Universal Design for Learning
When working with parents, just as when working with children, one size does not fit all. By looking at how our lessons, examples, homework, and communication systems/processes are designed and considering the wide variety of abilities, preferences, and backgrounds of our audience we can “build a better mousetrap” using Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
You may think making a lesson, newsletter, or homework assignment more accessible means reducing rigor, but UDL is a design concept based on principles that will enable you to remove barriers and promotes access for all users, not a set of rules that only assist people with disabilities.
The most common example for UDL is that of a curb cutout that is commonly thought of as a help for people who use wheelchairs to navigate a sidewalk. In fact, the curb cutout also helps direct the flow of pedestrian traffic, ease navigation for those with limited joint mobility, children, parents with strollers, bicyclists, and inventory deliverers. A sidewalk that does not have these cutouts would not be considered as useful or well designed as a sidewalk with cutouts in logical locations.
Keeping the previous example in mind, simply posting students’ homework assignments on the whiteboard might be effective for some students, however as teachers we know we are more likely to see students record and complete the assignment if we provide multiple means of representation by saying the assignment aloud, posting it online, or highlighting the problems in the workbook. Moreover, we may present an incentive for completing the assignment, demonstrate a method for completing the assignment to stimulate interest, or build in both interest in the assignment and multiple means of expression by letting students choose the nature of the product to be assessed; for example, a choice among an essay, comic, PowerPoint, game, or wiki on the topic. This variety will also assist our parents to support their children at home by providing options and multiple avenues to support their child’s success. Not only can these principles be applied to curriculum development, but communication to parents can also be designed with the same concern for overall accessibility, including, but not limited to, use by those who are enabled by using Assistive Technology.
The webinars Working with Families of Students with Autism and Communication Characteristics of Autism discussed in this newsletter, in addition to my personal experience of being the parent of a child with a diagnosis, helped me to appreciate the difficulties mainstream teachers may have working with children with disabilities within the framework of standards and lesson plans that are not designed to differentiate or be inclusive. If children who are within the range of “typical” abilities and learner characteristics frequently struggle and fail, how can students at the far ends of the spectrum honestly hope to succeed? If I as a parent, even though a fellow educator, have difficulty helping my child meet his teachers’ expectations, with how much more of a struggle do other parents contend? Applying UDL principles and creating accessible documents as a part of lesson design and parent communication are two ways of building opportunities for classroom success for all students.
For more information about the principles of Universal Design for Learning, visit CAST.org at http://cast.org/udl/, which is a part of the website for the Center for Applied Special Technology.
Citation: CAST.org. (1999-2012). About UDL: What is universal design for learning. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/udl/index.html
Annotation: "UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone--not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs.” (CAST, 2012). CAST.org links to online tools for educators to learn how to apply UDL to lesson development in order to serve all learners better – not just those with “special needs”.
You may think making a lesson, newsletter, or homework assignment more accessible means reducing rigor, but UDL is a design concept based on principles that will enable you to remove barriers and promotes access for all users, not a set of rules that only assist people with disabilities.
The most common example for UDL is that of a curb cutout that is commonly thought of as a help for people who use wheelchairs to navigate a sidewalk. In fact, the curb cutout also helps direct the flow of pedestrian traffic, ease navigation for those with limited joint mobility, children, parents with strollers, bicyclists, and inventory deliverers. A sidewalk that does not have these cutouts would not be considered as useful or well designed as a sidewalk with cutouts in logical locations.
Keeping the previous example in mind, simply posting students’ homework assignments on the whiteboard might be effective for some students, however as teachers we know we are more likely to see students record and complete the assignment if we provide multiple means of representation by saying the assignment aloud, posting it online, or highlighting the problems in the workbook. Moreover, we may present an incentive for completing the assignment, demonstrate a method for completing the assignment to stimulate interest, or build in both interest in the assignment and multiple means of expression by letting students choose the nature of the product to be assessed; for example, a choice among an essay, comic, PowerPoint, game, or wiki on the topic. This variety will also assist our parents to support their children at home by providing options and multiple avenues to support their child’s success. Not only can these principles be applied to curriculum development, but communication to parents can also be designed with the same concern for overall accessibility, including, but not limited to, use by those who are enabled by using Assistive Technology.
The webinars Working with Families of Students with Autism and Communication Characteristics of Autism discussed in this newsletter, in addition to my personal experience of being the parent of a child with a diagnosis, helped me to appreciate the difficulties mainstream teachers may have working with children with disabilities within the framework of standards and lesson plans that are not designed to differentiate or be inclusive. If children who are within the range of “typical” abilities and learner characteristics frequently struggle and fail, how can students at the far ends of the spectrum honestly hope to succeed? If I as a parent, even though a fellow educator, have difficulty helping my child meet his teachers’ expectations, with how much more of a struggle do other parents contend? Applying UDL principles and creating accessible documents as a part of lesson design and parent communication are two ways of building opportunities for classroom success for all students.
For more information about the principles of Universal Design for Learning, visit CAST.org at http://cast.org/udl/, which is a part of the website for the Center for Applied Special Technology.
Citation: CAST.org. (1999-2012). About UDL: What is universal design for learning. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/udl/index.html
Annotation: "UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone--not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs.” (CAST, 2012). CAST.org links to online tools for educators to learn how to apply UDL to lesson development in order to serve all learners better – not just those with “special needs”.