Universal design is a term I was also introduced to last year in disability studies. I appreciate how all of this terminology carries over.
Universal design (often inclusive design)
refers to broad-spectrum ideas meant to produce buildings, products and
environments that are inherently accessible to older people, people
without disabilities, and people with disabilities.
Universal design seems like the ultimate goal in education- where we are all striving to get to. To not modify and adapt for each student, but to teach, assess and have the school function in a way that the needs of all are met in a more natural way. It's a shifting of the learning environment rather than adapting to one specific student.
I dug into the concept further, seeking for specifics on how to do so and discovered the following:
In the classroom:
- Class Climate. Adopt practices that reflect high values with respect to both diversity and inclusiveness.
- Interaction. Encourage regular and effective interactions between students and the instructor and ensure that communication methods are accessible to all participants.
- Physical Environments and Products. Ensure that facilities, activities, materials, and equipment are physically accessible to and usable by all students and that all potential student characteristics are addressed in safety considerations.
- Delivery Methods. Use multiple, accessible instructional methods that are accessible to all learners.
- Information Resources and Technology. Ensure that course materials, notes, and other information resources are engaging, flexible, and accessible for all students.
- Feedback. Provide specific feedback on a regular basis.
- Assessment. Regularly assess student progress using multiple, accessible methods and tools and adjust instruction accordingly.
- Accommodation. Plan for accommodations for students whose needs are not met by the instructional design. (Burgstahler, 2007a)
Software suggestions:
- Provide all text in digital format.
- Provide captions for all audio.
- Provide educationally relevant descriptions for images and graphical layouts.
- Provide captions and educationally relevant descriptions for video.
- Provide cognitive supports for content and activities:
- Summarize big ideas.
- Provide scaffolding for learning and generalization.
- Build fluency through practice.
- Provide assessments for background knowledge.
- Include explicit strategies to make clear the goals and methods of instruction.
(Orkwis & McLane, 1998, pp. 14-15)
I am always looking for more information about very broad terms such as Universal Design. I thought the Resource that you found was informative and easy to read. I learned a bit about Universal Design in At-Risk students. I remember that it was the major umbrella and differentiation was a part of it. It all fits together nicely.
ReplyDeleteWhat excellent graphics you inserted into your blog. I think that you did an excellent job if summarizing your articles. I also, like you, seem to be reminded of our Disability Studies course when reading articles.
ReplyDeleteHi Ashley! I love all the graphics you have inserted into your blog, especially the UDL one. You did draw that yourself, didn't you? Or did you use an app? The whole concept of UDL is a big improvement over our "documented adaptations" which we have been implementing with varying degrees of success over the past years, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteHi Ashley, your response to this article is very useful. Universal Design for Learning is somewhat confusing when you combine assistive technology and differentiated instruction. Although all three paradigms are similar, as you have mentioned it is important not to think of them in unison. Your breakdown of UDL and suggested practices in the classroom is very explicit and useful. I think the biggest part of UDL is accessibility and re-purposing learning/curricular materials as suggested in Rose's article.
ReplyDelete