Week 5 - UDL (Universal Design for Learning)

Universal Design for Learning aims for instructional design that seamlessly meets the needs of learners. It emphasizes multiple ways for students to engage, access content, and demonstrate their learning. Interestingly, it came out of the concept of universal design in architecture. By using features such as ramps, electronic doors, and braille labeling, more people can access a building, but those features are available to all, and may benefit others. Similarly, if a lesson includes features such as voice support for text, captions on a video, or different options for showing knowledge, more students can access the lesson. In an article by Sheri Vasinda and Jodi Pilgrim, the authors make the point that technology tends to be considered a temporary scaffold (support) in the context of UDL, but actually, in many cases, technology has become a permanent resource that is not withdrawn as scaffolding would be. They argue that digital tools are used in the workplace, such as professionals using text-to-speech to take notes, or people using how-to videos for many different purposes. It would therefore be beneficial to consider the use of technological tools as a "new literacy" rather than a temporary support (Vasinda & Pilgrim, 2021).

This view of technology as a permanent part of life rather than a temporary support fits with my own concept of UDL and how I approach lesson design. As a Special Education Teacher who co-teaches in a regular classroom, I try to design lessons where the supports are universal, as much as possible, so that students do not get singled out, and students who do not have IEPs can also benefit. Since the pandemic, we have included Google Classroom as a permanent support where students can access notes and materials in case they are absent, need a copy, or need to see it again. In my lesson design, I consider using tools such as GeoGebra to model a Geometry concept as not only supporting the learning of that concept at that moment but also providing a tool that students can use on an ongoing basis to explore and manipulate figures.

Part 2 - Applying UDL to My Lesson

Looking at the CAST UDL website at https://www.cast.org/impact/universal-design-for-learning-udl, there are many suggestions for providing support in the three key areas of UDL: Engagement, Representation, and Action & Expression. For engagement, a modeling tool such as Geogebra allows students to interact and explore the concept. Working in groups adds collaboration and community. For Representation, the information in the lesson is presented in auditory, visual, and hands-on ways, through video, discussion, and an interactive tool. Question prompts guide students to discover key concepts. For Action & Expression, students are learning to use assigned group roles to facilitate effective group work and stay organized as a group. They will also demonstrate their knowledge in various ways - through their interactive use of Geogebra, their discussions, the answers they write down, a video they will make with their group, and through reflective feedback.

Part 3 - Integration of UDL Strategies to Address the Digital Divide

The National Educational Technology Plan describes a digital divide in three areas. Those are the divide in students' access to technology, the divide in support for educators to design lessons using technology, and thirdly the divide in the ways technology is used in the classroom. If students have had less access to technology, they may need more support in learning how to use it, and that support can be built in through the UDL process. UDL encourages educators to use technology in a variety of ways to provide varied ways for students to take in and comprehend information and express their learning and understanding of it. For example, technology can be used simply as a replacement for paper if students are simply answering worksheet questions in a Google Doc rather than on a piece of paper, but UDL encourages more varied options, such as including multimedia presentations and demonstrations in the instruction and giving students options to show their knowledge using visuals or multimedia as well. This can help to bridge the digital divide.

References

CAST (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.2. Retrieved from http://udlguidelines.cast.org

Office of Educational Technology. (2017). A Call to Action for Closing the Digital Access, Design, and Use Divides: 2024 National Educational Technology Plan.
https://tech.ed.gov/netp/.

Vasinda, S. and Pilgrim, J. (2021). Technology supports in the UDL framework: Removable scaffolds or permanent new literacies? Reading Research Quarterly, 58(1), 44 -58.  
https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/rrq.484