For some of us who went to school in the dark ages we might have gotten an assignment that sounded something like this one given to Ralphie’s class.
Every student had the same assignment, handwritten on the same paper, and turned into the teacher to be read and then marked with the same red pencil. Not much Universal Design for Learning going on in this classroom.
What is Universal Design for Learning?
In a nutshell, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is having choices and options for learning and demonstration of that learning. Students are not all engaged in learning in the same way, nor do they internalize things in the same way. They should be given multiple choices and options for how they learn and able to choose how they show what they have learned to others.
In this video from the National Center on UDL, director David Rose talks about principles and practices that educators are faced with in today’s classrooms. His explanations are clear and concise.
The 3 main principles of UDL are:
- Engagement-this is the “why” of what we are learning. Learning must be important to the learner.
- Representation-the “what” of learning. What will the student use to foster learning-a graphic organizer, a video, models. There are many ways to represent learning.
- Action & Representation-the “how” of learning. What have you learned and how are you going to show me that you learned this content?
Comparing something that I know with something that I am learning is how I can make things stick in my brain. I did a search on UDL compared to traditional learning and I found just what I was looking for. I was able to see what a typical assignment might look like several years back and compare it to the same lesson taught using UDL. This gave me several examples and helped me see the difference between the two as well as understanding that UDL is much more beneficial to the learner and the learning process. This site will let you see UDL as compared to traditional education.
My final thought about UDL was where can I find a lesson plan template that would help assure that my lessons are following the principles of UDL? Rosedale Curriculum has such a template and more. They have charts for each of the principles of UDL that help you in removing barriers for each. You can find these helpful guidelines under Teacher Resources and then scroll down to UDL.
Using UDL in our classrooms makes learning so much more enjoyable and meaningful for our students. I am currently collaborating with a middle school history teacher to work on projects for National History Day. Students can choose their own topic as long as it fits under the NHD theme as well as being able to demonstrate what they have learned by choosing from one of 5 distinct categories: exhibit, documentary, website, paper, or performance. This is UDL at its best.
References
bladeronner. (2009, December 10). I Want You to Write. . .A Theme [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNKaKVTB2FI
National Center on Universal Design for Learning. (2010, March 17). UDL: Principles and Practice [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGLTJw0GSxk
UDL. (n.d.). ROSEDALE CURRICULUM. https://www.rosedalecurriculum.com/udl.html
Understood Team. (2021, November 20). The difference between Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and traditional education. https://www.understood.org/en/articles/the-difference-between-universal-design-for-learning-udl-and-traditional-education
Wow! This was a lot of interesting information. I really liked how you compared the past way of learning to the present. There is a big difference. The website that you linked inside this post led to an amazing site that has much more than just a lesson plan template but more information about UDL. Thanks for your post!
Thank you for sharing the lesson plan template. It is one of those things that I didn’t think about it until I read it on your blog. Your explanation of UDL really helps conceptualize that core of it.
I agree that UDL works because, in all lessons, you should have multiple forms of engagement, multiple modalities of teaching, and student choice to show what they learned. Thanks for sharing!
Universal Design for Learning is great for supporting teachers in finding ways to teach the material to the many types of learners in the classroom. Our students can be seekers of information rather than receiving the information from teachers. Once we know better, we do better, and I feel that is what UDL is all about-improving our teaching craft. I visited the Rosadale Curriculum you shared and it had good information, but some of the sections were password protected. I agree in shifting our practices will make learning enjoyable for all.
I absolutely loved your reference to Ralphie’s teacher… she’s similar to Charlie Brown’s teacher… whomp, whomp, whomp, whomp, whomp. Both were very boring and plain in their approaches to teaching young children.
I try my best to be the opposite of just that – plain. I try to make sure that my students have multiple approaches to all learning activities.
I really enjoyed the template from Rosedale – that would be wonderful to share with someone trying to learn about UDL.
I also found the Understood.org website to be helpful in understanding UDL. Your post was very informative!