Universal Design for Learning - udl
My vision: I believe that all students should be included within the general education curriculum as much as possible. They should be learning the same content their peers are, but with the realization that everyone learns differently and can represent their learned knowledge differently. If a student struggles with reading, why not teach him the tools he needs to access the reading in an audible format? If they struggle with writing, why do we expect them to produce the 5 page essay? Are there not other ways for the student to demonstrate the skill you want them to learn? It is almost like the math teacher that says "you must do it my way, or it's wrong!" Why is that? If I was able to do the problem/assignment, show my knowledge of the subject, should it really matter how I did it? Does it really matter that it is different from someone else? A good example would be an Animoto video that I created to show the learned knowledge of the water cycle. My Water Cycle Video For some students this could look like a paper written to describe the water cycle, for others it could be a poster, for others it could be a worksheet. I was able to scale down the concept and present it in a way to show knowledge, but not overwhelm the student with too much information that is just too difficult to comprehend.
so What is universal Design for Learning anyway???
It is a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn. Take a few moments and Read about Universal Design or you can watch a couple short video about it here:
National Center on Universal Design for Learning
Universal Design for Learning Guidelines
Using the UDL learning wheel helps to break down each part of UDL and provides options for how they can be applied and addressed. Another option would be to make your own: