UDL

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) aka Universal Design for Instruction (UDI)

UDL Analogy for Higher Education

Universal Design for Learning calls for …
•Multiple means of representation, to give learners various ways of acquiring information and knowledge,
•Multiple means of action and expression, to provide learners alternatives for demonstrating what they know,
•Multiple means of engagement, to tap into learners’ interests, offer appropriate challenges, and increase motivation.

CAST’s UDL online modules: These two online modules introduce the theory, principles and application of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to teacher candidates and in-service teachers. They provide higher education faculty with a multimedia, interactive online-learning environment that can be embedded in instructional methods courses. They are designed to be flexible enough to be used as part of an online, hybrid or face-to-face course.

Applications of Universal Design in Postsecondary Education

Postsecondary Examples of Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

MERLOT ELIXR: Sharing Faculty Stories about Exemplary Teaching – Universal Design for Learning

Accessibility in post secondary education: Application of UDL to college curriculum

National Community of Practice on Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Conceptual White Paper on Universal Design in Education on UW-System Campuses

Why We Need Flexible Instructional Media

Reframing Google’s Search Options: The Poster, by Joyce Kasman Valenza

Bloom’s Taxonomy Blooms Digitally

Top 10 Sites For Back Channeling Back channeling is the practice of using networked computers to maintain a real-time online conversation alongside live spoken remarks. This is such a useful way to collaborate with educators and students when introducing new ideas, presenting in front of a large crowd, or even when watching a video.

Universal Design of Postsecondary Instruction

Curriculum Transformation and Disability, a federally-funded project housed at the University of Minnesota, adapted principles of universal design developed by Connell et al. (1997), along with Chickering and Gamson’s Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education (1987), to create Principles for Universal Instructional Design in Higher Education (Fox & Johnson, 2000). These principles were utilized and tested by more than 200 faculty at six colleges and universities in the Midwest. They are:

* Create a welcoming classroom climate. Setting a welcoming tone up front allows students an opportunity to tell you what their needs are. Examples include developing an inclusive syllabus statement regarding disability accommodations, attending to all students’ physical needs, and establishing ground rules for class discussion.
* Determine the essential components of the course. If you identify the essential outcomes you can expect all students in your course to demonstrate, you can fairly evaluate all students and not have to worry about “watering down” the course.
* Provide clear expectations and feedback. Having expectations clearly laid out in the syllabus and providing students with regular feedback on their performance are just two examples of ways to provide clear expectations and feedback.
* Explore ways to incorporate natural supports for learning. Natural supports are non-accommodation-based strategies that are built into a course. They benefit all students. For example, study guides, discussion groups, and practice tests may benefit all students, not just students with disabilities.
* Provide varied instructional methods. Providing students with different ways to access material creates an accessible environment for all students. Some students thrive in lectures; others obtain information effectively from text, while still others learn best through visual media such as diagrams, illustrations, charts, or video.
* Provide a variety of ways for students to demonstrate knowledge. Just as no single mode of presentation suits all learners, neither does one single mode for demonstrating knowledge. Providing students with choices in demonstration of knowledge, such as allowing students to choose between writing a paper, presenting a speech, or conducting a multimedia project, allows students to show what they know in a manner that works for them. However, you must always make sure that providing choices in demonstration of knowledge does not conflict with the course’s essential components.
* Use technology to enhance learning opportunities. Technology may be the key to increasing flexibility in your courses. Putting materials on-line, arranging for course listservs, and selecting software that is compatible with screen readers may assist all students in accessing materials in their own time in a manner that is accessible to them. The key is to not exclude students by using technology that is not accessible.
* Encourage faculty-student contact. Faculty-student contact is one of the strongest indicators for student retention. Strong evidence reported in Astin’s study What Matters in College? (1993) supports the view that faculty involvement with students and active self-directed learning by students contribute more than anything else to measurable student success (Fox & Johnson, 2000, p. 43).

At the postsecondary level, course content and requirements vary widely. Faculty who are committed to inclusive practices have applied universal design principles in many creative ways. Some examples are listed below (Ivy Access Initiative, 2003):

* A law faculty member developed a website that is “Bobby-approved.” *
* A biological sciences faculty member created more accessible lab experiences by developing teams of students that included [students with and without disabilities].
* A math/statistics faculty member began providing handouts of overheads to the entire class so that students could use them for reference and review. He also began to deliver his lectures more carefully, by replacing general terms like “this” or “that” with more specific descriptions, by pausing where appropriate, and by making eye contact with his students.
* A composition faculty member began audio taping his class so students could review class discussion and the professor’s instructions about completing assignments.
* A foreign language professor used puppet shows, role plays, velcro cards, and searches of computer web sites in the second language to make the instruction as multi-modal as possible.
* A psychology professor allowed students the choice of writing the final exam as a take-home or a 3-hour in-class final.
* A sociology professor revised her syllabus to specify the objectives more clearly, and added a research project in addition to the midterm and final exam in order to diversify the types of work that affected the final grade in the course.
* A geology professor developed computer animation modules to illustrate some of the key concepts in a course on physical hydrology. These are shown in class and available out of class as well.
* A computer science professor started to begin each class with a forecast of the key concepts to be discussed that day and why they are important in the course material (after students complained that they had no context for his lectures).
* An introductory physics course administers the midterm exams in the evening, allowing all students up to two hours for a one-hour exam.
* A biology professor introduces new topics by asking all students to write a short essay on the topic, in class. Some students are better writers than talkers, and the professor finds that this practice leads to more universal participation in the subsequent class discussions.
* Another biology professor began using two overhead projectors in his lectures so he can leave the old slide on the screen longer.

Summary

Universal design is growing in popularity because it improves learning for everyone, while minimizing the need for individualized accommodations. In addition to being cost-effective and user-friendly, universal design has the added benefit of promoting full inclusion of students with disabilities in the educational environment. Using both technology and creativity, universal design promises to offer full access and participation to an expanding circle of students.

*Note: Bobby is a Web accessibility software tool designed to help find and address barriers to accessibility and encourage compliance with current accessibility guidelines. For more information, visit the Bobby Web site at http://webxact.watchfire.com/