UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR

LEARNING
Guidelines for Accessible Online Instruction

Carol Rogers- Shaw, MA,MS, Davin J. Carr-Chellman, PhD, and

Jinhee Choi, MS, BFA

Reporter:
Tomashita P. Arenas, MEng’g-Ed-
EE
Which is closer to your classrooms?
But . . . .

 This is not a  This is a session

session on on access to
technology learning through
instruction based
on UDL
What is UDL?

-A framework for the teaching-learning

transaction that conceptualizes
knowledge through learner- centered
foci emphasizing accessibility,
collaboration, and community.
Universal Design for Learning
 The use of Universal Design for
Learning (UDL) is effective in
enhancing a learner’s ability to acquire,
generate and use new knowledge.
 UDL is an essential element of good
teaching to proactively meet the needs
of diverse learners.
Civil Rights Legacy – Universal Design
UDL offers an epistemological shift
that facilitates design for all
learners within a holistic
framework.

Universal Design: Old design:

Access for everyone! Some are denied
Universal Design

“Consider the needs of the broadest

possible range of users from the
beginning.”

— Ron Mace
Universal Design

Fairy tale of Goldilocks; educators

should offer students the chance to
“try multiple options to determine
which option is ‘just right’ for ensuring
their performance is acceptable to
meet high standards” (Edyburn,2010)
Non-UDL vs UDL

 Non-UDL course designs often view

diverse needs from a deficit
perspective
 UDL accommodates diversity in
different ways as it reorients how
knowledge is defined, obtained, and
expressed by embracing difference
Universal Design for Learning…
 reduces barriers in instruction

 provides appropriate accommodations

[and] supports

 maintains high achievement

expectations

(Source: Higher Education Opportunity Act of

2008)
Universal Design for Learning

 Eliminating or reducing barriers to

academic success for all students

 Valuing diversity in the classroom

through proactive design of inclusive
curriculum
Universal Design for Learning
 Increasing options  Leading to
for access increased
 Increasing options equitable access
for participation to the general
 Increasing options curriculum 
– Higher achievement
for demonstrating
– More graduation
learning
– Less drop out
Universal Design for Learning…
“Provides flexibility in the ways
– Information is presented
– Students respond or demonstrate
knowledge and skills
– Students are engaged”

(Source: Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008)

Three Fundamental Principles

 Multiple Means of Representation

– To increase recognition
 Multiple Means of Expression
– To expand purposeful output
 Multiple Means of Engagement
– To enhance involvement
Recognition through Representation
 Perception
– Customized displays
– Auditory alternatives
 Provide options for – Visual alternatives
perception  Expression
– Vocabulary and symbols
 Provide options for – Syntax and structure
language, – Decoding
– Understanding
mathematical – Multiple illustrations
expressions, and  Comprehension
symbols – Background knowledge
– Patterns and relationships
 Provide options for – Information processing
comprehension – Transfer and generalization
Multiple Representations of Information

Examples
– Offer text-to-speech, video, audio, and
other multimedia; integrate assistive
technologies into learning environment
– Provide vocabulary support and
background knowledge
– Highlight critical features & main ideas
Provide Multiple Means for Action
and Expression
 Physical action
– Vary response and navigation
 Options for – Optimize tools and technologies
 Expression and communication
physical action – Multiple media
 Options for – Tools for construction and
composition
expression and – Graduated levels of support
communication  Executive functions
– Goal setting
 Options for – Planning and strategy development
executive – Managing information and
resources
functions – Enhance monitoring progress
Multiple Means of Action and Expression

Examples
– Let students show what they know
with voice recording, graphic displays,
performance, etc.
– Provide models of expert performance
– Offer executive-function supports such
as graphic organizers, outlines, etc.
Provide Multiple Means for Engagement
 Recruiting Interest
 Options for – Individual choice and autonomy
recruiting – Relevance, value and authenticity
– Minimize threats and distractions
interest  Sustaining effort and persistence
 Options for – Heighten salience of goals and
objectives
sustaining effort – Vary demands and resources
and persistence – Foster collaboration and
community
 Options for self- – Increase mastery-oriented
regulation feedback
 Self-Regulation
– Promote expectations and beliefs
Multiple Means of Engagement
Examples
– Vary levels of challenge and support to
prevent frustration or boredom
– Tie work to real-world examples
– Where possible, give choices
– Teach self-assessment and reflection
– Implement school-wide positive
behavioral interventions and support
 Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports:
Managing Student Behavior

“Creating classroom norms,

expectations and rules are a
golden opportunity to establish
and sustain student
engagement, use it.”

- Dr. Mary Magee Quinn

UDL applies to the whole curriculum
Goals

Traditional UDL
– Learning goals may – Learning goals are
get skewed by the attained in many
inflexible ways and individualized ways,
means of achieving by many customized
them. means.
Materials

Traditional UDL
– Mostly print and – Variety of materials
everyone gets the and formats to
same materials reach learners with
– Few options diverse abilities,
styles, and needs
equally well.
Methods

Traditional UDL
– Teacher centered – Interactivity
(lecture) – Heterogeneous
– Homogeneous grouping
grouping – Rich supports for
– Burden on student to understanding,
adapt to “get it” independent
learning
Assessment

Traditional UDL
– Confuse goals with – Many positive
means. means as long as
– Summative—when they measure
it’s too late to adjust learning!
instruction! – Supports
instructional
improvement.
Improving practice through flexibility
and reducing barriers
 UDL Two important UDL
-acknowledges guidelines
that students learn
differently  Provides information
through different
-suggests that modalities
students need learning
environments that met  Provides information
their particular ways of in a format
learning
Improving practice through cultural
and developmental sensitivity

UDL can provide optional learning materials

through multimodal sources of information
such as combination of text, graphics,
audio, and video that can best serve the
needs of adult learners from diverse social
and cultural backgrounds
Adult learner/learning characteristics
supported by UDL
 Adult population is called to participate in
continuous learning to fit changing
market needs and participate more fully
in the knowledge economy.
 UDL provides broad conceptual
framework to accommodate the current
diverse population of adult learners
 UDL can integrate the qualities of
informal learning into an online course.
Universal Design

“By following the well-established, but

seldom utilized, principles of UDL,
adult educators are able to reimagine
the ways learning occurs and is
assessed in the online classroom.”
Challenges for adult learner in
online course

 Uncertainty about expectations

-lack of face-to-face interactions
 Insufficient learning community
 Technology challenges
Online UDL

UDL can provide ways to introduce

informal aspects into the adult
learning sphere by reinterpreting,
expanding and reconstructing the
traditional non-UDL online sphere.
Distance learner/learning
characteristics supported by UDL

 The flexibility of UDL-designed

courses provide opportunities to meet
the needs of this diverse population
 Motivation is an important
requirement for successful online
learning, and following the UDL model
with multiple forms of engagement is
effective.
Distance learner/learning
characteristics supported by UDL
 UDL’s focus on providing options is
significant
 It is important to recognize that adult
distance learners want to exercise control
over their own learning, define what it is
they will learn, make their own decisions
how to learn, use their personal life
experience in the learning process, apply
their knowledge to solving real-life present
day problems, and have intrinsic motivation
Distance learner/learning
characteristics supported by UDL
 Providing multiple ways to acquire knowledge and
demonstrate comprehension is beneficial.
 There are enormous variations in strategies,
techniques and in the behaviour of teachers and
learners
 Apply UDL by “building courses and classroom
activities from inception to meet the learning
needs of the greatest number of students”
 With UDL,the instructor, with content and
pedagogical knowledge designs a course that
allows students to determine what and how they
will learn.
Applying UDL

 With UDL, deficiencies that had not been

obvious to us was recognized.
 Mace called for effective prompting and
feedback during and after task
completion.
With UDL, more students are…

 Engaged in their
own education
 Learning at greater
breadth and depth
 Achieving at higher
levels
 Motivated to
continue learning
More educators are…

 Teaching effectively
in classrooms with
diverse student
needs
 Spending more time
on
instruction and
facilitating
learning
 Helping ALL
learners succeed
Summing it all up

The old days will not

be again, even as a
man will never again
be a child. (Dakota)

You are shaping the future!

What can you do now?

 Apply UDL to your instruction

 Demand universally-designed products
 Share your UDL resources and lesson
plans with others
 Advocate curriculum adoption policies that
require UDL principles
 Thank You!

May we be the one who make

things happen for the students
we teach.