Organizing Information and Resources in Universal Design for Learning

Organizing information and resources is a universal design for learning (UDL) guideline that supports multiple means of action and expression. The UDL guidelines were developed by an organization called CAST. This article will explore how teachers and other educators can help learners organize and use new information.

Organizing Information and Resources in Universal Design for Learning

Organizing information and resources means providing access to the information and resources learners need to gain knowledge and complete assignments. Some lessons assess learners’ ability to recall new information. For instance, spelling tests require learners to memorize the spellings of new words every week. On the other hand, most assessments do not require this type of working memory. For example, teachers may grade learners on their spelling during assignments. However, teachers do not require learners to memorize the spelling of every word they use. While some learners memorize spellings, other learners can look them up. Nonetheless, learners who look up words must first know how to do so.

Teachers can use many strategies for organizing information and resources. For example, teachers can model how to take notes during a lesson. This modelling should show learners how to recognize the most important parts of a lesson. Likewise, model note-taking should demonstrate how to organize notes and use them to make connections between ideas. Furthermore, teachers can give learners checklists or templates to support their note-taking.

Furthermore, teachers can prompt learners with reminders about the need to organize information. For example, when a teacher provides a handout, they could remind learners to store it with work on the same subject. Similarly, teachers linking learners to an online resource could suggest that they bookmark the page for future reference.

Finally, teachers can give learners graphic organizers or templates to organize information on a larger scale. These templates can help learners organize all their lesson notes in a unit. In addition, learners could use these organizers as study aids making connections between concepts learned in separate lessons.