Creating Curricular Opportunities in the Digital Age Universal Design for Learning

Creating Curricular Opportunities in the Digital Age

Universal Design for Learning

Our goals for today:

• Universal design for learning is a scientifically valid framework for guiding educational practice that (a) provides flexibility in the ways information is presented, in

the ways students respond or demonstrate knowledge and skills, and in the ways students are engaged; and

(b) reduces barriers in instruction, provides appropriate accommodations, supports, and challenges, and maintains high achievement expectations for all students, including students with disabilities and students who are limited English proficient. Higher Education Opportunity Act

UDL: The Definition

What is UDL?

• 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

• a set of principles for

curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn.

UDL: The Framework

• UD• Neuroscience• Digital Technology

UDL: Influences

CUSTOMIZATION AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

PRINT AND ITS DISABILITIES

THE PROMISE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES

Learner Variability

It’s all variable!

Learner Variability

What does this mean?

• Curriculum can work harder!

A quick variability example ...

• National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard

• Higher Education Opportunity Act• Common Core State Standards Initiative• National Educational Technology Plan• UDL Bill• COMAR

UDL Policy

UDL Policy

COMAR

And another why…

The UDL Framework

The UDL Guidelines

BIG IDEA:

UDL Guidelines

Three Core Principles

The following slides show tools we will use to better understand these guidelines throughout the semester. Don’t stress – you don’t need to learn any of them this week. This is just a quick introduction.

Low-tech, mid-tech, high-tech

Where is this happening?

UDL Tools: Expert Space

UDL Tools: CAST UDL Exchange

MSHA, October 2012

UDL Tools: CAST e-Books

MSHA, October 2012 http://readwithme.cast.org/

UDL Tools: CAST BookBuilder

MSHA, October 2012

UDL Tools: CAST UDL Studio

MSHA, October 2012

UDL Tools: iSolveIt App

MSHA, October 2012

http://isolveit.cast.org/home

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpbpRMkoNuY

UDL Tools: Science Writer

MSHA, October 2012

http://sciencewriter.cast.org/welcome;jsessionid=49AC32D0EA01E49264116FBEAB389068

UDL Tools: UDL Wheel & Mobile App

MSHA, October 2012

UDL Tools: AT Match-Up Tool

MSHA, October 2012 http://marylandlearninglinks.org/3815

Final thoughts!

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

“Start with the goal and the content. What do you want to

teach?”- David Rose, CAST

UDL is not an all or nothing proposition

Did we meet our goals?

“Ultimately, what will separate new curricula from old is that they will reflect a new ecology for learning. That new ecology will put students at the center of the learning environment. And all students will not only learn, each in their own way; they also will teach. Every curriculum will not only teach, it will learn. In so doing, we will create an optimal ecology for learning, one in which the paths to learning are rich and diverse enough for all our students.”

-Rose and Gravel, 2012