Introduction

“By playing happy or sad music, displaying different emotionally moving photographs, or giving different kinds of feedback to participants during a taxing task, researchers can manipulate participants’ affective responses. This proves the variability of affective states in response to constantly changing surroundings and social interactions. Of course classrooms are rife with changing conditions that influence students’ affective states.”

---Meyer, Rose, & Gordon (2014)

The project titled “Creating Universal Design for Holistic Education: Digital Tools to Support Learning " has been developed as a group assignment for the course ‘CTL 1799: Holistic Approaches to Information Technology.’ The team, consisting of four passionate educators working at different levels, is determined in practicing a holistic approach for all learning spaces. They consider combining technology and universal design in the curriculum to support learning holistically in schools and communities. Thus, the project is not limited to a class assignment; rather it showcases educational philosophies that ensure equity and equality.

This website has the following objectives:

• Provide a definition for Holistic Education
• Explain Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
• Examine the connections (meeting points) between Holistic Education and UDL
• Provide digital tools for students to use that relate to the three overarching principles of UDL:
  • Engagement
  • Representation
  • Action and Expression