Universal Design for Learning

(UDL)
By Jody Albarez
 Inspiration for UDL

 Traditional teaching
methods do not address the
needs of diverse learners
 All students deserve the
opportunity to be
successful in the classroom
 Educating students with
disabilities is a collective
responsibility
UDL put into practice
 UDL’s First Principle:
Provide Multiple Means of Representation

 Explanation: Teachers must

PRESENT INFORMATION
IN VARIED WAYS especially
for today’s digital learners

Examples:
Smart Boards, digital
stories, audio-visual
devices, Promethean
Boards, Mimio, Web 2.0
tools
 UDL’s Second Principle:
Provide Multiple Means of Action/Expression
 Explanation: Educators must
give students alternatives
means of EXPRESSING
COMPREHENSION

 Examples:

- Assistive technology

- Options for expressing skills and

fluency

- Options that support goal-setting,

planning, and self-monitoring
 UDL’s Third Principal:
Provide Multiple Means of Engagement
 Explanation: Maintain
student interest and
motivation

 Examples:

- Student response systems

- Laptop computers

- Digital images
 Technology’s Role
 Digital technology offers flexibility to display content
differently
Examples
 UDL’s Potential Impact
 Using UDL helps teachers address issues in their
classroom
 UDL opens learning opportunities for ALL students

 UDL builds maximum flexibility into the curriculum

 Brain Research and Diverse
Learning
 Teachers need to pay attention to individual differences in
students to identify their strengths and weaknesses
 To do this effectively, we must address the three networks
of the brain
 Brain Networks
 Recognition- responsible
for processing patterns

 Strategic- responsible for

processing actions

 Affective-responsible for
processing emotions
 Implications for Diverse Learners
 Each learner is unique and sees the world in different
ways. We all come from different cultures and ethnic,
linguistic, and academic backgrounds

 The dream of UDL is for each student to have access to

the curriculum in a way that promotes the most learning
for that individual
 Technology’s Role

 Technology can be used to address the three brain

networks
 Technology provides limitless ways to:

- offer many forms of information (recognition)

- offer means of expression of learning (strategic)

- offer numerous types of engagement (affective)

 Tools and Resources
 The CAST (Center for Applied Science Technology) website
provides many tools and resources for UDL including:

- “UDL Curriculum Self-check” which enables educators to

identify their strengths and weakness in applying UDL in the
classroom

- “Teaching Every Student” which provides activities, model

lessons, and toolkits to support educators

- “UDL Book Builder” which enables educators to develop

their own digital books to support reading instruction
literacy learning
CAST Tools and Resources
in my School
 References
 CAST: Center for Applied Special Technology website

 Howard, K. L. (2004). Universal design for learning:

Meeting the needs of all students. International Society
for Technology in Education, 31(5), 26–29.
 Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009).
Universal Design for Learning. [Educational video].
Baltimore: Author
 Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in
the digital age: Universal design for learning. Retrieved
from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/