Imagine that you have been asked to create an informational digital presentation about Universal Design for Learning approaches that can be used by special education and general education teachers in the grade levels associated with your field of study. Refer to “The UDL Guidelines,” the topic materials, and your research to create an 8-10 slide digital presentation that addresses the following: Explain how applying UDL principles in the educational setting can address the needs of all students, including students with disabilities. Describe the UDL guidelines of engagement, representation, action, and expression. Describe three specific, evidence-based UDL instructional approaches or adaptations that teachers could utilize to enhance the success and promote the growth and development of students with and without disabilities. Discuss how UDL and the use of evidence-based strategies can influence and be used to improve professional practice and student outcomes. Provide specific examples to illustrate your ideas. Provide links to five additional resources related to UDL statistics and approaches and describe how each would be beneficial to teachers as they implement the UDL framework. Title slide, reference slide, and presenter's notes.
Answers
Answer:
Origins of UDL
The roots of UDL are found in early civil rights and special education legislation that emphasized the right of all students to a free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment (Hitchcock, Meyer, Rose, & Jackson, 2005). The UDL framework was conceived by researchers at the Center for Applied Special Technologies (CAST) in the late 1980s as the result of the alignment of three conceptual shifts: advancements in architectural design, developments in education technology, and discoveries from brain research.
Universal design. After the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in the 1990s, schools and other public buildings were retrofitted with ramps and other architectural features to provide physical access. These changes were an expensive afterthought rather than proactive design. Leaders in the field of architecture suggested a more cost-effective strategy — designing the buildings from the beginning with flexible Universal Design principles in mind so that all users could have access.
Digitized text. At the same time, technological advances allowed alternatives to "one-size-fits-all" academic materials that used only one fixed medium — print. Access to computers was becoming more common in schools, and assistive technologies that allowed educators and students to manipulate text resulted in the availability of flexible instructional options. Now, text could be easily enlarged, simplified, summarized, highlighted, translated, converted to speech, graphically represented, and supported through accessible, digital materials.
Brain research on learning networks. Concurrently, brain imaging conducted while individuals were engaged in learning tasks (e.g., reading, writing) revealed three networks at work in the brain during learning: recognition network (the "what" of learning), strategic network (the "how" of learning), and affective network (the "why" of learning) (Rose & Meyer, 2002).
Influenced by architectural Universal Design principles, the accessibility and flexibility offered by digitized text, and the conceptualization of three learning networks, innovators at CAST developed what they called "Universal Design for Learning."
Explanation:
UDL principles
The UDL framework values diversity through proactive design of an inclusive curriculum, thereby eliminating or reducing barriers to academic success. Initially proposed as a means for including students with disabilities in the general-education classroom, it is now better understood as a general-education initiative that improves outcomes for all learners.
>UDL addresses the three learning networks within a broadly defined concept of curriculum that includes goals, materials, methods, and assessment (Hitchcock et al., 2005). According to the following three UDL principles, each area of the curriculum should provide multiple, varied, and flexible options for representation, expression, and engagement:
Principle 1: Provide multiple means of representation (recognition network).
Principle 2: Provide multiple means of action and expression (strategic network).
Principle 3: Provide multiple means of engagement (affective network).
The four interrelated components of the UDL curriculum require further explanation.
Goals are typically described as learning expectations. They represent the knowledge, concepts, and skills students need to master and are usually aligned to state standards. Recent national discussions about Common Core Standards have heightened the critical importance of linking goals in Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) with state standards and classroom expectations.
Methods are generally defined as the instructional strategies used by educators to support student learning. Methods should be evidence-based and supported by an analysis of learner variability. UDL methods are flexible and adjusted through consistent monitoring of student progress.
Materials are the media used to present content and demonstrate learning. UDL materials offer multiple media options and include embedded supports.
Assessment within the UDL framework refers to the process of gathering information about a learner's progress using a variety of methods and materials. UDL assessments are particularly concerned with accurately measuring learner knowledge, skills, and engagement by maintaining construct relevance and reducing or eliminating irrelevant or distracting elements that interfere with the assessment's validity.
The purpose of UDL implementation is to create expert learners — learners who can assess their own learning needs, monitor their own progress, and regulate and sustain their interest, effort, and persistence during a learning task. Many students learn within traditional classrooms with a traditional curriculum. However, most need supports and/or scaffolds to become expert learners.