Universal Design for Learning as a Foundation for CALL
- natewynne1982
- Feb 18, 2016
- 3 min read
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) was the brainchild of Dr. David H. Rose of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Center for Applied Special Technology(CAST). Since its inception in the 1990s, UDL has increasingly become a foundational characteristic of many curriculums and lesson plans in the classroom. To increase the positive potential of UDL, CAST has even developed a website called the CAST UDL Exchange. The site is dedicated to providing teacher resources for creating their own UDL content in their classrooms and sharing their resources with other teachers in the Exchange network community.
The popular movement in architectural designs, similarly referred to as “universal design,” inspired the concept of UDL. Universal design, for architects, meant that building designs needed to be created with the intention to make access to the structure and its interior reasonably easy for all types of people with differing abilities. In the same vein, UDL operates under the assumption that all learners are unique and each has varying styles of how they learn best. Thus, when creating curriculums, lesson plans, and learning environments, teachers and administrators must ensure that all students have equal opportunities to acquire educational content with minimal difficulties. Expanding on this concept, “the curriculum should be adaptable to individual differences rather than the other way around” and barriers to learning should be omitted or substantially minimized (Hall, et al., 2012, p. 4). By ensuring UDL is implemented at the beginning of the curriculum creation process, students who are exposed to the learning material have a much greater chance at success.
Much UDL theory has been thoroughly researched and researchers have developed three primary UDL principles to help guide teachers and administrators:
To support recognition learning, provide multiple means of representation—that is, offer flexible ways to present what we teach and learn.
To support strategic learning, provide multiple means of action and expression—that is, flexible options for how we learn and express what we know.
To support affective learning, provide multiple means of engagement—that is, flexible options for generating and sustaining motivation, the why of learning.
To illustrate the potential advantages UDL has to offer the modern classroom, I modified a lesson plan I found on readwritethink.org to comply with these three UDL principles. After modifying the lesson plan, I also sought to incorporate features of CALL in the plan in order to provide even more avenues for students to meet the objectives and acquire the content of the lesson. Finally, I uploaded the lesson plan to my account on the CAST UDL Exchange website.
The lesson plan retitled, “Writing Technology Autobiographies Using Technology” makes use of UDL principles by allowing for variability among each unique student learner who is participating in the lesson. The variability imbedded in the lesson plan characteristics is as follows:
group activities that are learner-centered, not teacher-centered
practice narrative composition via multimodal avenues (writing on paper, blogging, graphic design)
group collaboration and knowledge sharing in a flipped environment (the teacher is not the sole source of knowledge)
lesson plan objectives can be attained through one activity or multiple activities giving students a range of possible means to aqcuire the information presented.
The lesson plan asks students to think critically about their experiences with technology and how technology has shaped their lives. Additionally, technology is not only discussed, but also actively used by students and the teacher as part of the lesson. At the center of the lesson is an exercise in developing a cohesive narrative that showcases each student’s unique knowledge of technology, communicative and writing skills, and collaboration abilities. The narrative is created via multiple avenues (writing, blogging, discussion). This way, students with differing learning styles are able to approach the subject in the way that suits them best.
As a framework for instruction geared toward creating all-embracing educational environments, UDL certainly is worth utilizing in the classroom. For teachers who are aware of the limitations of traditional top-down methods, UDL promises to break down much of the barriers that have impeded the quality of education received by countless students. Finally, when incorporated with CALL, UDL has the potential to create engaging, relevant educational content that can more easily meet the needs of the increasingly tech savvy student.
To view the lesson plan I uploaded to my account on the CAST UDL Exchange website please click on the link below.
Resources:
Hall, T., Meyer, A., & Rose, D. (Eds.). (2012). What Works for Special-Needs Learners : Universal Design for Learning in the Classroom : Practical Applications. New York, NY, USA: Guilford Press. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com
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