Benefits of Technology in an UDL Framework
In the UDL framework, incorporation of technologies is systemized to provide multiple pathways for engagement, presentation, and action. This is a reciprocal relationship in that UDL provides a teaching and learning framework for enhancing learning environments while technology, especially digital technologies (electronic tools, systems, devices and resources that generate, store or process data) provide the flexibility required to address learner variability. This is the primary advantage of digital media: it “can be designed, created, and refined over time in a way that recognizes and responds to the full spectrum of learner variability and…these tools and resources can be shared across classrooms and modified, as appropriate, to meet individual student needs” (Fletcher et al., 2014, p. 1). As identified by Rose & Gravel (2012), the flexibility of digital content supports UDL in four important ways:
Four Benefits of Digital Media |
Digital media are versatile.“Digital media can store and present information in many modalities and formats—text, still image, sound, video, animation, simulations, combinations of text on video, sound in text, video in text, and more” (p.14). |
Digital media are transformable.“Because the means for display are separable from the content, digital media allow the same content to be displayed in multiple ways” (p.14). |
Digital media are dynamic by nature.“Digital technologies can respond to changing information, the passage of time, and manipulation by events” (p.15). |
Digital media can be manipulated.“New media can be manipulated or even programmed by the user. This read/write flexibility allows media to be not only a means of representing information but also a means of constructing or gathering information” (p.15). |
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