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UDL Online

What is UDL and how can it be implemented Online?

UDL stands for Universal Design for Learning. It’s an educational framework that helps guide educators through the development of effective and flexible learning environments that can accommodate learners regardless of their individual learning differences.

Okay so that sounds good and all, but what does it really mean?

Let’s say you have 20 students that you’re responsible for teaching. Each one of these students enter your class under different circumstances, with a different learning preference, a different skillset, and a different base of knowledge. Because of this, each student will respond differently to what is being taught depending on the method of teaching used.

One method might work great for some students, but may be completely ineffective on others.

Each method of teaching is valid, but focusing on only one method will often leave some students behind. By designing content so that it can be taught in multiple ways, it’ll improve the experience for all students – regardless of ability or disability.

UDL is all about designing content in a way that eliminates barriers and gives each and every student the best possible chance to succeed. It’s about being proactive when it comes to teaching, rather than reactive.

So now that we know what Universal Design for Learning is, let’s talk about how to develop content with UDL in mind.

UDL can be achieved by following 3 principles:

1. The first principle is to provide multiple means of representation – presenting the content in multiple ways.

   This is important because everyone comprehends information differently. For example, some people may excel when receiving information visually, but the same people may struggle when given the exact same information only through written text. Even though they’re presented with the same information, the level of comprehension changes.

   Some people are visual learners, some are auditory learners, others prefer to learn through reading or writing, and some people have disabilities that can make it difficult to process information through one or more types of learning.

   In order for each person to have the best possible chance of success, they need to be able to interact with content in a way that promotes their personal comprehension.

2. The second principle is to provide multiple means of action and expression.

   Not everyone interacts with learning environments in the same way. For example, some learners may be great at communicating through writing, but may struggle communicating those same ideas verbally, and vice versa. Some individuals may have physical or cognitive impairments that prevent them from engaging in certain methods of learning. In these cases, it’s important to provide opportunities for expression that will work for everyone. By ensuring everyone can participate by making the content as accessible as possible, you provide learners with the best possible chance to succeed.

3. And the third principle is to provide multiple means of engagement.

   This principle is all about motivating students to engage in their learning. Learner motivation can be dependent on many factors and can vary greatly from learner to learner. For example, some learners thrive in group settings, whereas others are terrified of the prospect and prefer working alone. Some love the opportunity to be creative, whereas others prefer strict rules and guidelines.

   One of the most effective ways to motivate and engage learners is to provide them with options that give them some agency and choice in how they learn.

Incorporating UDL Online

Online learning is becoming increasingly popular as high-speed internet becomes accessible to more and more people. This has created many new opportunities for teaching and learning, but it has also presented new challenges when trying to meet the needs of each individual learner.

Online learning environments allow students to access educational content from different locations and at different times, which can be very beneficial, but it also makes it difficult for teachers to incorporate UDL elements that could typically be used in a traditional classroom setting.

I’m a web developer that works specifically on creating online courses, so I need to keep the online environment in mind when incorporating the UDL principles into my work.

Here are some of the ways that I incorporate UDL into the courses that I work on:

Just like a good teacher, I want to be able to deliver content in a way that’s memorable, meaningful, and beneficial to all learners.

These UDL based strategies allow me to do that.