Information and digital literacy in education via the digital path

Even when we teach with consistent, planned strategies, every student experiences instruction in a different way. When we embrace that diversity of experience among our students and recognize that what works for some may not work for others, doors open: We can plan multiple routes for engagement, representation, and expression, which enables more students to succeed.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an education framework that helps teachers support students across that span of the student experience. I

The shock has passed, the sadness comes and goes, and the stretchy waistband pants are becoming a mainstay. Your college or university is staying online for the rest of this academic year, as well as summer, and you wonder about fall 2020.

While the trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic persists, it may be time to settle into an educational environment that will be more online than previously imagined.

Warning: You will not get through the same amount of content during this pandemic. Please do not try.

Over the summer, we updated our online general education syllabus template using learning theory, universal design for learning (UDL), plain writing, and accessibility principles. Recently, Dave, Tara, and I presented this process at the Symposium on Universal Design for Instruction and Learning.

As we heard from Tara in An Overview of Universal Design for Learning, UDL principles provide a framework that removes barriers to learning by helping us:

In recent years, general education teachers have joined special education teachers in emphasizing the need for inclusivity in the classroom. By creating inclusive classrooms, educators aim to foster learning environments that are equitable and nurturing to every student. Inclusive educators often use Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to provide students with consistent access to engaging content and effective paths for achieving educational goals in classrooms where they experience a greater sense of belonging.

Editor’s Note: Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) 2018. The purpose of GAAD is to foster conversation, reflection, and learning about digital access and people with different disabilities in order to move towards greater inclusion in technology and its applications. We are pleased to welcome guest author Stephanie Rosen to share some thoughts about accessibility and inclusion for digital textbooks. Stephanie is Associate Librarian and Accessibility Specialist at the University of Michigan Library, where she promotes equitable access to library resources for all users, regardless of ability or background. She holds a PhD in English from the University of Texas at Austin, and brings a background in disability studies to library administration and digital education.

The scholarly communications community is very familiar with the many varied meanings of the word “free” and how those definitions help shape or derail discussions. With recent offerings of “inclusive access” textbooks, we now need to carefully distinguish between the varied meanings of the word “inclusive.”

Does the everyday learning environment provide a range of supports to cater for student variability?

Universal Supports are those that exist in the learning environment, which the teacher does not have to think about or plan for daily. Thus, saving teachers time and energy.

They typically support Finance Assignment Help which are common to several learning activities. Universal Supports include the physical, emotional, and learning environment in the classroom as well as well-established systems and protocols that are so embedded they are simply ‘the way we do things around here’.

Something remarkable has happened in the past decade. New discoveries about the workings of the learning brain have converged with advancements in educational technology to finally make possible the kinds of flexible learning environments that students need to prepare for their future.

According to the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework, flexibility is key because it allows educators to accommodate their students’ natural variability in learning styles and preferences. While UDL is not just about technology, this idea is at the heart of how technology can make personalized learning a reality.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework for designing educational environments that enable all learners to gain knowledge, skills, and enthusiasm for learning.

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework allows us to understand the importance of utilizing web 2.0 in teaching and learning. Social annotation tools such as Hypothes.is allow teachers to fulfil the three essential UDL components: engagement, representation, and action & expression through thoughtful use of the platform.

Social annotation tools such as Hypothesis and Voice Thread, when used well, boost student engagement, enhance critical thinking, expand reading comprehension, and increase student interaction. Of the several social annotation tools currently available, our institution uses Hypothesis. Hypothesis’ motto—“Making reading active, visible and social”—sums up why we think social annotation is so valuable for our students: it engages students and invites them to read and think together as a group by sharing real-time annotations of websites or PDFs (Hypothesis, 2021). The richly multimodal, interactive nature of Hypothesis offers instructors a platform through which they can employ the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to improve engagement and accessibility for all learners.

How UDL can be used to provide all students an equal opportunity to learn, at any grade level or subject area

In recent years, general education teachers have joined special education teachers in emphasizing the need for inclusivity in the classroom. By creating inclusive classrooms, educators aim to foster learning environments that are equitable and nurturing to every student. Inclusive educators often use Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to provide students with consistent access to engaging content and effective paths for achieving educational goals in classrooms where they experience a greater sense of belonging.

I thought I had a pretty good handle on universal design for learning (UDL), but after chatting with Katie Novak, Ed.D., I realize I didn’t understand the framework at all. Novak, author of UDL Now! A Teacher’s Guide to Applying Universal Design for Learning in Today’s Classrooms, Second Edition and assistant superintendent of schools at the Groton-Dunstable (MA) Regional School District, helped me truly understand what UDL is and, perhaps more important, what it isn’t.…

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that guides the design of courses and learning environments to appeal to the largest number of learners. It emphasizes flexibility in how instructional material is presented, how students demonstrate their knowledge and skills, and in how they are engaged in learning.

The principles of multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression offer instructors an instructional design model to strive for equitable access for all students by offering options, flexibility, and sets goals to accommodate diverse learners regardless of the discipline. In addition, UDL prompts instructors to consider how they might improve their own teaching practice by considering diversity in the classroom, student voice and agency.

Quick Take: Author, speaker and professional consultant in accessibility/Universal Design for Learning shares his thoughts on inclusive educational design practices.

How UDL can be used to provide all students an equal opportunity to learn, at any grade level or subject area.

Once a learner has indicated their strengths, challenges, and interests along with their preferences and needs in the Learner Profile (LP), then the teacher can work with the learner to develop a Personal Learning Backpack (PLB).