Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
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Technology Tools
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Benefits of Technology in an UDL framework
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Limitations of Technology
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Flexible Engagement
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References
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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). |
Some Limitations of Technology
1. Poorly designed digital learning tools give the illusion of progress when in fact they simply replicate print tools.
For example, scanning a printed document into a digital version does not ensure that students with a range of strengths and weaknesses can access and comprehend the content. As with print, digital tools must be thoughtfully designed with careful consideration in terms of both access and learning supports. As new digital learning tools flourish and our understanding of learner variability advances, curricula that cannot meet that challenge will be increasingly recognized as “print disabled” (Rose & Gravel, 2012, p.22).
2. If these digital resources are not usable by all students, then their capacity for flexibility will become an advantage for some students and a disadvantage to others.
Having reached a time when simple access to technology is less of an issue, today’s digital divide refers to equal use of learning technologies or equal access to the learning opportunity that digital tools support. This is the new digital divide which occurs when some students by virtue of their differences (language, learning style, processing speed, attention span, sensory impairment, print disability, work schedule, etc.) are excluded from equal participation in the virtual learning environment. And, unfortunately, it’s often the most interactive and potentially engaging digital resources (e.g., electronic simulations, video games, social media) which, when designed for the mythical "average learner," exclude or limit students whose differences have not been considered or anticipated.
Digital media pique students’ interests not because they are novel but because they provide experiences which are “authentic and normative” to industry contexts.
Introduced with strategies for engaging online learners, case studies are one means for providing these "authentic and normative" experiences with the help of digital media.
Rose, D. H., & Gravel, J. W. (2012). Curricular opportunities in the digital age. Retrieved from http://studentsatthecenter.org/sites/scl.dl-dev.com/files/Curricular%20Opportunities%20Digital%20Age.pdf