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Universal Design helps all learners. Your instruction and curriculum would not need extra changes for accommodations because through UD the extra help is applied to everyone.

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Universal Design is the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability or disability. An environment (or any building, product, or service in that environment) should be designed to meet the needs of all people who wish to use it. This is not a special requirement, for the benefit of only a minority of the population. It is a fundamental condition of good design. If an environment is accessible, usable, convenient and a pleasure to use, everyone benefits. By considering the diverse needs and abilities of all throughout the design process, universal design creates products, services and environments that meet peoples' needs. Simply put, universal design is good design.

New to Universal Design?

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Centre for Excellence in Universal Design

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Universal Design is the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability or disability. An environment (or any building, product, or service in that environment) should be designed to meet the needs of all people who wish to use it.

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Click here to read about some benefits of using UD. For example, by providing learners with closed captions you not only allow a student who needs them due to a disability to learn, but also allow any other students who might learn better by reading or English is their second language opportunities for learning.

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Universal design means planning to build physical, learning and work environments so that they are usable by a wide range of people, regardless of age, size or disability status. While universal design promotes access for individuals with disabilities, it also benefits others.

Why Consider Universal Design?

UB is legally required to ensure that our work and learning environments are accessible for individuals with disabilities, and we understand that accessibility is essential to an inclusive environment. Creating accessible physical spaces, electronic content and learning environments requires additional thought and planning at the beginning stages. It is much easier, however, to plan for accessibility at the outset than to attempt to retrofit an inaccessible space, program or course to make it accessible. Universal design benefits a wide range of people with varying learning styles, preferences and abilities.

Universal Design in Action

Universal design improves access and outcomes for everyone in a variety of situations. Some examples include:

Curb cuts and power-assisted doors are necessary for access for people with mobility impairments. They also benefit a worker transporting items with a cart, a parent pushing a small child in a stroller, someone who is using a wheeled briefcase, and a person who is carrying a bulky item and is trying to open an exterior door.

Captions are necessary for individuals with hearing impairments in order to access information presented by audio. They also benefit someone who wants to watch a video in a library or a quiet office environment without disturbing others. English language learners may also have an increased comprehension of the information where captions are provided.

A website that is designed with headings, well-organized content and keyboard navigation will benefit individuals using screen readers and those with learning disabilities. It will also be easier to follow and more visually-appealing for everyone.

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The Goals and Benefits of Universal Design

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Universal design means planning to build physical, learning and work environments so that they are usable by a wide range of people, regardless of age, size or disability status. While universal design promotes access for individuals with disabilities, it also benefits others. Why Consider Universal Design?

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Help all students by being clear and setting expectations for learning.

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Simply sharing what teachers hope kids will learn may not be enough-constructing expectations together helps guide students to understanding.

Ensuring that students are clear on the expectations of learning is one of the most effective ways to impact student achievement. Yet, I have found, through trial and lots of error, that establishing clarity is not a straightforward process for students or teachers.

There was an assumption on my part that if "I do" the sharing of expectations with kids, they will learn. I thought if I shared the learning expectations verbally, stated the goals clearly on the board, provided easy-to-read rubrics, and gave students time to write down the learning expectations, they would develop clarity. That didn't seem to do the trick for most kids. Akin to hearing a lecture without checks for understanding, students watched me teach but didn't take an active approach to ensuring that they understood the expectations of learning.

Next, I tried the "you do" approach by having students review an outline, preview a passage, or review a previously taught lesson to determine what we might be learning in the future. Again, the whole class came up short on what we were learning. Without my guidance, students strayed from finding the purpose of the learning.

After a time, I found that the best way for students to develop clarity of expectations was through a "we do" process, using activities where both students and I engaged with one another to build clarity of what we were learning together. Research calls this co-construction. I found that this process not only provided students with a better understanding of what we were learning but also gave me a better understanding of what students knew when we began a unit or lesson.

3 Popular Co-construction Strategies

Write down the specific steps that you have taken

Share the specific steps with their friends and create consensus

Revise their steps after viewing multiple examples from you

The teacher solves several addition of fraction problems with unlike denominators and asks students to write down the steps that they took to solve the problem.

The teacher writes three paragraphs of an essay in front of students and asks the students to write down the key steps that they took to write the essay.

1. Silent protocol: One of the most efficient and effective ways to co-construct expectations of learning is to show students the exact steps to successfully accomplish the learning goals you want them to meet. For example, simply show students an example of how to solve a math problem, but do so without talking. See if they can do the following:

What was the error?

Why was that an error?

How do we rectify the error?

2. Error analysis: Having students detect errors from others (either the teacher or their peers) is highly engaging and allows students to develop an awareness of common misconceptions. For example, in one class, students were told that they would be assisting the teacher in developing success criteria toward a goal (i.e., counting objects). The teacher began counting and making a number of errors, including repeat counting of the same object, skip counting objects, and repeating the same number in their counting. Each time the students stopped the teacher, the teacher asked these questions:

Present students with multiple drafts of a scientific lab report, and have students serve as a senior editor to determine what criteria other editors should be using when assessing the lab report.

Present students with drafts of paintings that have a myriad of errors, and have them determine the criteria needed to prevent such errors in the future.

After the discussion, students shared the steps they took and how to use those in the future. The next day, the teacher presented a rubric to support them in counting. The students thought the teacher should have the rubric up on the wall so that she wouldn't forget how to count!

3. Evaluating examples: One of the most powerful ways to ensure that students have clarity of learning expectations is to provide work samples. For example, imagine that a second-grade teacher was expecting students to write a personal narrative. He or she presents an example of mastery to students and asks each student to independently write down what they think makes the personal narrative successful.
Courtesy of Michael McDowell
Next, the teacher asks the students to discuss their criteria with a partner and then asks the class to create consensus on one list. The teacher then asks students to use their list to evaluate other work samples. In this last step, students debate and reference the mastery example when making claims.
Courtesy of Michael McDowell

Provide students with a recording of students reading a passage, and ask them to point out what they're doing successfully to read and interpret the passage.

Show students examples of successful art pieces, and ask students to identify the criteria for success.

Show students worked math examples, and have them identify what success looks like.

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How Students and Teachers Can Develop Clear Expectations for Learning

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Simply sharing what teachers hope kids will learn may not be enough-constructing expectations together helps guide students to understanding.

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Read this article for ideas on how to become more approachable for all students in your classes. One example includes, put on your syllabus a statement of invitation for students with disabilities or accommodations to come speak to you about it if they want!

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If students dare to ask you something quickly, this contributes to a safe learning environment. It stimulates the students’ motivation to participate in the lectures. Therefore, the course evaluations by students check, amongst other things, how approachable you are as a lecturer. But how do you make yourself approachable as a lecturer? These educational tips provide guidelines.

Create an open atmosphere

According to research, positive reinforcement works better than penalties. Penalties can lead to a negative atmosphere that is detrimental to the learning climate. So avoid an environment in which students are scared to ask or answer questions:

When a student asks an irrelevant question or gives an incorrect answer, respond in a supportive way and interpret the answer positively.

Try to find the thinking behind an incorrect answer.

Don’t just emphasise the incorrect but also the correct aspects of the answer.

Acknowledge that the reason for an error or irrelevant answer may be due to the way you asked the question or lack of clarity in your explanation.

Enforce mutual respect

Make concrete agreements about what you expect from the students and assume that they will comply. Do not doubt the intelligence or maturity of the students: if you treat them as children, you will you provoke childish behaviour. Make it clear that the ultimate responsibility for learning lies with them and that you can only guide them.

Give students the chance to shape part of the lectures on their own initiative. For example, they can suggest a guest speaker or propose a theme. Indicate that you also want to learn from them and that you are open to suggestions.

Keep eye contact

Keep eye contact with students at various places in the room. That way, you will give a less distant and formal impression. Look carefully at the students and deduce from their reactions whether they can follow your explanation or not.

If necessary, address them: "It seems that my explanation is causing some confusion. What is the problem?" This way you immediately indicate that you are willing to respond to lack of clarity.

Use first names

In large groups, it is challenging to address students by their first name, but if possible, it may pay to memorise first names. It narrows the distance between you and the student and relaxes the interaction. Making an effort to remember names is proof of your positive involvement.

Be available

Students often have a question right after the lecture. Give them a chance to speak to you by, for example, quietly taking the time to collect your stuff.

Initiate a conversation with students who linger after the lecture. Ask for their feedback about your lecture. By adopting an open attitude, you lower the threshold for students to ask questions.

At the beginning of the semester, make it clear that you can be contacted outside the lectures. Of course, that does not mean that you are available 24/7. Specify how the students can best contact you:

via email,

via fortnightly meetings on the Ufora 'meeting planner' tool,

in person after the lectures

...

Organise your own satisfaction survey

Ask the students to write one sentence on a piece of paper what they found of your lecture and ask them to fold and submit them. That is a low-threshold way to ask for feedback and show that you appreciate the students’ opinion.

Last modified Jan. 13, 2021, 10:36 a.m.

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Being approachable as a lecturer: how do you do that? | Educationaltips

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If students dare to ask you something quickly, this contributes to a safe learning environment. It stimulates the students’ motivation to participate in the lectures. Therefore, the course evaluations by students check, amongst other things, how approachable you are as a lecturer. But how do you mak…

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Read these great ideas for how to engage any learner! It is essential that all learners feel like their teacher is actively engaging them for them to retain information and use it on their own.

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When student engagement is going downhill, we often find ourselves reaching for the prop box.

We pull out random videos, time-sucking resources, overly complex activities... anything to get and keep attention. But even these can't compete with our students' pen tricks, doodling, and discussions of what happened at recess. And there's a simple reason why:

Our students aren't engaged by things. They're engaged by us. That's why the best (and easiest) ways to increase student engagement come from you.

We compiled 20 essential strategies that generate lasting engagement, without the flashy props and hours of post-school prep.

Let the countdown begin!

20. Connect learning to the real world

We've all heard it before: "When am I ever going to use this?" Answer this question and you'll engage students with content that they know is relevant to life beyond school. Use anecdotes, case studies, and real-life examples from outside the classroom to root your teaching in "the real world".

19. Engage with your students' interests

Find out what already engages your students and build it into the learning process.

Using mathematics as an example, you could have students chart their performance in a video game over the week. You might even get your budding social media influencers to calculate a projected number of Instagram followers.

Learning what excites your students does more than just engage them. You'll build strong relationships and rapport, too.

18. Fill "dead time"

"Dead time" is any point in a lesson where students are left without something to do. You might be handing out a worksheet, getting a presentation set up, or waiting interminably for a YouTube video to load. These are brief windows that leave just enough time for students to tune out, after which time it can be very difficult to get them back.

Fill these blank spaces with low-order activities to hold students' attention. These should be quick, easy, and require minimal follow-up. For example:

Think Pair Share: students reflect on something, discuss with a partner, and then share with the rest of the class once everyone is ready

Quickwrite: write down three questions or points that have been raised by the lesson so far

What I know already: if you're just about to dive into new content, ask students to identify three things they already know about the subject and jot them down as bullet points.

17. Use group work and collaboration

Collaborating with small groups gives students a welcome break from solo bookwork. They'll benefit from each other's perspectives and the ability to express their ideas.

Use your judgment and knowledge of who works well together when organizing group work. Engineering the groups might avoid troublesome partnerships, while allowing students to work with friends might generate the buzz you need for more productive activity.

16. Encourage students to present and share work regularly

Giving students a regular opportunity to share their thoughts and demonstrate learning in front of their peers drives engagement in two ways:

it makes students accountable

it lets them hear from someone other than their teacher.

If your students quiver in fear at the thought of speaking in front of the class, combine presentations with group work. A few ideas:

Have students present in groups after a group task.

Let students share each other's work within smaller groups before asking them to choose one piece to share with the rest of the class.

Let students read or present their work while sitting down. It avoids the pressure of having to "stand and deliver".

Ask for one contribution from each group after discussion, with each group nominating a "spokesperson".

Above all else, make presenting and sharing a regular part of class activity. Your class will become an equitable and engaging space that echoes with the voice of every student, not just your own!

15. Give your students a say

If you don't know how to engage your students, let them tell you! Give your students a say in classroom activity by:

providing a choice of different activities (e.g. group work or solo)

seeking student input for assessment design (e.g. students can choose a final product, provided it meets the criteria)

periodic check-ins to monitor the pace of delivery (e.g. "do we need to go over this a bit more slowly or are we feeling pretty confident?").

Giving students a choice also fosters their sense of ownership over their learning. They'll move from passive consumers to active learners with a stake in classroom activity.

14. Use mixed media

Present learning content in a variety of mediums, including video, audio, and digital resources. Using such tech-rich resources is engaging for two reasons. It's a welcome change from the stacks of paper our students are usually saddled with, and it establishes a direct and relevant connection with the digital world they inhabit.

13. Get your students moving

If your students struggle to sit still for an entire lesson, get them moving. All that pent-up energy can be channelled into a learning activity that puts them on their feet. Try the following.

Have students come to the front and brainstorm together on the whiteboard.

Have students rotate through different stations around the room over the course of an activity.

Have students split into groups or arrange themselves in different areas of the room.

Take a stand: have students move to a particular area of the room to indicate their thoughts on an issue (e.g. "everyone who thinks x, move to the right side of the room; if you think y, stand on the left").

Movement works equally well to engage sluggish or weary students. A quick bit of physical activity will leave them more alert for the next phase of learning.

12. Read the room

If you're steadily losing students to doodling, off-topic chatter, and the pervasive "need to tear and ball up little pieces of paper", it's time to shake things up.

Cut the activity short if it's dragging, clarify instructions if there's confusion, or switch to a more student-centered activity for greater engagement.

Remember: it's impossible to have every student engaged 100% of the time. The next best thing we can do is to notice disengagement and respond to it quickly.

11. Scaffold tasks with checkpoints

If you dump all your instructions on students at the start of a lesson before turning them loose with an activity, confusion and disengagement will likely follow.

That's why it's important to scaffold larger tasks by breaking them into achievable steps. Each of these can be separated by brief "checkpoints" of instruction reorienting students and reminding them of what needs to be done next. They also serve as a periodic call to attention when students are liable to go off track.

10. Focus on discovery and inquiry

Sometimes the best thing you can do for engagement is to get out of your students' way.

Let them discover learning for themselves without being spoon-fed. They'll exercise critical and creative thinking, and pursue the lines of inquiry that interest them.

This doesn't mean you should retreat behind the teacher's desk. Observe your students, listen to them, and talk to them about what they're thinking. Be their guide as opposed to their instructor.

9. Ask good questions

Ask good questions of your students and you'll drive rich, engaging discussions that are open to everyone.

Good questions should be:

open-ended: to avoid "yes/no" answers

equitable: open to answers of varying depth and complexity

legitimate: asked because you want to hear students' thoughts and opinions, not because you're fishing for a correct answer.

When students answer a question, engage with their response. Even if it's incorrect or misinformed, recognize their effort and use it to refine the question further (e.g. "you're on the right track, but could we also think about...").

8. Allow for think time

It's gratifying to see hands shoot up as soon as you ask a question, but letting your students think it over has two benefits. It leads to more considered responses that drive engaging discussions, and it also makes the conversation accessible to those who don't have an instant answer.

After you ask a question, insist on a twenty-second pause and give students an opportunity to extend their standard responses further. For example, you might ask "See if you can explain how you came to your answer, too". You'll receive better answers and start to notice some new hands going up.

7. Shake things up

Predictability is safe, but it can get boring. Mix up your staple teaching strategies with new and novel activities from time to time. Talk to other teachers for ideas. In addition to engagement, you'll also be giving your students an example of what it means to take a risk and try something new.

Experimenting with some new parts of the teacher toolkit also makes it easier to differentiate your instruction. A new activity or delivery method might be the trick to engaging that student who has been a tough nut to crack all year.

6. Give brain breaks

Periodically give students a breather with brain breaks. These are short activities that allow students to stretch their legs before returning to work feeling focused. You can find a list of 20 brain breaks at Mind Bloom.

Meritopia in Mathletics is gamified learning at its best and keeps students engaged! When students earn enough points in Mathletics, they get the perfect brain break in Meritopia by discovering new lands and unlocking characters.

5. Be personable

Relationships and rapport are pillars of lasting engagement, and you can't have either without being personable. This means getting to know your students and letting them get to know you.

While enthusiasm for the learning content might ebb and flow, your smile, laughter, and conversation will engage students every time they walk through your classroom door.

4. Encourage friendly competition

Use in-class games, quizzes, or gamified learning programs to engage students with friendly competition. For example, Live Mathletics (a feature in Mathletics) allows students to test their mathematical skills by competing in 60-second quizzes against peers in their class or around the globe in real time.

"Friendly" is the keyword here. Make sure competitive activities are low stakes and put the emphasis on learning instead of winning.

3. Start lessons with introductory hooks

Engage students from the outset of your lesson with an introductory hook. This could be anything that piques interest, establishes relevance, or inspires curiosity in the subject of the lesson, for example:

a personal anecdote connected to the subject

a brain teaser or challenge question

a historical example

a multimedia source.

Keep your hooks short and segue them directly into an overview of the learning goal. It's an effective opening that engages while setting students up for the main instructional component.

2. Laugh together

Weaving humour throughout your lesson lightens the mood and makes for a more fun experience. Laugh with your students, and don't be afraid to let them laugh at you from time to time!

1. Gamify learning

Games are the most powerful source of engagement for students outside of class, and they're equally effective at driving engagement in learning. Transform activities into games by including levels of difficulty, rewards, and competitive elements. You can read more about gamifying learning here.

You don't have to invest hours in creating rules and drawing up game boards, either. Gamified learning programs can do the work for you. The learning programs in the 3P suite, for example, provide a host of student-friendly games for mathematics, literacy, and science. All you have to do is select the appropriate curriculum and grant your students access.

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20 Student Engagement Strategies for a Captivating Classroom

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Here's our list of the best student engagement strategies to help you create an engaging classroom and better connect with students.

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Here are some ideas for how to maintain high expectations for all learners. They include examples and how to implement them in your classroom. All students, regardless of their abilities should have realistic and high expectations that they can meet.

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13 Ways to Set High Expectations in the Classroom

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High Expectations are key to being an effective teacher. This post provides a definition and 13 strategies. My top strategy is #1 which any teacher can use right away.

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Check out a description of the 7 principles of UD.

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Read through more explanations of how to incorporate UD through the principles that help all learners.

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Check out this visual that helps explain what IS universal design! Everyone should have access to the curriculum you are teaching without feeling isolated. The 7 principles will be looked at in a different section.

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Use the principles to help you plan for instruction.

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Read the definitions of Universal Design and differentiation here. One is an approach and one is a strategy!

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Read some similarities and differences between UDL and differentiation. UDL anticipates learner variability while differentiation responds to it.

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Listen/read Dr. Katie Novak explain the differences between UDL and differentiation as if you were preparing for a dinner party. There are closed captions available for any viewers.

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

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Read this article to go more in-depth when comparing UDL and DI. With DI teachers have a lot on their plate, but with UDL teachers have already thought about how to provide meaningful instruction to all learners and then do not need to cater to individual needs.

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Watch/read about what UDL is, how to use it, benefits, and why you should use it in your classroom! This video gives great ideas for how to incorporate a UDL. For example, by giving students choice they are not only motivated, but can play to their strengths that allow them to show you what they know.

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Take a look at this school news article to see which students can benefit from UDL (hint: ALL STUDENTS!)

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Help all students rock the curriculum with UDL! This benefits all students, the ones who need accommodations and any other student would receive benefits of a UDL structured classroom.

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Use this video to review 6 steps that will help you lesson plan while using UDL. An important step is to think about learner variability and how to address those differences before starting a lesson.

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Use UDL in your lesson planning to enhance your teaching

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Listen/read a personal narrative from Michael Nesmith about why we need UDL beyond school settings. He provides a comical view that most people wouldn't think about. He works for Amazon and gives you his perspective on why UD is so important in the work world.

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Why We Need Universal Design | Michael Nesmith | TEDxBoulder

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Read some ideas for how you can utilize technology to represent information to all students. For example, share notes online to all students ahead of time so that they can listen in on a lectures instead of having to write down everything.

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Students come to class with diverse learning modalities, abilities, motivations, and levels of background knowledge. Designing courses with strategies that accommodate a wide range of learners enhances an inclusive atmosphere and decreases unnecessary hurdles in the learning process. According to the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), there are flexible and multiple ways instructors can:

Represent material.

Provide students opportunities to demonstrate knowledge.

Engage and motivate students (CAST, 2011).

The techniques below are just a few strategies instructors have used to incorporate UDL principles in their courses using technology.

Provide Options for Perceiving: Ways to Represent Information

You can use presentation software to:

Present a visual representation of your lecture agenda, learning goals for the class, and/or an outline.

Provide visual organizational cues throughout the lecture.

Use visuals such as graphs, maps, cartoons, video, and other multimedia to illustrate concepts when possible.

Distribute a skeletal outline of the lecture before class.

You can use an online course management system, such as Blackboard, to:

Post course materials beyond those required. Include a section with basic background information and a section with more advanced topics for those who want to go further.

Share links to relevant websites.

Provide an FAQs section and add to it regularly.

Compile and share a list of keywords (useful for newcomers to the field and non-native English speakers).

Have students post their lecture notes. This may result in more intentional note taking, and students and lecturers get to see the variety of ways the lecture material was interpreted and re-organized.

Wear an assisted listening device without being asked or use a microphone in larger rooms.

Record lectures with lecture recording software. Share videos or make them available upon request.

Provide a syllabus digitally with hyperlinks to relevant websites.

Provide Options for Expressing Learning: Ways Students can Demonstrate their Knowledge

For class participation points, allow for more than just in-class discussions to count. Create online discussions to accommodate students who need more time to think before responding or prefer to engage in course material through writing and reflection.

Consider how technology can enable various forms of assessment. For example, in large classes, student presentations might not be feasible with class time constraints, but it is possible for students to record videos of group or individual presentations for submission.

Other technologies such as eportfolios, wikis, blogs, or even the creation of a website enable students to demonstrate skills, knowledge, applications, or reflection.

Use rubrics for students to give and receive feedback. Consider creating electronic fillable forms (e.g. PDFs, Google docs).

Incorporate classroom response tools, such as clickers or mobile devices, to have students apply knowledge anonymously or as a group. Instant results allow instructors to quickly assess student progress and provide prompt feedback to the group.

Ask students to find and post online multimedia that relates to course content. Have students evaluate each other's contributions.

Provide Options for Comprehending: Ways to Engage Students with Course Materials

Provide choices when possible. For example, allow students to choose between print or digital text books.

Incorporate peer feedback. For example, students to post responses on assignment drafts using blogs.

Support self-reflection and self-assessment through blogs or eportfolios.

Motivate students by using active learning techniques every so often in lectures. For example, ask students to work in pairs or small groups to find information online or have students quickly respond in writing to a short video clip.

UDL has some related concepts such as Universal Instructional Design and Universal Design for Instruction. All three advocate for accessible and inclusive instructional approaches that meet the needs and abilities of different learners.

Steps for Incorporating Universal Design

Reflect on what you're already doing.

Know the strengths and weaknesses of current activities, instructional methods, and materials (including readings).

Consider your own strengths and preferences for teaching.

Think about the diversity of students in your classroom.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the current curriculum?

Who would struggle with it?

Who would do really well with it?

Consider applying Universal Design.

How can you offer more choices?

What is essential about an assignment and what can be changed?

How could technology be used to enable more ways to accomplish the same learning goals?

Evaluate any changes.

How did it work for you?

How did students respond?

Did you address essential aspects of the course?

Adapted from Harbour (2012).

References

Harbour, W. (2012). Universal Design. Faculty Institute for Diversity, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

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Students come to class with diverse learning modalities, abilities, motivations, and levels of background knowledge. Designing courses with strategies that accommodate a wide range of learners enhances an inclusive atmosphere and decreases unnecessary hurdles in the learning process. According to the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), there are flexible and multiple ways instructors can: Represent material.

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Look through 30+ technology tools that you can utilize in your classroom for diverse learners.

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New discoveries about the workings of the learning brain have converged with advancements in educational technology to finally make possible the kinds of flexible learning environments that students need to prepare for their future. According to the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) f ramework, flexibility is key because it allows educators to accommodate their students' natural variability in learning preferences.

The Center for Applied Specialized Technology (CAST) defines UDL as a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn.

Neuroscience has revealed that learners show a great deal of variability in three key areas: in what they find motivating (the "why" of learning), in how they are able to take in and process information to make meaning from it (the "what" of learning) and in how they demonstrate their understanding (the "how" of learning).

Learners may be strong in one area (remembering the information they read) yet struggle and need support in the others (maintaining their focus or expressing their thoughts). Addressing this variability requires a more flexible approach to instruction that adapts the curriculum to the variable needs of learners, rather than the other way around.

To account for learner variability in each of these areas, CAST developed UDL guidelines that call on educators to provide options in the form of multiple means of engagement with learning, multiple means of representation for information and multiple means of action and expression through which learners can demonstrate their understanding.

The ultimate goal of these guidelines is to develop expert learners who are purposeful, motivated, resourceful, knowledgeable, strategic and goal directed. The goal of learner expertise ties directly into the ISTE Standards for Students, which empower students to take ownership of their learning as they build global competencies and develop deep thinking, collaboration and communication skills.

While UDL is first and foremost about implementing a flexible pedagogy, technology can help by making the kind of personalized learning envisioned under UDL a reality. Read on to find out about a number of free and low-cost UDL-aligned apps and websites that you can use to make learning environments more flexible and personalized. Or, if you prefer to view the list visually, take a look at our Pinterest board.

Tools for engagement and the affective network

For students to be engaged, learning has to be relevant and meaningful on a personal level. Project-based learning (PBL) is one approach that achieves this goal by tying instruction to real-world concerns that really matter to learners.

With PBL, learners gain knowledge and skills as they investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging and complex problem or challenge over an extended period of time. In conducting their inquiry, learners may do online research as well as go out into their communities to gather information through surveys and interviews that place the problem in a more personally meaningful context.

As they learn about the problem in the context of their own communities, learners engage in ongoing reflection about not only their emerging understandings but also the process involved in their inquiry. At the conclusion of the project, they make their project work public, often by sharing it with a wider audience through a classroom website or blog.

A challenge of implementing PBL, however, is storing and organizing materials and resources so students can access them easily when they need them.

Here are a couple of our favorite cloud storage tools:

To persist in their learning, students need to be aware of their progress. The best way to get this information is by receiving formative feedback throughout the course of each activity. In a UDL environment, this feedback originates not only from the teacher, but also from peers and even the learner him or herself in the form of reflection. Polling and student response tools can easily collect this information and display it in real time to help learners self-assess how their understanding relates to that of their classmates.

Here are some of the best student-response tools:

Tools for representation and the recognition network

For much of the history of education, print has been the primary way students have received information. If a learner could not process that type of information well, he or she was labeled disabled. The digital revolution, however, has created new options for presenting information in a multitude of formats to accommodate the many different ways learners prefer to retrieve and process information.

On both iOS and Android devices, a number of built-in accessibility options make it possible for the learner to customize the size of the text, invert the display for better contrast and make other adjustments to the display of text and the interface.

Check out these tools that make it easier to read on the web:

Safari Reader. This built-in option of the Safari web browser on Macs and iOS devices allows learners to remove the navigation, ads and other visual clutter from a web page to better focus on the content. Safari Reader has options for customizing the text size, the background color and the font for a customized reading experience. With iOS 11 and Mac OS High Sierra, learners can even set up Safari Reader to automatically activate on web pages that support this feature.

The Chrome web browser does not have a native option for removing the clutter from web pages, but learners can choose from a variety of free extensions that perform a similar function: Mercury Reader, Just Read and Easy Reader.

While some learners may need to customize only the display of the information, others may need to have the information presented in a different format to account for limitations in their sight or hearing. Fortunately, accessibility is now a built-in option on major operating systems.

For learners who have trouble reading on screens, try these basic screen-reading tools:

Text-to-speech is helpful not only for those who are blind or have low vision, but also or a variety of other learners, including those who struggle with decoding and those who prefer to listen to audio.

Here are the go-to text-to-speech tools:

Voice Dream Reader. This full-featured document manager expands on the capabilities of the built-in text-to-speech with even more options for personalization, including fully customizable colors for the word and sentence highlighting, masking to display only a few lines of text at a time, support for dyslexia-friendly fonts and more. Documents can be imported from a number of sources such as Google Drive, Dropbox and Bookshare, a service that provides free access to books in accessible formats for students with qualifying print disabilities.

Once learners have access to the information, the next step is to help them make sense of it. One way teachers can help students make sense of vast amounts of information is by highlighting some of the key patterns, concepts and relationships - in other words, the big ideas.

Here are some tools that use visual strategies to help students make sense of ideas:

Draw.io. This free software lets you draw and create almost anything you want, including mind maps. You can add shapes, links, text and images. You can use lines and change colors. You can access it directly from your browser without logging into an account or download the desktop version.

Tools for action, expression and the strategic network

Just as print was the primary way learners accessed information in the past, so writing has been the main way they have been able to demonstrate their understanding. Unfortunately, this puts some learners at a disadvantage, including those whose motor challenges make it difficult to hold a pencil, type or use a mouse, or those with processing or memory issues.

Dictation is a built-in feature on iOS devices for students who would rather speak their answers instead of entering text with an onscreen keyboard. No prior training is necessary for the speech recognition to work, but an internet connection is required. The speech recognition features built into both Windows and Mac provide support for a number of commands that perform common tasks, including opening applications and entering and formatting text. The enhanced dictation feature on the Mac even lets you create new custom commands.

Students who struggle with traditional means of expression, such as writing a paper, can also use video or audio to show their understanding in a variety of creative ways. Some of our favorite video and screencasting tools include:

In lieu of full video, students can use these audio-only tools instead:

GarageBand. This free app for iOS devices makes it easy for students to capture and edit audio and to create podcasts and other audio recordings that summarize their understanding at the end of a lesson. It's also great for audio reflections.

Audacity. This free and popular cross-platform tool provides basic recording and editing functions, but students will need to find royalty-free loops on sites such as incompetech.com if they want to add a music soundtrack.

Before learners can creatively express their understanding in a variety of ways, they need to organize their thoughts and come up with a good plan. A number of tools allow learners to practice, refine and augment this set of skills, which fall under the umbrella of executive functioning. These note-taking apps, for instance, allow them to easily capture and organize information in a variety of formats:

Just as a carpenter has a tool belt with a number of options to choose from to best suit the nature of each job, so technology gives educators a wide array of options for engaging learners and helping them access their learning environment. The key to taking best advantage of these new tools is to think pedagogy first, technology second. In other words, don't make adopting the technology a goal unto itself, but rather select the tool based on how well it fits the particular learning goals of your unit or lesson.

When used in a thoughtful way, technology opens up many possibilities for learners to find and develop their own voices, take ownership of their learning and become creators of knowledge instead of just consumers of information.

Want to learn more about using assistive technology to help all learners? Join the ISTE Inclusive Learners Network for free year-round professional development and opportunities to connect with the experts.

This is an updated version of an article the was originally published on June 8, 2015.

is a senior technical assistance specialist for the National Accessible Educational Materials for Learning Center at CAST. He holds a doctorate in special education and a master's in instructional technology from the University of South Florida.
Kendra Grant's multifaceted career includes stints as a teacher, library media specialist, special ed coordinator, co-founder of a professional learning company, online course creator and large-scale technology implementation consultant. She holds a masters of educational technology from the University of British Columbia.

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New discoveries about the workings of the learning brain have converged with advancements in educational technology to finally make possible the kinds of flexible learning environments that students need to prepare for their future. According to the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) f ramework, flexibility is key because it allows educators to accommodate their students' natural variability in learning preferences.

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Here are some other ideas using Bloom's Taxonomy for technology that your students can use.

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Check out this pyramid and how students who need accommodations are seen as part of the classroom with UDL.

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Please check out this Infographic to see some ideas for high tech assistive technology versus low tech.

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Use this rubric to help you grade yourself on incorporating UDL in any lesson! It is important for students to feel empowered with their learning.