# data[].attributes.body
Explain the Dewey Decimal System’s origin

Demonstrate comprehension through explaining application to books/research topics

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Dewey & Sora multi-media activity Padlet - Dewey Decimal System activities only in this Module

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Dewey & Sora multi-media activity Padlet - Dewey Decimal System activities only in this Module

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Students apply what they learned through responses in this Padlet with multiple response options to apply UDL

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Students share what they learned in research

View materials created by other students sharing what they learned related to the same subject (peer learning/co-teaching facilitated)

Engage in multiple interactive discussions, with social media options instead of traditional Google Slides, etc.

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Students were given these instructions for the Google Slides assignment or the optional social media alternate assignments

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Search the online Follett Destiny inventory for books prior to visiting the Media Center

Search for eBooks and audiobooks in Sora

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Destiny Presentation - screenshot example

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Destiny Presentation - screenshot example

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A step-by-step audio/text narrated how-to for using the online Destiny library catalog.

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​On March 25, 2021, the State Board of Education approved the K-12 Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE) for Health Education. Full implementation began in the 2022-2023 school year.

World Languages

On January 17, 2019, the State Board of Education approved 7 new Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE) courses for world languages. These courses will be implemented during the 2019-2020 school year. The courses include 6 new Middle School Dual Language Immersion Courses and a Spanish for Native Speakers Level 3 course.

Fine Arts

The Georgia Standards of Excellence have been created for all courses in Dance, Media Arts, Music, Theatre, and Visual Art. Full adoption for Georgia Standards of Excellence in Theatre and Visual Art begin in the 2018-19 school year and Dance and Music were ​adopted in the 2019-20 school year. Extensive resources, lesson plans, curriculum maps, and teaching aids were created by the GaDOE Fine Arts Department to aid teachers and can be viewed at the link below.

Physical Education

On May 3, 2018, the State Board of Education approved the K-12 Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE) for Physical Education. Full implementation began​ in the 2019-2020 school year.

Science

​On June 9, 2016, the State Board of Education approved the K-12 Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE) for Science. The K-12 Science GSE were​ implemented during the 2017-2018 school year following a full year of teacher training.

On July 18, 2019, the State Board of Education approved the Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE) for the following high school science courses: Astronomy, Botany, Ecology, En​tomology, Epidemiology, Forensic Science, Geology, Human Anatomy & Physiology, Meteorology, Microbiology, Oceanography, and Zoology. These Science GSE courses were implemented during the 2020-2021 school year.

Social Studies

The Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE) for Social Studies were approved on June 9, 2016 and were implemented beginning the 2017-18 school year.

English Language Arts

All coding for standards and related instructional resources will be updated with the new GSE for use beginning in the 2015-2016 school year. For example, ELACC3RF3 will be changed to ELAGSE3RF3. All GPS and related documents in other content areas will be renamed to reflect the Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE) as revisions occur.

See below for links to the ELA.

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​On March 25, 2021, the State Board of Education approved the K-12 Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE) for Health Education. Full implementation began in the 2022-2023 school year. On January 17, 2019, the State Board of Education approved 7 new Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE) courses for world languages.

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https://apastyle.apa.org/

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The authority on APA Style and the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual. Find tutorials, the APA Style Blog, how to format papers in APA Style, and other resources to help you improve your writing, master APA Style, and learn the conventions of scholarly publishing.

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Online Puzzlemaker | Create Your Own Puzzle | Discovery Education Puzzlemaker

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Discovery Education’s Puzzlemaker provides teachers, students, and parents, the tools necessary to create crossword, puzzles, word search puzzles, mazes and more online!

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How-to video for Sora with audio and text narrative to facilitate both visual and auditory learning

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UDL with and without Technology: PODLive! Discussion

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Navigate the Media Center

Explain what a spine label means

Find books based on these labels

Demonstrate through various media what they have learned

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Presentation with both audio and text narrative to engage learners through auditory and visual learning

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Interactive Padlet to boost co-learning experience and demonstrate comprehension

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Students will get to know the new media specialist

Students will get to know their peers

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Students All About Me Canva presentation template

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Students All About Me Canva presentation template

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Students fill in a Canva presentation with information about themselves and share it with other students.

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Students watch this presentation and complete "quiz" (not graded) testing their recall.

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Check out this presentation designed by sceronecog.

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Dewey & Sora multi-media activity Padlet - Sora activities only in this Module

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Dewey & Sora multi-media activity Padlet - Sora activities only in this Module

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Students apply what they learned through responses in this Padlet with multiple response options to apply UDL

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Figure 3.3. Adults learning in groups in a constructivist manner - and assisted by technology

Chapter 3 of my open textbook on ' Teaching in a Digital Age ' is about theory and practice in teaching for a digital age, which I am still in the process of writing. I have to admit that I approached writing about learning theories with some dread. In particular I was concerned (in order of dread) that:

this will appear incredibly boring/lack originality, because it has been done so many times before by other, more qualified authors (but then those that already know this stuff can easily skip it)

I'm not sure that theories of learning actually drive teaching (although surely an understanding of how students learn should do so)

I would have to deal with connectivism somehow, and I am certainly not an expert on that topic - but maybe that might be an advantage in bringing it to the attention of people who have previously shown no interest in it, and how it differs from previous theories

it could be argued that past learning theories are made irrelevant by digital technologies (and I certainly don't agree with that point of view.)

In the end, I can't see how a discussion of learning theories can be avoided. Unless readers of the book have this basic understanding of the different views of learning, they will not be in a good position to make choices, especially regarding the use of technology for teaching and learning. In particular, I see a danger of becoming dogmatic and blinkered by unchallenged assumptions about the nature of learning that results from not exploring alternative theories. But lastly, as Kurt Lewin said, there is nothing more practical than a good theory. A good theory helps us make informed decisions in areas of uncertainty. So, I am sharing here my first draft with you. Please note this is just part of the whole chapter, which also includes the following:

Teaching and learning styles

Deep vs surface learning.

Learner-centered teaching, learner engagement.

What we know about skills development

Competency based learning.

Learning design models

learner characteristics: digital natives and digital literacy

are we right to fear the use of computers for teaching?

Summary of research on teaching.

Also, Chapter 2 discusses the nature of knowledge, and in particular different epistemologies that underpin different theories of learning. However, theories of learning are more than enough to chew on for the moment.

" ...there is an impressive body of evidence on how teaching methods and curriculum design affect deep, autonomous, and reflective learning. Yet most faculty are largely ignorant of this scholarship, and instructional practices and curriculum planning are dominated by tradition rather than research evidence. As a result, teaching remains largely didactic, assessment of student work is often trivial, and curricula are more likely to emphasize content coverage than acquisition of lifelong and life-wide learning skills."

Knapper, 2010, p. 229

"There is nothing so practical as a good theory." Kurt Lewin, 1951, p. 169

Why an understanding of theories of learning is important

Most teachers in the k-12 sector will be familiar with the main theories of learning, but because instructors in post-secondary education are hired primarily for their subject experience, or research or vocational skills, it is essential to introduce and discuss, if only briefly, these main theories. In practice, even without formal training or knowledge of different theories of learning, all teachers and instructors will approach teaching within one of these main theoretical approaches, whether or not they are aware of the educational jargon surrounding these approaches. Also, as online learning, technology-based teaching, and informal digital networks of learners have evolved, new theories of learning are emerging.

With a knowledge of alternative theoretical approaches, teachers and instructors are in a better position to make choices about how to approach their teaching in ways that will best fit the perceived needs of their students, within the very many different learning contexts that teachers and instructors face. This is particularly important when addressing many of the requirements of learners in a digital age. Furthermore, the choice of or preference for one particular theoretical approach will have major implications for the way that technology is used to support teaching.

In fact, there is a huge amount of literature on theories of learning, and I am aware that the treatment here is cursory, to say the least. Those who would prefer a more detailed introduction to theories of learning could, for an obscene price, purchase Schunk (2011), or for a more reasonable price Harasim (2012). The aim of my book though is not to be comprehensive in terms of in-depth coverage of all learning theories, but to provide a basis on which to suggest and evaluate different ways of teaching to meet the diverse needs of learners in a digital age.

Behaviourism

Although initially developed in the 1920s, behaviourism still dominates approaches to teaching and learning in many places, particularly in the USA.

Behaviourist psychology is an attempt to model the study of human behaviour on the methods of the physical sciences, and therefore concentrates attention on those aspects of behaviour that are capable of direct observation and measurement. At the heart of behaviourism is the idea that certain behavioural responses become associated in a mechanistic and invariant way with specific stimuli. Thus a certain stimulus will evoke a particular response. At its simplest, it may be a purely physiological reflex action, like the contraction of an iris in the eye when stimulated by bright light.

However, most human behaviour is more complex. Nevertheless behaviourists have demonstrated in labs that it is possible to reinforce through reward or punishment the association between any particular stimulus or event and a particular behavioural response. The bond formed between a stimulus and response will depend on the existence of an appropriate means of reinforcement at the time of association between stimulus and response. This depends on random behaviour (trial and error) being appropriately reinforced as it occurs.

This is essentially the concept of operant conditioning, a principle most clearly developed by Skinner (1968). He showed that pigeons could be trained in quite complex behaviour by rewarding particular, desired responses that might initially occur at random, with appropriate stimuli, such as the provision of food pellets. He also found that a chain of responses could be developed, without the need for intervening stimuli to be present, thus linking an initially remote stimulus with a more complex behaviour. Furthermore, inappropriate or previously learned behaviour could be extinguished by withdrawing reinforcement. Reinforcement in humans can be quite simple, such as immediate feedback for an activity or getting a correct answer to a multiple-choice test.

Figure 3.1 YouTube video/film of B.F. Skinner demonstrating his teaching machine, 1954

You can see a fascinating five minute film of B.F. Skinner describing his teaching machine in a 1954 YouTube video, either by clicking on the picture above or at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTH3ob1IRFo

Underlying a behaviourist approach to teaching is the belief that learning is governed by invariant principles, and these principles are independent of conscious control on the part of the learner. Behaviourists attempt to maintain a high degree of objectivity in the way they view human activity, and they generally reject reference to unmeasurable states, such as feelings, attitudes, and consciousness. Human behaviour is above all seen as predictable and controllable. Behaviourism thus stems from a strongly objectivist epistemological position.

Skinner's theory of learning provides the underlying theoretical basis for the development of teaching machines, measurable learning objectives, computer-assisted instruction, and multiple choice tests. Behaviourism's influence is still strong in corporate and military training, and in some areas of science, engineering, and medical training. It can be of particular value for rote learning of facts or standard procedures such as multiplication tables, for dealing with children or adults with limited cognitive ability due to brain disorders, or for compliance with industrial or business standards or processes that are invariant and do not require individual judgement.

Finally, it should be noted that behaviourism, with its emphasis on rewards and punishment as drivers of learning, and on pre-defined and measurable outcomes, is the basis of populist conceptions of learning among many parents, politicians, and, it should be noted, computer scientists interested in automating learning. It is not surprising then that there has also been a tendency until recently to see technology, and in particular computer-aided instruction, as being closely associated with behaviourist approaches to learning, although we shall see that this does not necessarily follow.

Cognitivism

An obvious criticism of behaviourism is that it treats humans as a black box, where inputs into the black box, and outputs from the black box, are known and measurable, but what goes on inside the black box is ignored or not considered of interest. However, humans have the ability for conscious thought, decision-making, emotions, and the ability to express ideas through social discourse, all of which may be highly significant for learning. Thus we will likely get a better understanding of learning if we try to find out what goes on inside the black box. Cognitivists therefore have focused on identifying mental processes - internal and conscious representations of the world - that they consider are essential for human learning. Fontana (1981) summarises the cognitive approach to learning as follows:

' The cognitive approach ... holds that if we are to understand learning we cannot confine ourselves to observable behaviour, but must also concern ourselves with the learner's ability mentally to re-organize his psychological field (i.e. his inner world of concepts, memories, etc.) in response to experience. This latter approach therefore lays stress not only on the environment, but upon the way in which the individual interprets and tries to make sense of the environment. It sees the individual not as the somewhat mechanical product of his environment, but as an active agent in the learning process, deliberately trying to process and categorize the stream of information fed into him by the external world. ' (p. 148)

Thus the search for rules, principles or relationships in processing new information, and the search for meaning and consistency in reconciling new information with previous knowledge, are key concepts in cognitive psychology. Cognitive psychology is concerned with identifying and describing mental processes that affect learning, thinking and behaviour, and the conditions that influence those mental processes.

Figure 3.2: Some of the areas covered by cognitivism, based on Bloom's taxonomy (1956). Note that this becomes a reductionist exercise, as psychologists delve deeper into each of these cognitive activities to understand the underlying mental processes.

Cognitive approaches to learning cover a very wide range. At one end, the objectivist end, cognitivists consider basic mental processes to be genetic or hard-wired, but can be programmed or modified by external factors, such as new experiences. Early cognitivists in particular were interested in the concept of mind as computer, and more recently brain research has led to a search for linking learning to the development and reinforcement of neural networks in the brain. In terms of practice this concept of mind as computer has led to several technology-based developments in teaching, including:

intelligent tutoring systems, a more refined version of teaching machines, based on analysing student responses to questions and redirecting them to the appropriate next steps in learning. Adaptive learning is the latest extension of such developments;

artificial intelligence, which seeks to represent in computer software the mental processes used in human learning (which of course if successful would result in computers replacing many human activities - such as teaching, if learning is considered in an objectivist framework.)

pre-determined learning outcomes, based on an analysis and development of different kinds of cognitive activities, such as comprehension, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation

certain instructional design approaches that attempt to manage the design of teaching to ensure successful achievement of pre-determined learning outcomes or objectives.

On the other hand, many other cognitivists, coming from a more constructivist epistemological perspective, would argue that mental states or even processes are not fixed but constantly evolving as new information is integrated with prior knowledge, and new strategies for seeking meaning are developed by the individual. Thus teachers who place a strong emphasis on learners developing personal meaning through reflection, analysis and construction of knowledge through conscious mental processing would represent much more of a constructivist epistemological position. It is here that the boundaries between cognitivist and constructivist learning begin to break down.

Cognitive approaches to learning, with a focus on comprehension, abstraction, analysis, synthesis, generalization, evaluation, decision-making and creative thinking, seem to fit much better with higher education than behaviourism, but even in k-12 education, a cognitivist approach would mean for instance focusing on teaching learners how to learn, on developing stronger or new mental processes for future learning, and on developing deeper and constantly changing understanding of concepts and ideas.

Put simply, brains have more plasticity, adaptability and complexity than current computer software programs, and other factors, such as emotion, motivation, self-determination, values, and a wider range of senses, make human learning very different from the way computers operate, at least at the moment. Education would be much better served if computer scientists tried to make software to support learning more reflective of the way human learning operates, rather than trying to fit human learning into the current restrictions of behaviourist computer programming.

Nevertheless, cognitivists have increased our understanding of how humans process and make sense of new information, how we access, interpret, integrate, process, organize and manage knowledge, and have given us a better understanding of the conditions that affect learners' mental states.

Constructivism

Both behaviourist and some elements of cognitive theories of learning are deterministic, in the sense that behaviour and learning are believed to be rule-based and operate under predictable and constant conditions over which the individual learner has no or little control. However, constructivists emphasise the importance of consciousness, free will and social influences on learning. Carl Rogers (1969) stated that: 'every individual exists in a continually changing world of experience in which he is the center.' The external world is interpreted within the context of that private world. The belief that humans are essentially active, free and strive for meaning in personal terms has been around for a long time.

Constructivists argue that individuals consciously strive for meaning to make sense of their environment in terms of past experience and their present state. It is an attempt to create order in their minds out of disorder, to resolve incongruities, and to reconcile external realities with prior experience. The means by which this is done are complex and multi-faceted, from personal reflection, seeking new information, to testing ideas through social contact with others. Problems are resolved, and incongruities sorted out, through strategies such as seeking relationships between what was known and what is new, identifying similarities and differences, and testing hypotheses or assumptions. Reality is always tentative and dynamic.

For many educators, the social context of learning is critical. Ideas are tested not just on the teacher, but with fellow students, friends and colleagues. Furthermore, knowledge is mainly acquired through social processes or institutions that are socially constructed: schools, universities, and increasingly these days, online communities. Thus what is taken to be 'valued' knowledge is also socially constructed. Thus knowledge is not just about content, but also values. One set of values are those around the concept of a liberal education. According to this ideology, one of the principal aims of education is that it should develop a critical awareness of the values and ideologies that shape the form of received knowledge. This then suggests a constant probing and criticism of received knowledge.

One consequence of constructivist theory is that each individual is unique, because the interaction of their different experiences, and their search for personal meaning, results in each person being different from anyone else. Thus behaviour is not predictable or deterministic, at least not at the individual level. The key point here is that learning is seen as essentially a social process, requiring communication between learner, teacher and others. This social process cannot effectively be replaced by technology, although technology may facilitate it.

It can be seen that although constructivist approaches can be and have been applied to all fields of knowledge, it is more commonly found in approaches to teaching in the humanities, social sciences, education, and other less quantitative subject areas.

Online collaborative learning

The concurrence of both constructivist approaches to learning and the development of the Internet has led to the development of a particular form of constructivist teaching, originally called computer-mediated communication (CMC), but which has developed into what Harasim (2012) now calls online collaborative learning theory (OCL). She describes OCL as follows (p. 90):

' OCL theory provides a model of learning in which students are encouraged and supported to work together to create knowledge: to invent, to explore ways to innovate, and, by so doing, to seek the conceptual knowledge needed to solve problems rather than recite what they think is the right answer. While OCL theory does encourage the learner to be active and engaged, this is not considered to be sufficient for learning or knowledge construction......In the OCL theory, the teacher plays a key role not as a fellow-learner, but as the link to the knowledge community, or state of the art in that discipline. Learning is defined as conceptual change and is key to building knowledge. Learning activity needs to be informed and guided by the norms of the discipline and a discourse process that emphasises conceptual learning and builds knowledge. '

This approach to the use of technology for teaching is very different from the more objectivist approaches found in computer-assisted learning, teaching machines, and artificial intelligence applications to education, which primarily aim to use computing to replace at least some of the activities traditionally done by human teachers. With online collaborative learning, the aim is not to replace the teacher, but to use the technology primarily to increase and improve communication between teacher and learners, with a particular approach to the development of learning based on knowledge construction assisted and developed through social discourse. This social discourse furthermore is not random in OCL, but managed in such a way as to 'scaffold' learning, by assisting with the construction of knowledge in ways that are guided by the instructor, that reflect the norms or values of the discipline, and that also respect or take into consideration the prior knowledge within the discipline.

Connectivism

Connectivism is a relatively new theory of learning or epistemology (there's not even agreement about which it is), it is still being refined and developed, and it is currently highly controversial, with many critics. Siemens, Downes and Cormier constructed the first massive open online course (MOOC), Connectivism and Connective Knowledge 2011, partly to explain and partly to model a connectivist approach to learning. More recently, Downes (2014) has spelled out, in a presentation called The MOOC of One, some of the relationships between individual learning, the contribution of individuals to knowledge and its flow, and networks of learners, within a broad interpretation of connectivist theory. In this presentation Downes sets out some design principles for connectivist 'courses' or cMOOCs, such as:

learner autonomy, in terms of choice of content and how they choose to learn

openness, in terms of access to the course, content, activities and methods of assessment

diversity: varied content, individual perspectives and multiple tools, especially for networking learners and creating opportunities for dialogue and discussion

interactivity: 'massive' communication between learners and co-operative learning, resulting in emergent knowledge

Connectivists such as Siemens and Downes tend to be somewhat vague about the role of teachers or instructors, as the focus of connectivism is more on individual participants, networks and the flow of information and the new forms of knowledge that result.. The main purpose of a teacher appears to be to provide the initial learning environment and context that brings learners together, and to help learners construct their own personal learning environments to enable them to connect to 'successful' networks, with the assumption that learning will automatically occur as a result, through exposure to the flow of information and the individual's autonomous reflection on its meaning. There is no need for formal institutions to support this kind of learning, especially since such learning often depends heavily on social media readily available to all participants.

There are numerous criticisms of the connectivist approach to teaching and learning, which include:

there is no control on the quality of content, or on contributions from participants;

assessment strategies, such as peer assessment, are primitive and unreliable, thus making reliable or valid recognition of achievement more difficult;

the kinds of learning that take place in connectivist MOOCs or courses are not necessarily academic, in the sense of meeting the requirements for academic knowledge, as defined in Chapter 2;

many participants struggle with the lack of structure and are overwhelmed by the volume of content generated by other learners;

most students need a high level of explicit support in learning from an 'expert' teacher and this is lacking in connectivist courses

this kind of learning requires learners already to have at least some level of more formal or traditional education before they participate if they are to fully benefit from this kind of learning experience (and there is substantial evidence that MOOC participants tend to have an already high level of post-secondary education).

thus this kind of learning is more appropriate for non-formal learning or communities of practice than for formal education.

Some of these criticisms may be overcome as practice improves, as new tools for assessment, and for organizing co-operative and collaborative work with massive numbers, are developed, and as more experience is gained. More importantly, connectivism is really the first theoretical attempt to radically re-examine the implications for learning of the Internet and the explosion of new communications technologies.

Conclusion

Different theories of learning reflect different positions on the nature of knowledge. With the possible exception of connectivism, there is some form of empirical evidence to support each of the theories of learning outlined here.

However, while the theories suggest different ways in which all people learn, they do not automatically tell teachers or instructors how to teach. Indeed, theories of behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism were all developed outside of education, in experimental labs, psychology , neuroscience, and psychotherapy respectively. Educators have had to work out how to move from the theoretical position to the practical one of applying these theories within an educational experience. In other words, they have had to develop teaching methods that build on such learning theories. The next section of the book examines a range of teaching methods that have been developed, their epistemological roots, and their implications for teaching in a digital age.

Your feedback on this will be invaluable. In particular:

are theories of learning still relevant in a digital age? Is it important to discuss these?

is the description of the various theories accurate and useful; if not, what should be changed?

are there important theories or theoretical positions that have been missed?

Bloom, B., Englehart, M., Furst, E., Hill, W. and Krathwohl, D. (1956) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain, Longmans Green, New York, 1956

Downes, S. (2014) The MOOC of One, Stephen's Web, March 10

Fontana, D. (1981) Psychology for Teachers London: Macmillan/British Psychological Society

Harasim, L. (2012) Learning Theory and Online Technologies New York/London: Routledge

Knapper, C. (2010) 'Changing Teaching Practice: Barriers and Strategies' in Christensen Hughes, J. and Mighty, J. eds. Taking Stock: Research on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Toronto ON: McGill-Queen's University Press

Lewin, K. (1951) Field theory in social science; selected theoretical papers. D. Cartwright (ed.). New York: Harper & Row.

Rogers, C. (1969) Freedom to Learn Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co.

Schunk, D. (2011) Learning Theories: An Educational Perspective (6th edition) New York: Pearson

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Learning theories and online learning | Tony Bates

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Figure 3.3. Adults learning in groups in a constructivist manner - and assisted by technology Chapter 3 of my open textbook on ' Teaching in a Digital Age ' is about theory and practice in teaching for a digital age, which I am still in the process of writing.

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List 2-3 risks of sharing too much info on social media

Describe dangers of what/with whom info is shared

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YouTube video of experiences and warnings from students in the same age group as kids completing this class.

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Teen Voices: Who You're Talking to Online

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Nearpod collaborative board - screenshot

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Nearpod collaborative board - screenshot

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I used a Nearpod collaborative board like this one in a few of my Nearpod lessons to facilitate discussion and engage students.

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Excellent free resource for students to consider their social media practices

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State the moral of the Charlotte’s Web tale giving story character examples

Classify fiction genres

Demonstrate comprehension through creative writing activities and interactive discussions, with social media options

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Padlet allowing multiple response formats to demonstrate comprehension and engage in interactive discussions

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Interactive Padlet where students demonstrate comprehension through their posts and engage in active online discussion

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Google Slides - Online Charlotte's Web discussion

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Google Slides - Online Charlotte's Web discussion

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Creative writing, interactive slides for students to think critically based on their reading and engage in discussion with their peers

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Students' comprehension is measured through this quiz.

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Use referenced links in the questions to test your genre knowledge! Note: the web site has large pictures so be prepared to scroll a bit for answers :)!

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Google Slides presentation where students learn from each other's slides by viewing and posting comments; facilitates online discussion

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Stacy Cerone (@dleassignmentacct)

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Universal Design for Learning Guidelines

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Universal Design for Learning Guidelines

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https://udlguidelines.cast.org/

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. 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. These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

Reenvisioning the UDL Guidelines

Because the UDL Guidelines are meant to be informed by feedback from the field as well as new research, they have been updated several times in the past. We are in the process of updating the Guidelines once again in our UDL Rising to Equity initiative.

This update will focus specifically on addressing systemic barriers that result in inequitable learning opportunities and outcomes. CAST aims to develop a transparent, inclusive, and community-driven process. If you are interested in collaborating and staying updated on our progress, we invite you to complete a brief survey.

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. 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. These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

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The UA Little Rock web site had helpful UDL suggestion techniques.

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The UA Little Rock web site had helpful UDL suggestion techniques.

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https://ualr.edu/disability/online-education/#color

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Implementing the principles of universal design in online learning means anticipating the diversity of students that may enroll in your course and planning accordingly. Designing a course with principles of universal design in mind is an ongoing and creative process. One does not achieve the level of usability aspired to with a simple checklist, but with an open mind and a commitment to making design and inclusion a priority.

There are a few elements, though, that if taken into consideration, can enhance access and usability greatly. Knowing and incorporating these elements on the front end of the design process can save hours down the line.

1. Include a welcoming access statement.

2. Provide simple, consistent navigation.

3. Choose tools carefully.

4. Model and teach good discussion board etiquette.

5. Use color with care.

6. Make sure text is readable.

7. Provide accessible document formats.

8. Describe graphics and visual elements.

9. Caption videos and transcribe audio clips.

1. Include a welcoming access statement.
A well-crafted access statement communicates your level of commitment to designing the course in a way that is inclusive and welcoming to all students-including those with disabilities-and provides guidance for students who encounter barriers.

Include contact information for the campus disability resource office.

Avoid the use of wording that inadvertently communicates that the primary reason for providing access is to be in compliance with the law.

Avoid using language that places all of the responsibility for access on the student.

Your college may have a statement that you are required to use. If not, below are some samples you may use or modify to suit your needs.

Sample Access and Accommodation Syllabus Statements
University of Arizona
Accessibility and Accommodations: It is the University's goal that learning experiences be as accessible as possible. If you anticipate or experience physical or academic barriers based on disability or pregnancy, please let me know immediately so that we can discuss options. You are also welcome to contact Disability Resources (phone) to establish accommodations.
University of Central Florida
It is my goal that this class be an accessible and welcoming experience for all students, including those with disabilities that may impact learning in this class. If anyone believes the design of this course poses barriers to effectively participating and/or demonstrating learning in this course, please meet with me (with or without a Student Disability Services (SDS) accommodation letter) to discuss reasonable options or adjustments. During our discussion, I may suggest the possibility/necessity of your contacting SDS (building, phone, email) to talk about academic accommodations. You are welcome to talk to me at any point in the semester about course design concerns, but it is always best if we can talk at least one week prior to the need for any modifications.
Another Sample
Usability, disability and design: I am committed to creating a course that is inclusive in its design. If you encounter barriers, please let me know immediately so that we can determine if there is a design adjustment that can be made or if an accommodation might be needed to overcome the limitations of the design. I am always happy to consider creative solutions as long as they do not compromise the intent of the assessment or learning activity. You are also welcome to contact the disability resource office to begin this conversation or to establish accommodations for this or other courses. I welcome feedback that will assist me in improving the usability and experience for all students.
Resource Highlights
These two tools provide an in-depth look at how to approach the creation of an access statement, what to consider and the implications of various choices. Kairos Praxis Wiki: Suggested Practices for Syllabus Accessibility Statements
Project ShIFT: Syllabus Statement

2. P rovide simple, consistent navigation.

Be consistent throughout your course.

Use concise, meaningful text for links.

To the extent possible, avoid requiring students to drill down multiple times to reach your content.

Provide a table of contents for easy navigation to all components of your course.

Make sure all links can be controlled by keyboard-only navigation.

3. Choose tools carefully

While many of the tools that are a part of most popular course management systems support helpful instructional strategies, they may present barriers for some students. An awareness of the potential barriers may help you determine when to use, when to avoid, and when to provide alternatives to these tools.

Testing and Quiz Tools

Students who use adaptive technology - Currently, some of the testing tools have compatibility problems with some screen reader technologies. This occasionally results in the screen reader program crashing during an exam. A good practice would be to have a mock exam available for students to try so that they will know ahead of time if their adaptive technology will work with your exam. If it does not, an alternate version of the exam will need to be provided.

Students receiving the accommodation of extended time - Because students with disabilities are often allowed the accommodation of "extended time on exams," it is important to be able to provide this accommodation in an online setting as well. In most course management systems, it is possible to adjust an individual student's exam length, but it is not always simple to do this. In some cases it is necessary to set up a different exam for the student who needs extended time. Consult with your IT staff on how to set this up when you have a student who is eligible for this accommodation.ir technology.

Real-Time Chat

Students who are blind - The chat features associated with some course management systems are incompatible with screen reader technology.

Students with learning disabilities - Because of the fast pace of chats, students with learning disabilities that affect reading are at a decided disadvantage when it comes to participating in real-time chats. These students may also be reluctant to provide input into the chat due to concerns about their reading and writing skills.

Students for whom English is a second language - The barriers described above also apply to these students. This category includes some students who are deaf who use American Sign Language as their primary language.

All students - Finally, chat also presents a problem for the many students who take online courses because of their complex schedules. One of the advantages of online courses lies in their asynchronous nature. When students are required to be at their computer at specific times to participate in class discussions, the convenience of online learning is reduced.

4. Model and teach good discussion board etiquette.

Encourage use of good discussion topics.

Like this: Question about Assignment #2

Not like this: Question

Take advantage of threaded discussion
Many students are in the habit of creating a new topic heading rather than replying to the previous one. Teach students the advantage of keeping the discussion board organized so that they can scan by topic. Good use of threaded discussions greatly reduces the need for students to open messages in order to determine their relevance.

5. Use color with care. Provide good color contrast.

Black text on a white or light background is the most readable.

Patterns and images behind text make it more difficult to read.

If you are creating an HTML document to post in your course, consider using CSS to assign colors. This allows the user to change the way colors are viewed if desired.

Do not use color alone to convey meaning.

The use of color to convey meaning may result in your images or information not being accessible to students who are color blind.

Some students may choose to print materials using a black and white printer. The images would not be meaningful once printed.

Here is an example of a map where color alone was used to convey meaning and another showing how it was improved to increase usability. In the first one, only red and blue squares are used in the legend. In the improved one, red stars and blue squares are used to more clearly differentiate.

Another way that color is sometimes used to convey meaning is to differentiate items in a list. For example, a professor may write the following: "All assignments in red must be completed in APA style." This poses a problem for students who are blind and students who are color blind. The use of color is not discouraged altogether. There are definite advantages for other students. It is possible to meet the needs of all of these students, by including another indication in addition to the color. In the example above, simply adding "APA" after the item will achieve that goal.
6. Make sure text is readable.

Choose a sans serif font such as Arial or Helvetica for your text. These fonts are easier to read for most people but especially for those with low vision.

Make sure font sizes are large enough to read comfortably.

Avoid capitalizing or italicizing large blocks of text.

Provide alternative text for images.

Create lists by using the actual ordered and unordered list tools.

Avoid the use of Word Art and text box tools.

View the tutorials below for more details on this topic.As mentioned above, make sure you have good contrast between text color and background color.

7. Provide accessible document formats.
It is common to upload content in MS Word, Rich Text and PDF documents. Providing content in this way can be a great way to provide access for students because it makes content portable to other devices. The design of these documents can improve access or create a barrier for students. Below are a few tips for creating documents with greater usability. The resource highlights provide detailed tutorials on creating accessible documents.

MS Word™

Use headings to provide structure. People often make the mistake of creating headings by simply applying sizes, color, bold or italics. While this makes the document appear to have structure, there is not structure when someone reads the document using a screen reader.

Adobe Acrobat™ PDF Documents

PDF files are only as accessible as the document from which they were created. Following the instructions above and creating an accessible MS Word document is the best place to begin.

PDF files created before Acrobat 4.0 are totally inaccessible as they are simply images of the original document.

Some PDF files created more recently are also only images because they have been created by scanning the original document as an image.

The tutorials provided below will guide you through the process of creating an accessible PDF from your MS. Word Document.

8. Describe graphics and visual elements.
When used effectively, images can greatly improve the experience of students in an online course. Images help tell the story you want to tell and may help messages stick with the learner longer. For a person who does not see the images, though, it is important to provide the information th0se students are missing.

Descriptions are not necessary for any images that are purely aesthetic.

Sometimes charts and graphs will require longer explanations to be meaningful. In HTML, there is an element called "long description" that can be used for this. If you are not using HTML you will need to find another way to provide that description. An excellent approach is simply to describe the chart as you would if you were talking about it and include that description in the text of the document. You may want to consult with the disability resource office on your campus for these longer descriptions. See also the resources below.

Besides still images, instructors often use videos to enhance learning. There are often visual elements in a video that are crucial to understanding the content. This may include names and titles of speakers in the video, demonstrations of processes, text on the screen that is not spoken, or portions of the story line that are not revealed by the dialogue. These elements which are missing for someone who does not see them, will need to be described.

When you are creating a video, keep this in mind as you create it. A well-designed video can provide descriptions of most if not all of the visual elements naturally without requiring a later "add-on" audio description. Consult with the disability resource office on your campus for more information about audio description services.Limit the amount of text provided in graphics. Images may not magnify gracefully enough to be readable by students using magnification software.
For example, this graphic is difficult to read as it is.

Look what happens when you enlarge the graphic to read the text. (Enlarged section of graphic showing pixelated letters)

9. Caption videos and transcribe audio clips.
Captioning videos used to be a highly technical process out of the reach of anyone who was not a extremely technology savvy. That has all changed. If you can upload a video to YouTube or Vimeo, you can also learn to caption your videos. The process requires just a few simple steps.

1. Create a transcript of your video.

2. Add information about audio that is not dialog such as music or background noise.

3. Add names of speakers if appropriate.

4. Add timings (great tools below for doing this).

Upload caption file.

It's that simple.

A word of warning. Do not rely on automatic captioning in YouTube. It is not accurate enough to provide equal access.

What if the video you are showing is not your own? There is a solution for that as well. It is called Overstream, It allows you to create captions for any online video and the service will stream your captions over that video.

If you are using audio files with no video, you can simply create a transcript of the audio file and post it below the audio file.

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Steps Toward Universal Design of Online Courses - Disability Resource Center - UA Little Rock

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Implementing the principles of universal design in online learning means anticipating the diversity of students that may enroll in your course and planning accordingly. Designing a course with principles of universal design in mind is an ongoing and creative process.

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https://edtechbooks.org/jaid_10_1/preparing_teachers_f

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Introduction

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that can guide the development of inclusive learning environments. UDL has three principles, which are to provide multiple means of 1. representation, 2. action and expression, and 3. engagement. Each of these principles has three guidelines that define how educators and instructional designers can provide options and supports when designing instruction (see udlguidelines.cast.org for more information on UDL's three principles, nine guidelines, and 31 checkpoints). The UDL framework, used as part of an instructional design process, provides a structure to proactively design lessons that integrate inclusive strategies and options that can support all learners in the classroom (Meyer et al., 2014). Researchers have examined and described the application of UDL to enhance inclusive practices at various levels (K12 and postsecondary) and for varied instructional purposes (Ok et al., 2017; Rao et al., 2014).

Technology-based learning environments and digital tools provide powerful means to put UDL principles into action (Meyer & Rose, 2005; Ok & Rao, 2019). Digital tools for teaching and learning include hardware (e.g., laptops, mobile devices), software (e.g., applications, apps, extensions), and technology-based environments (e.g., websites, content management systems). Many features of digital learning environments align with UDL principles, providing options for multiple means of representation, action and expression, and engagement. The multimodal nature of digital tools facilitates the integration of varied formats and flexible options into the learning experience. Using digital tools, educators can easily represent information in varied formats (e.g., combining text, visuals, audio) and integrate features that allow the user to choose how to consume information (e.g., enabling text to speech to listen while reading). Students can create media and express themselves in varied and multimodal ways. Technology-based environments can also be engaging, allowing educators to provide authentic and relevant learning opportunities and opportunities for interaction and collaboration. In these ways, online learning environments that inherently require the use of digital tools as a means for delivery and instruction present many opportunities for incorporating and applying UDL. Taking UDL guidelines into account during the instructional design process, educators can determine how to meaningfully integrate digital delivery formats, digital tools, and instructional strategies when designing inclusive online learning experiences.

Foundational Concepts of UDL

UDL was developed in the 1990s and early 2000s by the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) as a framework for developing curriculum that is more accessible for all, including students with and without disabilities. Considering the needs of students at the margins of our educational systems, a central premise of UDL is that the curriculum, rather than the learner, needs to change (Meyer & Rose, 2005). Meyer and Rose emphasized the power of digital media as a means for developing flexible curriculum that can support the varied needs, abilities, and interests of students in the classroom. Grounded in values of social justice and inclusion, a central premise of UDL is that curriculum should proactively be developed with flexible and engaging options that are available to all learners. Two fundamental tenets of UDL are that we can address learner variability and reduce barriers in curriculum and instruction through intentional and proactive design. The ultimate goal of UDL is to develop expert learners. These three core concepts that underlie UDL-based instructional design are briefly described below in the following sections.

Addressing Learner Variability

UDL is based on the premise that learner variability is the norm. UDL researchers emphasize that there no "average" or "typical" learner and that all learners have varied abilities, strengths, experiences, and preferences (see Figure 1), aspects that can be dynamic and changing depending on one's context and development (Meyer et al., 2014). As an instructional design framework, UDL provides a structure to proactively build in supports that address the learner variability that exists within any group. Taking learner variability into account, the process of planning instruction in alignment with UDL guidelines allows educators to consider and integrate flexible and supportive options that are helpful for all learners from the outset. UDL-based instruction can make existing educational practices more inclusive, by providing supports to a wider range of learners. However, for students with disabilities who require specially designed instruction in alignment with their individualized educational plans, educators must also provide individualized supports as needed (e.g., specific accommodations, modifications, targeted interventions).

Figure 1

Learner Variability Factors

Reducing Barriers in Curriculum and Instruction

In regard to creating inclusive environments, UDL advocates emphasize that it is useful to consider the curriculum, rather than the student, as "disabled" (Meyer & Rose, 2005). An essential aspect of UDL is to identify barriers in the curriculum and in the instructional process and to reduce or eliminate those barriers by designing appropriate supports. We routinely use curriculum resources, design lessons, and develop and implement various instructional activities. To create a truly inclusive learning environment, we must consider how to give students meaningful access to curriculum and instruction during the instructional design process. UDL focuses on the proactive reduction of barriers, taking into account the variability of learners from the outset and building flexible pathways and supports for the learning process. By proactively identifying and reducing barriers in curriculum and instruction, we can create educational environments that more inclusive by design.

Developing Expert Learners

An essential goal of UDL is to support the development of agency and self-awareness, allowing students to become "expert learners" on their learning journeys. These are the attributes of expert learners that correspond to the three UDL principles (Meyer et al., 2014):

1. Being purposeful and motivated (related to the UDL principle of engagement) refers to learners' abilities to be goal-directed, sustain effort, and self-regulate as they learn.

2. Being resourceful and knowledgeable (related to the UDL principle of representation) refers to learners' abilities to activate and connect to prior knowledge, recognize strategies to structure and retain knowledge, and transfer and generalize what they learn.

3. Being strategic and goal-directed (related to the UDL principle of action & expression) refers to learners' abilities to plan and organize how they learn, be strategic learners, and self-monitor as they learn.

These foundational UDL concepts - addressing learner variability, reducing barriers, and developing expert learners - are the basis of intentional and inclusive instructional design. Using UDL as they design instruction, educators can consider how to provide flexible and engaging learning environments, using strategies and tools that address the varied needs and profiles of learners in any given classroom. Instead of designing for a mythical "average learner", UDL-based design broadens access to a broader range of learners and provides a framework for inclusive instructional design.

Application of UDL to Online Teaching and Learning

Although UDL has gained prominence in the past two decades and is widely referenced in inclusive education efforts worldwide, questions remain on how to apply and implement UDL most effectively in traditional face-to-face and online learning environments (Rao et al., 2014). In the past two decades, a significant body of literature on UDL in both K-12 and higher education environments has emerged. Many researchers have addressed UDL applications in online learning environments in higher education (Evmenova, 2018; Gravel et al., 2017; Hollingshead, 2018; Rao & Tanners, 2011; Tobin, 2014).

As educators have made a rapid shift to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become even more relevant to examine how teachers can apply UDL to design instruction for online environments. Digital tools and multimodal formats that are used for online teaching provide many ways to address UDL. To ensure that these tools are used to support all learners in the online/hybrid classroom, it is helpful to consider their usage as part of an intentional design process (Basham et al., 2016; Greer et al., 2014). Using a proactive design process that explicitly integrates UDL, teachers can be better prepared to support all learners online, including students with disabilities and English language learners, and other students who experience challenges while learning.

Purpose Statement

This article presents how educators and instructional designers can take UDL into consideration during the process of designing curriculum and instruction. The UDL-based design process can be applied to all instructional delivery formats, including traditional face-to-face classroom environments, fully online learning environments, and blended or hybrid formats (Smith & Basham, 2014). This article presents the following processes and related tools that can help educators use UDL as part of an inclusive instructional design process:

1. Using the UDL Design Cycle (Rao & Meo, 2016), a step-by-step process for considering learner variability and reducing barriers in instruction, as part of the lesson planning.

2. Designing learning experiences for online delivery, taking into account when to use synchronous/asynchronous methods and how to integrate digital tools for instruction meaningfully.

3. Using the UDL Reporting Criteria to articulate how UDL is applied to the design and implementation of lessons and related student outcomes.

The UDL Design Cycle

To many, the term UDL evokes the framework made up of three principles, nine guidelines, and 31 checkpoints. While this is indeed the essence of UDL, there is more to using the framework; educators must consider how to apply these principles, guidelines, and checkpoints to design inclusive learning environments proactively. Although there has been much written on UDL implementation, there is no consensus on how to apply the framework in practice (Smith et al., 2019). At the surface, UDL is a set of best practices for ensuring that learning supports are provided, providing a menu of options that support learners. The UDL checkpoints are indeed a collection of best practices for providing options for representation, expression and action, and engagement. The 31 checkpoints were derived from an extensive review of the research studies conducted by CAST during the development of the framework (CAST, 2018). Many of the UDL checkpoints are identical to strategies that teachers use to differentiate instruction, so they can seem familiar to teachers, especially those trained in inclusive practices or special education. Although UDL can be used in this manner, as a menu of recommended options to integrate into instructor, educators can more meaningfully design inclusive practices by considering the UDL guidelines as part of a systematic instructional design process called the UDL Design Cycle (Rao & Meo, 2016).

The UDL Design Cycle (Rao & Meo, 2016) integrates the core components of commonly used instructional design models and processes, such as ADDIE and Backwards Design (Bond & Dirkin, 2019). Similar to the ADDIE process, the UDL Design Cycle begins with a learner analysis and bases instructional design decisions on what we know about our learners. As with Backwards Design, the UDL Design Cycle begins with identifying the end goals and defining the evidence of learning before developing instructional methods.

The unique contribution of the UDL Design Cycle (see Figure 2) to these existing instructional design processes is the consideration of learner variability and the proactive integration of supports and scaffolds to reduce barriers in curriculum and instruction. Using the UDL guidelines within this design process, educators can create learning environments that integrate varied supports to reduce barriers and increase meaningful access to learning for all. The UDL Design Cycle begins with a consideration of learner variability factors. These factors are then taken into account in each of the steps of the design process. The first step is to develop a few clear goal statements and then to reflect on what knowledge and skills students will need to master those goals. The next three steps - developing assessments and making decisions about methods and materials - follow from this initial step of developing clear goals. Throughout the design process, learner variability should be taken into account. Design decisions should be made with a consideration of students' abilities/strengths, support needs, preferences/interests, and backgrounds/experiences. Within this instructional design process, the UDL guidelines and checkpoints can be used to integrate supports that address learner variability and reduce barriers in the curriculum.

Using this structured approach, teachers can consider where the potential barriers lie in curriculum and instruction and build in options for representation, expression and action, and engagement, as appropriate. This process also keeps the focus on learner variability during the development of methods and materials, encouraging the instructional designer to build in options related to the varied preferences, abilities, and backgrounds of their learners in addition to providing supports and scaffolds (Rao & Meo, 2016). It is important to note that learner variability is systematic and predictable to some degree, with common instructional barriers and related support needs that can arise for many groups of students. With consideration of the typical barriers that can arise, we can build in supports for variability without knowing the exact population of students. Detailed examples of how to apply the UDL Design Cycle to lesson planning and design can be found in books such as Design and Deliver: Planning and Teaching Using UDL (Lord-Nelson, 2020) and UDL for Language Learners (Torres & Rao, 2019).

Figure 2

UDL Design Cycle

Note. Adapted from Rao & Meo (2016)

Designing Online Learning Experiences

This UDL Design Cycle can be applied when designing instruction for any format, face-to-face, blended, or fully online. However, when designing for online environments, some additional considerations should be taken into account in the design phases (Steps 1-4). The term "online learning" is used to refer to various formats of online delivery, including fully online instruction and blended and hybrid modes that include some face-to-face instruction (Singh & Thurman, 2019). In addition, online learning can include asynchronous and synchronous modalities, and it is important to consider how to use both formats to most effectively deliver lessons. Figure 3 presents the steps of the UDL Design Cycle along with the additional considerations when designing for online environments.

Figure 3

UDL Design Considerations for Online Learning

When designing lessons for the online environment, teachers can use the UDL Design Cycle and take into account these additional considerations. The sections below provide detail on some of the additional considerations for UDL-based design noted in Figure 3, providing elaboration on ways to design more inclusive and supportive environments online.

Learner Variability in the Online Environment

In the online learning environment, it is necessary to consider factors related to learner variability that affect a students' ability to engage and succeed in relation to the demands of this learning format. In addition to abilities/strengths, support needs, preferences, and backgrounds/experiences, there are specific attributes that affect how students engage and learn online. One attribute is access to online learning, both in technical and cognitive senses. On the technical front, access includes having the necessary devices, internet connectivity, and physical space to engage in online learning. Access also refers to levels of knowledge and experience of using tools to learn online. Some students may be more adept at navigating the expectations of online learning environments because of their familiarity with learning management systems and digital tools than others.

Another important consideration is variability in students' ability to engage in online learning experiences. When doing asynchronous activities in online learning, students engage in learning activities independently without a teacher present to guide the learning experience in real-time. This requires several executive function and self-regulation skills. Executive function skills include the ability to plan and organize oneself and to be self-directed learners. For younger students, who have not yet developed the skills to learn independently, managing time and schedules for online learning require significant support from parents or other family members/adults.

In alignment with UDL, teachers can build in supports for executive function and self-regulation using instructional strategies to support persistence and organization in the online learning environment. These can include clear and consistent instructions (e.g., using "hyperdocs", a document with multiple hyperlinks that serves as a central point to access information and resources in a clear and consistent way), shared checklists for students to track progress, opportunities for check-ins and regular interaction with the teacher. Giving students opportunities to understand how they learn best and what strategies work for them in the online learning environment is important for supporting self-regulation.

Chunking Lessons for Online Delivery

When designing lessons for the online learning environment, teachers should begin by identifying the overall goals for a unit of instruction and then determine how to meet those instructional goals through a series of online learning experiences. Without the pre-determined structure of a class period, online learning requires teachers to think about instructional time in a different way. Instead of planning instruction to fit within a set amount of time, lessons can be structured as a series of instructional activities. The time that activities take will vary depending on the learner's needs and skills (and in the case of younger learners, students may also need guidance from parents at home.)

It can be useful to consider how to reach the goals through shorter learning experiences ("chunks") and then make decisions about the teaching and learning activities within each chunk. For each learning experience, the teacher should consider supports needed in relation to the learning activities students must do. For example, if students need to learn new content, the learning experience will require content delivery (e.g., by reading, watching a video, etc.), followed by some means to check in on students' comprehension and engagement with the content. This can be done using a synchronous meeting where students discuss the content or engage in activities with peers or the teacher or through a formative assessment for that learning experience. Similarly, when students need to practice skills or apply what they have learned, learning experiences can give them opportunities to incrementally express what they are learning, with opportunities for teacher feedback or interaction built in.

To make instructional decisions for learning experiences, teachers can use the systematic process of the UDL Design Cycle and take into consideration some of the additional factors relevant for online learning (see Figure 3). The Online Learning Experience Design Worksheet (See schoolvirtually.org/online-design-worksheet) is a tool that teachers can use to plan lessons for the online environment. This worksheet incorporates the steps of the UDL Design Cycle and provides a structure for considering each of the steps denoted in Figure 3.

Integrating Synchronous Meetings to Support Learners

When designing inclusive instruction for the online environment, it is important to consider how to use synchronous meetings to reinforce and extend upon instruction that students must do on their own time. If educators are able to use both asynchronous and synchronous formats for their online classrooms, it is important to make decisions about how to use the two formats most effectively in tandem. Asynchronous learning activities give students the opportunity to prepare and process information. These can include accessing course resources, completing assignments independently, or participating in an online discussion forum. Synchronous learning activities take place at the same time with others online, for example, meeting for an online class session (e.g., using Google Meet or Zoom) or working together in real time using collaborative e-learning tools (e.g., Google Docs).

Synchronous meetings can be a powerful way to check in, interact, give feedback, and make connections with lessons that students are otherwise working on independently. Synchronous meetings should be intentionally designed to clarify areas that students may have questions about, extend what they have been asked to do on their own time, and provide opportunities to connect and interact with the instructor and with peers. Synchronous meetings can also be conducted in small group formats or as one-on-one meetings with the teacher to provide additional opportunities for interaction and individualized support for students as needed.

Mastery-Oriented Feedback to Support Engagement and Persistence

In the online environment, teachers can help students engage and persist by creating a presence and embedded ways to communicate and interact regularly. Formative assessments provide an authentic and useful way to interact with students and support the development of knowledge and skills. To support engagement, one of the UDL guidelines highlights the need to provide supports for effort and persistence by "increasing mastery-oriented feedback." Mastery-oriented feedback focuses on the process of learning, valuing effort and practice, rather than evaluating students solely on fixed targets of performance (CAST, 2018). Mastery-oriented feedback encourages perseverance and focuses on the development of efficacy, helping students develop skills with guidance. This can be in the form of specific feedback on how to meet expectations for an assignment and/or the provision of models/examples of a target response.

Providing mastery-oriented feedback is an especially important strategy to incorporate within online learning experiences. Without the built in structure of an in-class experience, students can benefit from strategies that encourage effort and persistence when learning in online formats. Mastery-oriented feedback is effective when it is specific and timely. When designing learning experiences, teachers can embed formative assessments that let them provide mastery-oriented feedback highlighting for their learners what they are doing well, what they can continue to work on, and how they can meet targets. In the online learning environment, teachers can provide mastery-oriented feedback using collaborative and interactive digital tools that facilitate leaving comments and notes using text, audio, and/or video.

Purposefully Integrating Features of Digital Tools

Digital tools are the materials and resources at the foundation of online learning experiences. Because online learning inherently relies on technology-based delivery of instruction, it is a natural environment in which to incorporate various digital tools for teaching and learning. However, using the tools alone does not make learning more accessible or reduce barriers. Understanding which features of digital tools can provide supports for learners is an essential aspect of UDL-based design for online environments. When designing for online learning, teachers should consider the features and affordances of digital tools and how these can be integrated with instructional strategies to support learners.

The multimodal nature of digital technology provides various options for students that can be helpful for many and essential for some. For example, text-to-speech (TTS), a feature built into many digital textbooks and available as a browser extension, is a powerful way to support students with reading skills such as decoding, fluency, and comprehension. Tools that allow users to interact with or create content using text, images, audio, and video also provide powerful supports for demonstration and application of knowledge and collaboration/interaction with peers and teachers. By considering these tools in the context of the UDL Design Cycle, teachers can select tools that align with lesson goals and use instructional strategies that incorporate the support features of the tools. Table 1 provides a few examples of key skills areas and digital tools that can support students (Dawson et al., 2019; Ok & Rao, 2019). Please note that this table does not provide a comprehensive list of all tools, but examples of tools that can be used to reduce barriers in both online and traditional face-to-face environments. More information on UDL-based design and digital tools can be found on the School Virtually website ( www.schoolvirtually.org).

Table 1

Examples of Digital Tools

Skills

Reducing barriers and providing support with digital tools

Examples of Digital Tools

Reading

Utilize digital text features, such as text to speech, annotations, vocabulary and comprehension supports, translation

Text-to-Speech (TTS) helps with decoding and reading fluency; Dual Highlighting with TTS helps students track the word being read out aloud

Literacy support tools allow teachers and students to annotate and highlight digital text, which can support comprehension

Text to Speech

Literacy support extensions (e.g., Read & Write for Chrome

Just Read

Natural Reader

Voice Dream Reader (app)

Using digital text features of e-textbooks

Writing

Digital graphic organizers support brainstorming and planning

Speech to text tools support generation of text

Grammar and spell-check tools support revision and editing

Digital graphic organizers (Lucid Chart, MindMup, Kidspiration Maps)

Speech to Text apps

Grammarly, Ginger (browser extensions)

Demonstration of knowledge

Multimodal tools that allow students to integrate text, images, audio, and video can provide ways to demonstrate what they know.

Multimodal tools can provide ways for students to develop and express ideas with feedback from the teacher.

Book Creator, UDL Book Builder

Infographics (e.g., Canva, Piktochart)

Flipgrid

Padlet

Organization and Self-Regulation

Checklist apps

Calendar and reminder tools

Weekly Check-in form

UDL Reporting Criteria

The last two steps of the UDL Design Cycle focus on implementing, reflecting on, and revising lessons. The considerations for these steps are similar in all delivery formats, whether online, blended, or face-to-face. In these phases, teachers implement the lesson they designed, reflect on which elements of the lesson worked well, consider which UDL-based strategies supported learners, and revise the lesson (or upcoming) lessons as needed. The UDL Reporting Criteria (UDL RC) can facilitate these steps, providing a structure for recording design decisions in the planning phase, describing implementation, and reflecting on outcomes related to UDL.

Describing UDL Design Decisions and Implementation

Because UDL application can take on so many forms, the ways in which UDL is described varies greatly across studies (Rao et al., 2014). This has made it challenging to define what a UDL-based lesson or intervention looks like and what its outcomes and implications are. To provide a consistent format for describing applications of UDL, the UDL Implementation and Research Network (UDL-IRN) research committee developed the UDL Reporting Criteria (UDL RC). The UDL RC provide a structure for defining why and how UDL guidelines are applied during the planning, design, and implementation phases and for articulating student outcomes in relation to UDL components. The UDL RC were designed to be useful not only to researchers but also for teachers to articulate how they made design decisions related to UDL and what the outcomes were for their students (Rao et al., 2018; Rao et al., 2019).

The UDL RC can be used for a broad range of educational applications, including curriculum design, lesson planning, and designing and reporting on UDL-based educational interventions. The UDL RC capture the essential aspects of UDL-based design and implementation in these three categories: 1. Learner Variability and Environment, 2. Proactive and Intentional Design, and 3. Implementation and Outcomes. The UDL RC, available for free download from the UDL-IRN website at https://udl-irn.org/udl-reporting-criteria, provides additional information on each of these categories.

Adaptations for Teachers

After the UDL RC were published on the UDL-IRN website, teacher educators have adapted them to support teacher usage of the criteria. The adapted version uses the three categories from the UDL RC noted above and expands the RC with additional guidance that can help K-12 teachers articulate how they have designed with UDL and implemented UDL-based lessons. The Adapted UDL RC for Teachers organizes the three categories into two distinct areas: 1. Before Lesson Implementation and 2. After Lesson Implementation. Using this format, teachers can record their instructional design and lesson planning decisions before lesson implementation. The Before Lesson Implementation area captures information on learner variability, aligning decisions made to use UDL checkpoints to lesson goals and variability. The After Lesson Implementation section allows teachers to document how the lesson went, identifying specific data and student artifacts as evidence of student outcomes in relation to the UDL-based strategies used in the lesson.

Table 2

Adapted UDL Reporting Criteria for Teachers

1. Learner Variability and Environment

a) Student Information and Setting Describe the learning variability among your students that is your focus. Describe the setting for the UDL practice/intervention (e.g., inclusive classroom, grade level, subject area).

2. Proactive and Intentional Design

a) Learning Goal What is the learning goal of the lesson? What foundational knowledge and/or skills might the student need in order to meet the learning goal?

b) Addressing Barriers and/or Increasing Access Provide a description of specific challenges, barriers, or issues of access that the design or intervention is intended to reduce or eliminate so students may achieve the learning goal. This can include barriers related to environment, curriculum, and/or instruction.

c) Application of UDL Guidelines and Checkpoints Provide details about how and which of the nine UDL guidelines and/or the 31 checkpoints are applied to your practice/intervention. This can include information on how UDL guidelines and checkpoints are applied to goals, assessments, methods, and/or materials.

d) Designing to Address Variability Describe aspects of design that address learner variability. This can include a description of how flexibility, choice, or engagement will be addressed in the lesson or intervention. How will the rigor of the lesson be maintained despite barrier removal?

3. Implementation and Outcomes

a) Description of Implementation of UDL Practice Describe how the UDL-aligned practice was implemented. Highlight information on the UDL-based aspects of the practice in relationship to the learning goal in 2a and level of rigor. The UDL-based aspects should align with what is described in 2d. Possible sentence starters for this section include: ● Students were . . . ● Teacher was . . . ● The learning environment was . . .

b) Outcomes/Findings in Relation to UDL In addition to describing the overall outcomes of the UDL implementation, describe UDL components in relation to outcomes for learners pertaining to the learning goal in 2a, as well as to other relevant outcomes. The following methods could be used to determine outcomes: ● student perception survey data ● formative or summative scores ● anecdotal observations ● observational data (qualitative/quantitative) ● student artifacts

c) Implications Describe implications of the outcomes/findings in relation to UDL-based aspects of practice.

NOTE: These criteria were adapted from the original UDL Reporting Criteria (UDL RC), which can be found at https://udl-irn.org/udl-reporting-criteria/

Conclusion

Teachers may not think of themselves as instructional designers, but design is at the heart of what teachers do when they create and implement lessons. Lesson plans, which teachers create daily, are the product of instructional design, a process that experienced teachers may do reflexively. Teachers make instructional planning decisions based on their knowledge of strategies and prior experiences with teaching. Universal Design for Learning provides a framework to make instructional design decisions with a focus on the inclusion of all learners, and the UDL Design Cycle gives teachers a way to intentionally and systematically design for all learners. By considering learner variability from the outset, teachers can reduce barriers and proactively support students to reach mastery of learning goals.

Online learning environments pose new barriers that were not there in the traditional classroom. However, along with the barriers, the digitally-mediated nature of online learning presents new possibilities for supporting students. In particular, digital tools and technologies have features that make it easy to provide multiple means of representation, action and expression, and engagement. By considering the UDL guidelines and making systematic instructional design decisions, teachers can reduce barriers and proactively integrate supports for their learners in the online learning environment.

References

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Inclusive Instructional Design: Applying UDL to Online Learning

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Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that can guide the development of inclusive learning environments. UDL has three principles, which are to provide multiple means of 1. representation, 2. action and expression, and 3. engagement.

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The Journal of Educators Online-JEO July 2015 ISSN 1547-500X Vol 13 Number 2

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The Journal of Educators Online-JEO July 2015 ISSN 1547-500X Vol 13 Number 2

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The table in this article was especially helpful to keep the UDL principles simple for application
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1068401.pdf

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What Would You Do? Nearpod Collaborative Board

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What Would You Do? Nearpod Collaborative Board

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Discussion board to facilitate discussion and allow kids to apply what they learned in previous lesson materials

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Students created crossword puzzles with clues from what they learned from their assigned peers' presentations, using the link at https://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/ This PDF was included as an example for them of what their final product might look like. They had two complete the created puzzles of two other peers after watching those peers' Canva presentations about themselves.