UDL - Universal Design for Learning: Successful Diversity

Can technology help our students become more successful in the classroom? Can we adapt our teaching to cater to all of our students including those with disabilities and benefit all the students in general? Can we really have an adequate and effective inclusive classroom where everyone is getting the most out of it and no one is being left out? These are some of the questions that come up when thinking about teaching to a diverse group of students and especially those who have disabilities. Many people still answer "NO" to most of the questions, but there is actually a way to answer "YES" to these questions and it is called: UDL which stands for Universal Design for Learning. 

UDL is a way to identify potential barriers in the learning environment so that they can be reduced or eliminated helping all students succeed, including those of diverse backgrounds, ELL and students with disabilities. Students are different in so many ways! They have different experiences, interests, preferences of learning, abilities, strengths and levels of engagement. The idea is that educators design the environment taking all of this into account and making an inclusive classroom effective beyond expectations. UDL utilizes a lot of amazing technological tools and it was proposed by David Rose in his book: "Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age."

Learn more about it!

The Three Principles of UDL

1. Multiple means of representation - Here we are talking about the "what" are students learning, in other words: "The content." How are we going to present it to them? Visuals? Games? Presentations? Activities? Technological tools? 

2. Multiple means of action and expression - Here we are talking about the "how" are students going to learn the content and show what they have learned. Perhaps some students want to write an essay? What if my student is partially blind? How can they show me their learning? What if my students want to make a video to show their knowledge?

3. Multiple means of engagement - Here we are talking about the "why" they want to learn this content; are they interested? Is it challenging enough? Does it motivate the students?

Source: http://udltheorypractice.cast.org/

For UDL to be implemented, there are four elements that need to happen:

1. Flexible instruction

2. Learner Centered Curriculum

3. Availability of digital resources

4. Support from school leaders 

UDL helps everyone including teachers, families and school leaders ensure that education meets the needs of the students, it benefits ALL students and it simply helps teachers give better support to their students. 

Here is a video that summarizes UDL: 

As a pre-service teacher and para-educator, I see the value that UDL has. I have seen it with my own eyes and I have experienced it myself as an ELL student. Whenever I am able to use technology that aids me with the use of English or even Spanish now, since after so many years of speaking, writing and reading both, it is hard to master both at a top level, I gain confidence and I can better learn and show my understanding of varied subjects. I have students that have gained so much from using technological tools and that without them, they wouldn't be where they are now. 

Here are some students who have enjoyed the benefits of UDL. 

Meet Mason! Mason loves music and playing his ukulele. He also likes bowling and playing tennis. He uses a Mountbatten Brailler to help him with disability of visual impairment. He also uses an Ipad and all these tools have made his learning experience more successful! 

Meet Jean! She is creative, curious and loves animals! She uses an Ipad® for note taking and test taking in her Gen. Ed classes. She also uses her Ipad for pre-learning curriculum and hearing aids for her mild hearing loss.

Meet Brody!   He loves taking stuff apart and seeing how it works! He also loves playing video games. He uses a co-writer to assist him in writing down his ideas because he struggles with spelling. He also uses livescribe which is also known as smart pen. This is an awesome tool! ( I want one for myself! ) because it records what the teacher is saying while taking note and when you go back to your notes, it plays what the teacher was saying at that time. It can also transfer everything you are writing automatically to your Ipad or smartphone. 

I also visited some great websites that provide some amazing tools for UDL and these are some that I found I would love to use in my classroom: 

SONOCENT: 

https://www.sonocent.com/en-us/

"Productivity, better learning outcomes and effortless organization are the headline benefits of choosing Audio Notetaker. For a student it means super-useful notes... for a teacher, a more inclusive classroom... and for a professional, detailed records of meetings and interviews."

http://2gopc.com/

When dropped on a side or corner, the plastic bumper hits the ground first, protecting the LED Screen. Reinforced ports, water-resistant keyboard, a non-slip texture and low-profile carry handle make this the ideal laptop for students and harsh work environments.

 Here is one of the pages to find great resources like these! Resources

How do we implement UDL in our lessons? 

Let's check out part of a lesson about Rock Properties implementing UDL! 

Rocks and Their Properties: Day 1

Lesson Overview
Title: Rocks and Their Properties: Day 1
Author: CAST
Subject: Science
Grade Level(s): 3–5
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Unit Description
In this unit, entitled Rocks and Their Properties, students will engage in cooperative research projects in order to learn about the properties of the three basic rock types and the processes that form them. In order to ensure that students can express what they learned as accurately as possible, a variety of options will be available for communicating their new knowledge. 

Here we can see the UDL connection! We can see they will apply the third principle: MULTIPLE MEANS OF ACTION AND EXPRESSION. 

Lesson Description for Day
Today, students will explore the word morphologies of the three basic types of rocks, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic, in order to have a mnemonic device for remembering the processes that form them. They will then explore samples of the three rock types, share their findings, and determine what other types of information they will need as they further their study of rocks. 

Here the teacher is providing linguistic support by highlighting those tricky words! Way to go! These can benefit everyone especially ELL students and those who have a hard time memorizing new words! 

Introduce and Model New Knowledge:

Explain to the class that they will be working in small groups to conduct investigations into three basic groups of rocks, and before investigations begin, you have some background information to help them get started.

Key Vocabulary:

Explain to students that they will be learning about three basic types of rocks: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Discuss the three rock types by highlighting critical features of their word morphologies. Knowing the origins of the words themselves will serve as a mnemonic device for students to remember the processes that formed the rocks.

Use the blackboard, overhead projector, or Power Point slides in order to highlight the following information:

Igneous—this word comes from the Latin root ignis, which means fire. Link ignis to the more familiar word ignite. Ask the class if this gives them a clue as to how igneous rocks are formed. Confirm that igneous rocks are formed in the intense heat of the earth.

Sedimentary—Write sedimentary on the class blackboard. Ask the class if they can find a shorter word in this long word [sediment]. Define sediment. Ask the class to turn to a neighbor and describe how they think sedimentary rocks are formed. Confirm that sediment is gradually deposited in water, packed down over many years, and becomes rock.

Metamorphic—this word has Greek origins. Meta means change, and morphic means structure. Ask students to discuss with a neighbor how they think metamorphic rocks are formed. Confirm that metamorphic rocks start out as one type of rock and that the intense heat and pressure of the Earth changes them into a different type of rock.

Here we can see exactly how each new vocabulary word is being introduced by using the latin root, by writing it down, by making connections, by talking about it, and by providing a visual via Powerpoint, Overhead projector or board. Great way to make sure everyone can remember these tricky words and it is also a great idea to use partner talk so that there is some scaffolding going on. 

We can see that by doing all these little things, we are benefiting not only those students who have learning disabilities or ELL students, but ALL the students! We are targeting different learning styles, interests, backgrounds, other languages (latin roots of words tend to be the root of words in many languages!), varied abilities and strengths. 

I love this lesson and I here is a link so you can see the whole lesson and the UDL connections. You can also play an audio for UDL connections. Yes! UDL even helps us teachers! Maybe some of us are more auditory? 

UDL! I LOVE IT! I think it is a great way to make teaching more effective, inclusion be more successful and learning being better in general! 

I hope you think UDL when planning your next lesson, I know I will! 

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