Universal Design for Learning (UDL) means finding ways to teach that benefit the widest variety of learners. Moreover, UDL means designing learning goals, materials, and activities in ways that make them accessible to learners with a variety of abilities. Furthermore, two (2) Education Standards Development Committees recommend UDL as an important part of accessibility in the future education standards. For instance, the Kindergarten to Grade 12 (K-12) Education Standards Development Committee recommends curriculum based on UDL and differentiated instruction. Likewise, the Postsecondary Education Standards Development Committee recommends college and university teaching that uses UDL best practices. As a result, teachers and other educators should learn best practices for implementing universal design for learning in their classrooms.
Implementing Universal Design for Learning
There are three (3) UDL principles to guide educators in creating lesson content that learners with differing abilities and circumstances can access.
The three principles of UDL are Multiple Means of:
In addition, each principle includes guidelines that teachers and other educators can use to create accessible lessons. The UDL guidelines were developed by an organization called CAST.
Multiple Means of Representation
The guidelines under the principle of multiple means of representation are:
- Offering:
- Clarifying vocabulary and symbols
- Clarifying syntax and structure
- Support for decoding text, mathematical notation, and symbols
- Promoting understanding across languages
- Illustrating through multiple media
- Activating or supplying background knowledge
- Highlighting patterns, critical features, big ideas, and relationships
- Guiding information processing and visualization
- Maximizing transfer and generalization
Multiple Means of Action and Expression
The guidelines under the principle of multiple means of action and expression are:
- Varying methods for response and navigation
- Optimizing access to tools and assistive technologies
- Using multiple media for communication
- Using multiple tools for construction and composition
- Building fluencies with graduated levels of support for practice and performance
- Guiding appropriate goal setting
- Support for planning and strategy development
- Facilitating management of information and resources
- Enhancing capacity for monitoring progress
Multiple Means of Engagement
The guidelines under the principle of multiple means of engagement are:
Optimizing individual choice and autonomy
Optimizing relevance, value, and authenticity
Minimizing threats and distractions
Heightening salience of goals and objectives
Varying demands and resources to optimize challenge
Fostering collaboration and community
Increasing mastery-oriented feedback
Promoting expectations and beliefs that maximize motivation
Facilitating personal coping skills and strategies
Developing self-assessment and reflection
Teachers should use as many of these guidelines as possible to create inclusive classrooms.