UDL
Universal Design of Learning (UDL) is a way that we better design learning to positively impact all students. UDL is defined by CAST as "... a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn."
Another way to think about UDL is similar to how we design all new buildings to be accessible to all people, even those in wheelchairs. You see all new buildings being built with wheelchair ramps, elevators, wider doorways, and other features that make it so a person in a wheelchair can freely move around. Older buildings, like our current school, had these features added on after the fact and they are not as well designed as if they were added from the start. These features do not just help people in wheelchairs but can positively impact many others. This universal design of our buildings may have initially been focused on one group of people but can positively impact all others.
The same can be applied to our lessons, if we initially design for all learners, we will see a positive impact for all instead of just if we add-on later when our lessons are not working for a certain group of learners.
UDL looks at three main ways to design for all learners.
- Provide multiple means of Engagement
- Not all students are engaged by the same reasons and they need a purpose to be engaged in the learning. An engaged student will more likely be able to handle obstacles to learning than a disengaged student.
- Provide multiple means of Representation
- Different representations of information, using different media sources (text, video, animation, diagrams, ...) can allow different students to be able to comprehend the same information. Not every student needs to read the same thing or watch the same thing in order to learn. They need access to information that is presented in a way that removes obstacles to learning by making the learning accessible.
- Provide multiple means of Action and Expression
- While paper and pencil is one way a student can show their understanding, there are many ways a student can show how well they have learned something. Giving students choices in how they express their learning can better allow the teacher to measure the student learning and give information that a single path can't show. If the means of showing their learning is not what is being measured (using a presentation to show their learning but not to show how well they can present) then the student should be able to show their learning in a way that best fits them as a learner.
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