TEDxSonomaCounty

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GSD Newsletter - UDL and the use of Assistive Technology

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GSD Newsletter - UDL and the use of Assistive Technology

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My challenge to you this month is to start the work of normalizing choice and assistive tech. This is central to our UDL framework, but often students will not take advantage of choices/options if it is not "normal."

Ok, so how do we normalize it? One way is to make something 'different" become pedestrian or "everyday." Usage of and the expectation to use a variety of tools can start this process. For example, an assistive tech scavenger hunt where during your first unit or even better during your community building the first week or so, you make students test out different assistive tech. It could be a competition if that's your style.

Some "tasks" you might make students do

1. Listen to a prompt using ChromeVox- chromebook's built-in screen reader ("Ctrl + Alt + z" (on/off toggle).

2. Use Pear Deck at some point with add-in audio directions AND make students use the built-in immersive reader (icon in bottom right corner of viewer's screen.

3. UseFlip(grid), and make the students use it's built-in immersive reader

4. For one writing assignment, make students use google doc'svoice typingfunction (Under "Tools")

5. Make students have a website/news article read to them using the chrome extension "" Click Immersive Reader.here to watch how to use it (You may find other useful extensions in our GSD Chrome Store )

Encourage students who speak multiple languages to try our the translation and picture dictionary function

By making a quest out of using all these options and then revisiting the expectation in subsequent lessons you are giving student the efficacy to use the tools and the cultural expectation that they should be used. Plus you are also prepping platforms that allow you reach other aspects of UDL (especially choice in demonstration of learning)

Your challenge- should you choose to accept - (cue Mission Impossible music) is within the next two weeks

1. Add icons to a set of directions, a prompt, a mini-lesson, etc.

2. Add alternative text to an image you include in a slide show, google doc, etc. (usually just right click the image-> alt text)

3. Add an audio version of your directions (could be an embedded video voiceover, an audio clip in Pear Deck)

4. Turn on Closed Captions on a Google Slideshow in presentation mode(even if you are not using it directly)

5. Encourage and celebrate when students select the tools that allow them to access their learning as they need it. Grow your culture of normalizing alternative pathways to language, knowledge, and learning!

Share your successes and moments for growth with me, so I can celebrate your efforts toward building even more UDL in your classroom. Let's learn and grow from each other!

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My challenge to you this month is to start the work of normalizing choice and assistive tech. This is central to our UDL framework, but often students will not take advantage of choices/options if it is not "normal." Ok, so how do we normalize it?

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.