Understanding UDL
The Blueprint for Learning Developed by CAST
By Margaret Ridgeway
St. Helena Central High School
Greensburg, LA
The Brain at Work
Have you ever wondered what your brain was doing as you are actively engaged in doing something? What about the brains of your friends who are doing the same thing? Check out this link:
http://old.cast.org/tesmm/example2_3/brain.htm
Research shows that brain function can be very different for each person, even with simple activities such as tapping a finger. (CAST, 2011). Thus, a teacher needs to recognize that it is likely that the brains of different students function differently as students learn. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a blueprint for addressing this issue by building flexibility into the learning process.
Access for All
The inspiration for UDL was birthed in the field of Architecture. Accessibility for the many was the goal of architects, with building plans designed to include features such as wheelchair ramps, curb cuts and Braille numbering in elevators (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009).
UDL provides educators with a blueprint to extend that same standard to the classroom. Prior to UDL, classroom activities were primarily designed for the "average" student, but teachers find very few students who are average - all of us are unique (Cast, Inc., 2012). Thus, the need for UDL.
EVERY LEARNER IS DIFFERENT!
We each learn best in particular ways....sort of like our DNA of learning (CAST, Inc., 2012). In order to take advantage of this and provide the optimum level of learning for all students, it is not enough to have all students working on the average lesson.
The Path to Learning Takes Place in Three Very Different but Interconnected Brain Networks.
Recognition networks: allow the learner to identify patterns and link them with meanings.
Strategic networks: tell the learner how to do something through monitored feedback and deciding a course of action.
Affective networks: gives the learner a reason for learning as they decide what is important to them.
(Rose & Meyers, 2002).
There is tremendous variety in the way individual learners combine and use these networks.
Principle of Multiple Representations
When important content is overlooked by the learner or if there are barriers to learner perception, it is difficult for optimum learning to take place. The teacher should provide information in a variety of ways and include language supports and comprehension scaffolding so that lessons encompass the needs of multiple learners (CAST, 2011). Examples of multiple representation might include providing the same information in writing, through movies or even in songs, etc. Scaffolding variety can be determined by the specific need of the learner, such as graphics which could help to explain new content, connections to prior knowledge, or even links to a glossary.
Principle of Multiple Ways for Students to Act and Express Themselves
Limiting action and expression to traditional modes (paper, printed text & pencil only) means that students who are impaired, who have language barriers or who simply may be at a different stage in their ability to organize information will have more difficulty interacting with content (CAST, 2011). To resolve this, teachers must provide students with a variety of pathways to use knowledge and should assist the learning process through alternative levels of scaffolding that vary by the learner. There are myriad tools available to the teacher to assist in this process, such as text to speech applications that break down barriers or even simple strategies such as prompts and checklists to assist students in practicing organizational skills. Additionally, by giving students a choice in the media used to express learning, whether it be digital portfolios, film, animation or even traditional essays, the teacher stands a better chance of accurately assessing learning by students.
Principle of Multiple Means of Engagement
Keeping the learner interested in and stimulated by subjects so as to maximize interaction with content is a necessary part of learning. A variety of factors, such as culture, relevance to the student and previous experience with the information, can be used to provide the stimulus needed for students to succeed (CAST, 2011). Therefore, the teacher should create a learning environment which promotes student autonomy and which is flexible enough to vary with the abilities and goals of individual learners. This means teachers should plan activities which are appropriate and challenging at various levels, which will show the student that the information has meaning for them, and which provide learners with opportunities to develop original solutions.
TECHNOLOGY IS KEY!
Customizing learning for all of the various learners in a classroom might seem to be an impossible task. But the teacher should recognize that utilizing technology means learning in all three networks can take place and should ease the dificulty in differentiating instruction in order to vary the pathways to learner success. For example, Drs. Rose and Myers (2002) suggest that the following methods can be used in individualizing instruction to support recognition:
"(1) Providing multiple examples. (2) Highlighting critical features. (3) Providing multiple media and formats. (4) Supporting background knowledge."
None of the above concepts are new to the teaching profession, but by incorporating the use of technology to achieve them, it allows the teacher the ability to provide more students with necessary information in ways that those diverse students are able to understand. Using technology also means more students have an opportunity to become connected to information and are provided variety in verbalizing and expressing themselves. Thus, whether student differences are cultural, linquistic, academic, or any other, the educator can look for ways to address these differences.
To Tech or Not to Tech - that is the question.
While technology is a tool that enables multiplicity to take place, it is not the end all of UDL (CAST, 2012). The bottom line for UDL is to provide opportunity to all and to do that in the most advantageous way for the learner. This does not mean non-tech methods are excluded, but that the use of technology may be the pathway in which deeper understanding can lead to improvement in the traditional expressions of learning. It also means that simply using technology may fail to enhance learning. Thus, it is up to the educator to know how and when to use technology, with the focus being the expansion of learning.
Implications for St. Helena Parish School System
- Based on test scores, St. Helena Parish School System, a small rural school district in east central Louisiana, is the lowest rated school district in the State and has an extremely high poverty rate. The middle school has been taken over by the State. The two remaining schools, the elementary and the high school, as well as the middle school, are predominantly African American.
- While most students are intelligent and evidence high ability to learn, too many lack the necessary skills, organization and motivation to succeed. Many students are below level in literacy skills, which complicates the situation.
- Measures are in place to increase achievement, but the main focus is on using traditional learning strategies and methods.
- Resources to support these traditional strategies and methods are limited.
- Students are interested in using technology. However, digital resources also are limited and outdated even though there are plans to update the system.
- The implementation of UDL should be looked at as an alternative or supplement to traditional classroom instruction in order to increase engagement and motivation in the regular student body as well as to serve students with IEPs.
Implementation of UDL District Wide and Suggested Tools to Assist Teachers in Lesson Planning
- Review by district curriculum and instruction advisory committee.
- Classroom test of principles and strategies, including report and analysis of case study.
- If implementation authorized, professional development district wide with implementation timetable set up.
- Suggested online tools developed by CAST to include in trial.
- UDL Book Builder - assists teachers in creating digital books for student use. http://cast.org/learningtools/book_builder/index.html
- UDL Curriculum Self-Check - assists teachers in building flexibility into their lesson plans. http://cast.org/learningtools/udl_self_check/index.html
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- UDL Lesson Builder - instructs teachers in how to align curriculum and individual learning needs. http://cast.org/learningtools/lesson_builder/index.html
- Strategy Tutor - allows the teacher to create web-based lessons with embedded research based learning strategies and vocabulary supports. http://cast.org/learningtools/strategy_tutor/index.html
REFERENCES:
The following photos obtained from flickr.com and are used under creative commons license. Use of the pictures does not indicate an endorsement of this project in any way.
Cunningham, N. (2009). Multiple Me. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/7hqsvu7.
Lee, R. (2010). Food Court at Ala Moana. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/74m3dwy.
Let Ideas Compete (2010). Hikers Halted. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/7emko3g.
Lythgoe, M. & Hutton, C. (2011). Recognizing familiar faces. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/7ao2q23.
Mrami (2005). Picasso_Kitchen. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/7lq7fas.
Walker, J. (2010). Metalwork. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/8937yom.
Westin, B. (2012). 3D DNA model. Retrieved from http://tiny.cc/2wdcbw.
Wilburn, J. (2010). Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/7slnz45.
Citations:
CAST, Inc. (2012). About UDL. Wakefield, MA. Author. Retrieved from http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udltechnology
CAST (2011). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.0. Wakefield, MA: Author. Retrieved from http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer) (2009), Video 6: Universal Design for Learning. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Rose, D. & Meyers, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.