Blog #5 UDL in the Classroom

                                                                     Universal Design for Learning:

By Carol Rogers-Shaw, Davin J. Carr-Chellman, and Jinhee Choi

This article discusses the history and philosophy of UDL, and discusses its benefits as seen through the analysis of its application in an adult learning online course.

History:

UDL is based on CUD (Center for Universal Design), a practice and theory by Ronald Mace who was an architect who designed buildings that were universally designed to be accessed by everyone no matter their age, ability or economic status (Rogers-Shaw et al, 2018, p. 22).  He designed buildings that benefited everyone whether they be disabled or not. This type of thinking inspired the educational move to UDL.  The idea of mainstreaming students with disabilities came from the Rehabilitation Act and IDEA. So applying Universal Design to learning was a natural move.  The term UDL was coined by David Rose and Anne Meyer from the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) when they applied Mace’s ideas to the classroom. 

Philosophy:

According to Rogers-Shaw et al, universal design in the classroom  meets the demands of a growing divergent student population, the need to incorporate technology in the classroom, and having answers for the mandates from accrediting agencies about accessibility

(Rogers-Shaw, p.22, citing Zeff, 2007, p.28). In essence, UDL allows for better access to learning by eliminating obstacles, meeting individual student needs, and being more flexible by allowing students a variety of ways to demonstrate acquired knowledge. Like the Goldilocks fairy tale, there is no one-size-fits-all education plan.  Every student needs to be accommodated for the ‘right fit.’

Applied UDL Principles to Adult Online Course:

In analyzing the existing communications class, whose goal was to “master the process of communication within the pedagogical setting” (Rogers-Shaw, et al., p. 27), they tried to recreate this class to reflect an individualistic environment instead of a traditional one.  The original class  was inflexible with limited options for its students. There were not multiple means of representation, which lowered student motivation, and the class did not have accommodating and assistive devices to prevent stigmatization.  There was only one form of text reading available for the students. Summative assessments of a multiple choice midterm and a final exam were the only assessments in the class.

The revamped class offered a traditional text, a text reader, an out-line, a visual version of the book, and a Kindle format. They revised the syllabus from text only to be more visual with an interactive calendar full of text and content links. This visual aspect and many others made the syllabus more engaging for the students.This more intuitive style accommodates a larger swath of students than if you use traditional text only.  They also added visual descriptions to the breakdown of grades and assigned values to coursework. They added a pie chart, graphs and pictures to ascribe value and importance to the requirements of the class. 

They wanted to give knowledge assessments that stimulated interest and motivated students to work hard and still help with diverse interests and skill levels. (It was an online course so there was no way to know if the students were doing their own work.) Wanting to bring in problem-solving and real-world connections, they had the students contribute to the development of the tests and the questions chosen. They had to defend their choices and collaborate on this task. The authors concluded that:

Through the guiding principles of multiple means of action and expression,and multiple means of engagement, UDL encourages the design of learning environments that can accommodate the increasing diversity in the growing population of adult learners particularly in the online context. (Rogers-Shaw, Carr-Chellman, & Choi (2018).Pdf, n.d.)

UDL Guidelines from CAST:

Although UDL was originally developed for students with disabilities, it became a framework for developing classes that allow students to learn in individual and various ways by reducing barriers, being flexible, and being sensitive to cultural and developmental needs.  The framework examines three major areas of learning: 

Engagement: 

• A focus on student choice, autonomy, value and authenticity, and how to avoid distractions and threats. 

• The development of goals, availability of resources, fostering collaboration and introducing mastery-oriented feedback.

• Set expectations that create motivation.

Representation: 

• Customize the display of information visually and auditorily

• Clarify vocabulary, symbols, syntax, and structure

• Promote understanding across languages

• Illustrate through multiple media

Action/Expression:

• Vary methods for response and navigation

• Open up access to tools and assistive technologies

• Use multiple media, and multiple tools for construction and composition

• Guide goal setting, support planning and strategy development,and facilitate managing information and resources (About Universal Design for Learning - CAST, 2024).

UDL in My Lesson Plan:

Reading the aforementioned article really helped me to see UDL in action.  I can even see now how some of these ideas are present in this current class of Intro to Tech.  

Guideline 7.2 for Engagement is about having relevant lessons and authentic experiences in the classroom. I am wanting to teach 12th grade writing with a Personal Narrative essay. My lesson may incorporate specifics on thesis and introductions, but it will be within the larger Personal Narrative assignment. I think this lesson lends itself to helping the student to personalize and contextualize their own stories in a culturally relevant and responsive way. Hopefully their essays will represent what is socially relevant, age and ability appropriate and appropriate for different racial, cultural, ethnic, and gender groups in their own experience.

Guideline 7.3 for Engagement is about minimizing threats and distractions, to create an accepting and supportive classroom climate and prepare students for lessons and changes through alerts and previews. We should vary the demands for student performance and evaluation to help create a supportive and protective experience. This guideline is important to me because writing can be a very personal and embarrassing experience. To have to share your personal story or ideas with a class can be very daunting. I plan on beginning with a common text that students can read and write a response to and respond to each other about. I plan on having clear guidelines of proper online netiquette and to share classroom expectations of charitable personal interactions. I will post clear directions in advance for all assignments and due dates and use as many graphics as possible for clearer communication. I will employ self-evaluation quizzes before students give peer evaluations because I think this will help them invest at a deeper level before they work on someone else’s writing. I will also pair them off to work on projects together to help avoid possible teaming up on one student with different ideas.  I will also try to vary the daily lessons and how they are evaluated to keep the students engaged.

Digital Use Divide:

UDL wants to shrink the Digital Use Divide by providing various and multiple forms of (Representation) information to the students through digital books, software, websites, etc. Also they want to shrink the divide through various forms of Expression with options in writing with speech-to-text, translation programs and other online features for students to express themselves. UDL also provides new means of Engagement to help students become stimulated and motivated to learn through offering a variety of learning activities that can teach specific skills, more opportunities for collaboration and access to grade-appropriate content (NETP17.pdf, n.d., pp. 21-22)

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References

About Universal Design for Learning - CAST. (2024, March 28). CAST. https://www.cast.org/impact/universal-design-for-learning-udl#.Xzx0BZNKjFM

NETP17.pdf. (n.d.). Google Docs. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O9lN6KuIPQYTXMkxU7ieTyt4Mcbj_Xjp/view

Rogers-Shaw, C., Carr-Chellman, D. d., & Choi, J. (2018). Universal Design for Learning: Guidelines for Accessible Online Instruction. Adult Learning, 29(1), 20-31.