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Watch and Read the following prompts and complete the pre quiz

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Create a Lesson Plan utilizing UDL principles and share on the discussion board, respond to at least two other classmates.

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Create a KWL Chart on Canva on one of the three principles of KWL and share it with your classmates. Please collaborate with two other classmates on their posts.

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Canva Tutorial: How To Use Canva for Beginners

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Fill out this form to let me know what your current knowledge is about Universal Designed Instruction

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Access Google Forms with a personal Google account or Google Workspace account (for business use).

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What is Universal Designed Instruction (UDI)?

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What is Universal Designed Instruction (UDI)?

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Universal Designed Instruction is an educational framework that aims to design learning experiences accessible to all students, including those with disabilities. It emphasizes the need to consider the diverse needs of each learner from the outset.

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The Importance of UDI in Special Education

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The Importance of UDI in Special Education

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Understanding the principles of UDI is critical for special education teachers. This approach ensures that all students, regardless of their abilities, have equal opportunities to learn.

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Principle 1: Multiple Means of Representation

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Principle 1: Multiple Means of Representation

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This principle states that educators should offer information in more than one format. For example, giving learners access to textbooks, videos, and interactive activities.

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

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Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a way of thinking about teaching and learning that helps give all students an equal opportunity to succeed. This approach offers flexibility in the ways students access material, engage with it and show what they know.

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Principle 2: Multiple Means of Expression

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Principle 2: Multiple Means of Expression

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Students should be able to show what they know in different ways, such as writing, speaking, or creating a project. This flexibility ensures that all students can demonstrate their understanding.

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Principle 3: Multiple Means of Engagement

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Principle 3: Multiple Means of Engagement

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Engaging students through various methods can help maintain their interest and motivation. This could include group work, self-paced learning, or hands-on activities.

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Principle 3: Multiple Means of Engagement

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Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at OU

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Universal Design for Learning (Part 3): Engagement Strategies

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Learn how to create lesson plans that incorporate UDI principles. This involves planning for diverse needs and including flexible materials and assessments.

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Think of Universal Design for Instruction as you would the clothing industry. One size really does not fit all. Just are there are many different body types and differences even within similar body types (e.g. one limb shorter than the other, missing a particular limb, etc.), there are many differences in how individual brains receive, perceive, process, and produce information. UDI is an educational approach that accounts for variation in brain processing from the outset so that more learners, as opposed to fewer, can access the information being taught. These principles derive from the body of research on human cognition, learning, and memory.

GCC and the ODS is committed to providing inclusive learning environments. Equal access can often be achieved through course design. However, barriers to learning or assessment may still exist for students with disabilities, and accommodations may still be necessary to address those barriers.

Nine Principles of UDI

According to Scott, McGuire, and Shaw (2001), there are nine principles of UDI:

1. Equitable use: Accessible and usable by everyone.

2. Flexibility in use: Accommodated to individual needs with choices provided.

3. Simple and intuitive: Clear and understood regardless of student's experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level.

4. Perceptible information: Accessible regardless of students' sensory abilities.

5. Tolerance for error: Anticipates learning pace and prerequisite skills.

6. Low physical effort: Minimizes nonessential physical effort (unless physical effort is integral to the essential requirements of a course [e/g/ lifting requirements in a physical therapy program]).

7. Size and space for approach and use: Considers physical and sensory access to environment, equipment, tasks.

8. A community of learners: Promotes interaction and communication among students and between students and faculty.

9. Instructional climate: Welcoming and inclusive.

Scott, S., Shaw, S., & McGuire, J. (Nov. 2001). Teaching College Students with Learning Disabilities. ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education, The Council for Exceptional Children, Eric Digest #E618.

Understanding how these principles connect directly to the research on cognition, learning and memory can translate into best teaching practices. Indeed, a review of the literature on teaching reveals the following methodologies attributed to effective instruction as determined by student outcomes, student feedback, peer feedback, and supervision review.

Effective Instructors

Effective instructors:

1. Provide clear and explicit expectations.

2. Provide advanced organizers and supports.

3. Provide information in multiple formats.

4. Provide a welcoming classroom environment.

5. Make connections between topics and real life experiences.

6. Provide frequent, consistent, & formative feedback.

7. Support individual learning needs within the group.

8. Use effective assessment strategies.

9. Are approachable and available.

10. Are knowledgeable and focused on their subject matter.

11. Make personal connections with their students.

12. Hold challenging standards for learning.

13. Engage in, & encourage metacognition.

14. Understand human development & learning theory.

Flexibility in use; perceptible information; tolerance for error; size and space for approach and use; and a community of learners can be grouped under the principle "instructional climate". Establishing a welcoming climate can reduce barriers to learning by ensuring that it is the frontal lobes or "thinking" areas of the brain that an instructor is engaging in students, as opposed to the reactionary or self-defense areas of the brain. A learner that cannot physically access a task or environment, cannot perceive information as it is presented, fears making a mistake, or fears ridicule from peers, will have a brain in which the limbic system, especially the amygdala, will be highly activated to respond to these perceived threats; whether consciously or subconsciously. The brain is more motivated by learning what is essential to survival; therefore, any threat to an individual's safety will take precedent over any other information being presented.

The brain is also more attracted to novel stimuli since anything novel may be relevant to survival. Having a welcoming classroom environment with tolerance for error will allow an instructor to balance the delicate line of upholding challenging standards for learning without exceeding the "threat" threshold for learners. An instructor who is approachable and available and who provides flexible choice of a diverse array of assignment types, will be working with more cognitively active learner brains as opposed to emotionally reactive learner brains. Providing frequent and formative feedback promotes tolerance for error and also promotes the learning process by engaging the "error detection and correction" areas of the brain so that the learner can explicitly learn the right way to do a task or to re-learn how to do a task as opposed to defaulting to making the same mistakes in the future.

The brain is wired to receive emotional information first and cognitive second. The threat response centers of the brain are designed to respond to emotional responses (insecurity, confusion, fear, anger, embarrassment, etc.) and trigger physiological reactions (e.g. elevated heart rate, sweaty hands, dilated pupils, etc.). When a learner is unsure of the class routine, of what is expected of them, of what a task requires, of what a completed task should look like, of what the instructor's response might be, etc., they may default to less than effective coping mechanisms for course success. Providing routines and clarity especially benefits individuals on the autism spectrum. Equitable use; simple and intuitive directions and instruction; low physical effort for task engagement, are all principles that reduce the chances of a learner having a threat reaction response to the learning environment. Reducing perceived threat factors is like reducing distractions - more attention can be focused on the cognitive elements of the task instead of focused on the emotional and physiological responses. A welcoming environment that invites positive humor produces better learning retention and recall by activating the amygdala and hippocampus, both structures in the limbic system that play a role in memory formation and associative memory. In addition, positive emotions and humor release endorphins and dopamine, neurotransmitters that play a role in motivation, attention and stress-reduction.

A little bit of stress can be good for learning - it triggers the brain to "pay attention." Too much stress can impede learning in all the ways mentioned previously as well as affecting memory formation and storage. Stress triggers cortisol release in our bodies and if we do not "burn off" (e.g. physical exercise, meditation, yoga, etc.) any excess cortisol, it accumulates and eventually attacks the hippocampus. The hippocampus is the part of the brain that is most active during the deepest stages of sleep and its role is to process information received during waking hours and determine what to hang onto, and where to file it in the brain based on associative information previously stored. Many individuals who are stressed tend not to sleep well, further hampering the hippocampus' ability to engage in its memory tasks. Repeated exposure to stress that exceeds an individual's ability to cope can be detrimental to memory and learning; a classroom environment and instructional methodology play a significant role in stress exposure for many learners.

The harder that a brain has to work at accessing information or processing a task, the more and/or faster that brain is burning through its' main fuel supply: glucose. In addition, the more abstract a learner perceives a task to be, the more likely they are to procrastinate on engaging in the task (McCrea, Liberman, & Trope, 2008). The brain that needs to work harder to decode text is going to consume more glucose than the brain that can decode with automaticity; likewise for sustaining attention, processing numeracy; applying spelling and grammar rules and so on. Time on task is not equivalent across learner profiles. Some learners may need additional time depending on how "physical" the task is for their brain. Refueling the brain through snacks, water, and oxygenation is essential to optimal brain functioning. Extended time can be a difficult accommodation if the brain is unable to "refuel" in the way that it needs to; a brain running low on glucose results in frustration/low tolerance, fatigue and restlessness.

Learn More about UDI and UDL

If you would like to learn more about Universal Design for Instruction and Universal Design for Learning and find more helpful UDI course development tools, consider spending time at the following websites:

Another research / evidence-based instructional approach that mirrors the practices of UDI and UDL is the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol, developed by the Center for Applied Linguistics for teaching students who are English language learners. The SIOP model requires many of the same practices encompassed by UDI and UDL research and the program provides useful lesson planning templates.

References

Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Harvard University Press. Cambridge: MA.

Biggs, J. (2003). Teaching for quality learning at university. The Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press. 2nd edition. Berkshire.

Brophy, J., & Good, T. (1986). Teacher behavior and student achievement. In M. C. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching, 3rd ed. (pp. 328-375). . New York: Macmillan.

Caine, R. N., Caine, G., McClintic, C. L., & Klimek, K. J. (2005). 12 Brain/Mind Learning Principles in Action: The Fieldbook for Making Connections, Teaching, and the Human Brain. CA: Corwin Press.

Carlisle, J. F. (Winter 1999). Free recall as a test of reading comprehension for students with learning disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, 22(1), p. 11-22

Chickering, A. W., & Gamson, Z. F. (1987). Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. AAHE Bulletin, 39(7), 3-7.

Conquer JA, Tierney MC, Zecevic J, Bettger WJ, Fisher RH. Fatty acid analysis of blood plasma of patients with Alzheimer's disease, other types of dementia, and cognitive impairment. Lipids 2000;35:1305-12.

Doing What Works - ARRA. (n.d.). Retrieved October 7, 2008, from https://dww.ed.gov/arra.cfm?aID=2.

Erickson, K., Voss, M., Prakash, R., Basak, C., Szabo, A., Chaddock, L., Kim, J., Heo, S., Alves, H., White, S., Wojcicki, T., Mailey, E., Vieira, V., Martin, S., Pence, B., Woods, J., McAuley, E., & Kramer, A. (2011). Exercise training increases size of hippocampus and improves memory Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108 (7), 3017-3022 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1015950108

Filby, N. N., & Cahen, L. S. (1985). Teacher accessibility and student attention. In C. W. Fisher & D. C. Berliner (Eds.), Perspectives on instructional time (pp. 203-214). (Research on Teaching monograph series.) New York: Longman.

Fink, L. D. (2003). Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses. San Francisco: CA. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Fisher, C. W., Berliner, D. C., Filby, N. N., Marliave, R., Cahen, L. S., & Dishaw, M. M. (1980). Teaching behaviors, academic learning time, and student achievement: An overview. In C. Denham & A. Lieberman (Eds.), Time to learn (pp. 7-32). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Institute of Education.

Larrivee, B. (1985). Effective teaching for successful mainstreaming. New York: Longman Publishing.

McCrea, S.M., Liberman, N., Trope, Y. (2008). Construal Level and Procrastination, Psychological Science, 19(12), 1308-14.

McGuire, J. M., & Scott, S. S. (2006). An approach for inclusive college teaching: Universal design for instruction. Learning Disabilities: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 14(1), 21-31.

Nadler, R. T., Rabi, R., & Minda, J. P. (2010, October 25). Better mood and better performance learning rule-described categories is enhanced by positive mood. Psychological Science, 1710-1776. doi: 10.1177/0956797610387441

Roehrig, A., Bohn, C., Turner, J., & Pressley, M. (2008). Mentoring beginning primary teachers for exemplary teaching practices. Teaching & Teacher Education, 24(3), 684-702. https://dewey.landmark.edu:2057, doi:10.1016/j.tate.2007.02.008.

Ratey, J. J., & Hagerman, E. (2008). Spark: The revolutionary new science of exercise and the brain. New York: Little, Brown.

Rose, D. H., Harbour, W. S., Johnston, C. S., Daley, S. G., & Abarbanell, L. (2006). Universal Design for Learning in Postsecondary Education: Reflections on Principles and their Applications. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 19(2), 135-151.

Rosenshine, B., & Stevens, R. (1986). Teaching functions. In M. C. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching, 3rd ed. (pp. 376-391). New York: Macmillan.

Scott, S., & McGuire, J. M. (2005). Implementing Universal Design for Instruction to Promote Inclusive College Teaching. In Getzel, E. E., & Wehman, P. Going to college: Expanding opportunities for people with disabilities. Baltimore, MD: Paul Brookes Publishing Co.

Scott, S., Shaw, S., & Foley, Teresa E., (2003). Universal Design for Instruction: A Framework for Anticipating and Responding to Disability and Other Diverse Learning Needs in the College Classroom. Equity and Excellence in Education, 36(1) 40-49.

Scott, S., Shaw, S., & McGuire, J. (Nov. 2001). Teaching College Students with Learning Disabilities. ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education, The Council for Exceptional Children, Eric Digest #E618.

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Universal Design for Instruction (UDI) - Disability & Accessibility Services

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Think of Universal Design for Instruction as you would the clothing industry. One size really does not fit all. Just are there are many different body types and differences even within similar body types (e.g. one limb shorter than the other, missing a particular limb, etc.), there are many differences in how individual brains receive, [...]

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Explore various technological tools that can support UDI. These tools can help provide multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement.

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Many digital technologies have built-in supports and scaffolds to help students understand, navigate, and engage with the learning environment. Below are some free or low-cost digital tools that can help provide multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression.

Digital Tools for Engagement

Digital Tools for Representation

text-to-speech tools: Voice Dream Reader, Read&Write, Speak Selection and Speak Screen

screen-reading tools: Just Read, VoiceOver, TalkBack, ChromeVox

comprehension tools: Edpuzzle, H5P

Digital Tools for Action and Expression

tools for supporting speaking and interaction: FlipGrid, VoiceThread, Lingt, Vocaroo, WhatsApp

tools for supporting written expression: Grammarly, Ginger, Voice Dream Writer, Picture Prompts

tools for supporting multimodal expression: Piktochart, Explain Everything, easel.ly, Book Creator, Adobe Spark, Toontastic, TouchCast Studio, iMovie, Audacity, Notability

Citations
Getting Started. UDL On Campus. http://udloncampus.cast.org/page/udl_gettingstarted.

Perez, L. & Grant, K. (2021, Feb. 9). 30+ Tools for Diverse Learners. ISTE. https://www.iste.org/explore/Toolbox/30%20-tools-for-diverse-learners.

Rao, K. & Torres, C. (2020). Technology and Universal Design for Learning. SchoolVirtually. https://schoolvirtually.org/technology-and-udl.

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Many digital technologies have built-in supports and scaffolds to help students understand, navigate, and engage with the learning environment. Below are some free or low-cost digital tools that can help provide multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression.

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Case Study: Successful UDI Implementation in a Special Education Classroom

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Case Study: Successful UDI Implementation in a Special Education Classroom

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Read about a case study where UDI was successfully implemented in a special education classroom. Understand the strategies used and the outcomes achieved.

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Welcome! I am excited to be your instructor. My name is Kirsten Stubbs, I am a Interrelated Teacher I teach students with behavior and learning disabilities who are in 9-12th grade. This course will focus on universal designed instruction and how to create an inclusive classroom for all of your students. I am here to help you throughout this course. The best form of communication is through email. Please allow me 24 hours to respond. I have place my contact information below:

EMAIL: ksstubbs2394@gmail.com

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Understand UDL Principles: Gain a comprehensive understanding of the three core principles of UDL—multiple means of engagement, representation, and action/expression.

Inclusive Curriculum Design: Learn how to design and adapt curricula to meet the diverse needs of all students, including those with disabilities and varying learning preferences.

Practical Implementation: Discover effective methods and tools for integrating UDL into your teaching practice, ensuring that all students have equal opportunities to succeed.

Case Studies and Examples: Analyze real-world case studies and examples of UDL in action, providing concrete illustrations of how these principles can be applied in various educational contexts.

Collaborative Learning: Engage with fellow educators through discussions, activities, and peer reviews to share insights and best practices.

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Module Quizzes (30%)

Each module includes a quiz to assess your understanding of the key concepts and principles covered. These quizzes are multiple-choice and short answer questions.

There are 10 modules, each with a quiz worth 3% of your final grade.

Discussion Participation (20%)

Active participation in online discussions is crucial for collaborative learning. You will be expected to contribute to discussion boards, respond to peers, and engage in live session discussions.

Participation will be graded based on the quality and frequency of your contributions.

Assignments and Activities (30%)

Throughout the course, you will complete various assignments and activities designed to apply UDL principles in practical scenarios.

Assignments include case study analyses, lesson plan designs, and reflective essays.

There will be 5 assignments, each worth 6% of your final grade.

Final Project (20%)

The final project is a comprehensive application of the UDL principles learned throughout the course. You will design an inclusive instructional unit or curriculum plan.

The project will be evaluated on creativity, application of UDL principles, and practicality.

A detailed rubric will be provided to guide your work and ensure clarity in expectations.

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When You Design for Everyone, EVERYONE Benefits from the Design