UDL vs Accessibility

One common misconception about UDL is that is just another way to address accessibility. Universal Design for Learning is much more than designing for accessibility in the traditional sense. As educators, we have been trained to adjust our materials, activities, and assessments once we have a student in the classroom who needs accommodations in some way. That is a reactive approach to lesson and curriculum design. With UDL, we begin designing with everyone's needs and challenges in mind at the start. This is a proactive approach to lesson and curriculum design. The UDL approach realizes that, regardless of traditional accessibility needs, all students can take advantage of many of those design modifications and many more, because students receive, process, and return information differently based on a multitude of reasons. Providing multiple ways for them to participate in their education only provides more opportunities for success to all students (including those in the margins - as noted in the video you watched at the beginning of this introduction) and levels the playing field from the first day.

Summary

Now that you've seen an overview of the UDL framework and more information on each of the three UDL guidelines, let's apply that information. Below is a video of the UDL Guidelines in Practice: Grade 6 Science. You will see how one teacher incorporated UDL principles into her lesson teaching students about how much sugar they consume.

When you began this module, you may have felt that the amount of information regarding UDL was overwhelming. The good thing you'll see in this video, aside from some really good examples of how to put these guidelines into practice, is that you do not have to try to put everything into your lessons.

Hopefully, this summary will help you understand the application of UDL, make it feel attainable, help you recognize each of the guidelines as they are instituted in this class, and give you some ideas for how you might begin to incorporate them in your class. You will use these ideas later in this module for another activity.

There are questions incorporated into the video below. To answer the questions, click on the purple circle with the pointer when it appears on the screen. You have multiple attempts at each question. Click continue when you have finished each question.