Universal Design for Learning What is it, and why should I care? Kathy Howery University of Alberta LDAA November 2011 Diversity and diverse learners describes the wide range of abilities, interests, backgrounds, languages, cultures and religions reflected in Alberta s classrooms today. Diversity has become one of the defining features of Alberta s schools. Alberta Education (2009) Setting the Direction Framework 1
The Illusory Average Student Inclusive Education The new challenge of inclusion is to create schools in which our day-to-day efforts no longer assume that a particular text, activity, or teaching mode will work to support any particular students learning Ferguson, 1995 2
Ableism An ableist society is said to be one that treats non-disabled individuals as the standard of normal living, which results in public and private places and services, education, and social work that are built to serve 'standard' people, thereby inherently excluding those with various disabilities. Wikipedia Ableism in Education (Hehir, 2008) Applied to schooling and child development the devaluation of disability results in societal attitudes that uncritically assert that: It is better for a child to walk than roll Read print than read braille Spell independently than use a spell checker Hang out with with non disabled children rather than only with other disable children. 3
What is Disability? What makes someone Handicapped? While for the individual, the impairment has a permanent aspect, disability would depend from the activity the individual wishes to uptake. The handicap aspect is the disadvantage he encounters in relations with other individuals, so called 'able' people. http://www.drnbc.org/child.cfm?dpar_parent_id=2&dchd_child_id=248 4
What about in the Educational Environment? Handicap = a Mismatch between learner needs and education offered Handicap is artifact of lack of appropriate relationship between the learner and the learning environment or education delivery. Jutta Treviranus There can be many kinds of Barriers that can disable our functioning or handicap us. 5
UDL What is it? Let s review and consider What is UDL? UDL is a much-touted approach to providing appropriate and accessible education to all students, including those with disabilities, in the context of the demands of the 21st Century educational environment 6
Universal Design Extension of architectural concept of Universal Design Designing for the divergent needs of special populations increases usability for everyone. Universal Design for Learning Extends this idea to the classroom: Access to the building Access to the learning 7
The Promise of UDL When new technologies move beyond their initial stage of development, innovations in curriculum design, teaching strategies and policies will be driven by the needs of students at the margins, those for whom present technologies are least effective most prominently, students with disabilities. The beneficiaries of these innovations will be ALL students. Rose & Meyer, 2000 UDL definition the proactive design of curricula (including learning goals, instructional methods and materials, and assessments) that are accessible and usable by all students with little or no need for additional accommodations and are compatible with available assistive technology inforum, June 2008 8
Will UDL replace assistive technology? No. Assistive technologies will always have a role in the education of some learners. Children with physical disabilities need properly designed wheelchairs, adaptive switches to control devices, or speech synthesizers. UDL Principles Three principles that enable every student to access and participate in all facets of learning: 9
UDL Universal Design for Learning calls for... * Multiple means of representation, to give learners various ways of acquiring information and knowledge, * Multiple means of action and expression, to provide learners alternatives for demonstrating what they know, * Multiple means of engagement, to tap into learners' interests, offer appropriate challenges, and increase motivation. Universal Design for Learning Each student, regardless of disability, difference, or diversity, needs access to the curriculum that is meaningful and that allows the student to use his or her strengths. 10
Curriculum? How do you define curriculum? The Curriculum Programs of Study Assessment Resources Instruction 11
Disabled Curriculum The traditional, one size fits all curriculum is proving to be an entirely inadequate solution for problems that plague our schools in this era of standards based reform. Universal Design for Learning UDL provides a blueprint (framework) for creating flexible goals, methods, materials, and assessments that accommodate learner differences. CAST, 2002 12
UDL What do we mean? UDL assumes a continuum of learning differences in the classroom UDL relies on curriculum being presented in a flexible, engaging and challenging manner. UDL maintains high expectations for all students. UDL is inclusive by design. To many people the term seems to imply that UDL is a quest for a single, one size fitsall, solution that will work for everyone.in fact, the very opposite is true. The essence of UDL is flexibility and the inclusion of alternatives to adapt to the myriad variations in learner needs, styles, and preferences. 13
Key Concepts in UDL Leveraging Diversity Clearly understood Goals Teaming Flexibility Proactive Approach Change the Environment not the Learner Leveraging Diversity 14
Change comes from the Margins What (Assistive) Technology do YOU use? 15
Specialized Technologies we All use today! The Future is in the Margins When new technologies move beyond their initial stage of development, innovations in curriculum design, teaching strategies and policies will be driven by the needs of students at the margins, those for whom present technologies are least effective most prominently, students with disabilities. The beneficiaries of these innovations will be ALL students. Rose & Meyer, 2000 16
Clearly Defined Goals Goals are designed to be accessible to all learners If teachers and students don t understand the goal of the lesson is it is just like putting nothing into the GPS and driving around Clearly defined goals 17
Compensation vs. Remediation Assistive technology theorists (Cook & Hussey, 2002; King 1999) suggest we have a critical decision to make: remediate or compensate. Edyburn (2006) The bias toward Naked Independence Education places a premium on knowledge that is contained in one s head The AT world termed this form of bias naked independence, as it exults the performance of able- bodied individuals and devalues the performance of others who must rely on external devices or tools. 18
What if Failure is Not an Option Scaffolding vs. Augmentation Cheating? Compensation vs. Remediation Accommodations are appropriate in addition to or after specialized reading instruction is provided, not instead of. King Sears & Bowman Kruhm (2010) 19
Clear Accessible Goals Goals are communicated in ways that are understandable by every student in the classroom, and can be expressed by them. Michigan Integrated Technology Supports UDL Critical Elements Examples from the Program of Studies Grade 10 English Language Arts General Outcome 2 Comprehend literature and other texts in oral, print, visual and multimedia forms, and respond personally, critically and creatively 2.1 Construct meaning from text and context 20
Separating the Goal from the Means: Writing Goals and Objectives that Increase Access* Goals/Objectives that LIMIT Access: Instead of The student will write The student will read Goals/Objectives that ALLOW Access: Try The student will express The student will generate The student will receive information The student will spell The student will select The student will compute The student will solve The student will define The student will show * From Gargiulo & Metcalf (2010) p. 270 Assessment Do we know what we are assessing? 21
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Universally Designed Assessment Must clearly understand what we are assessing! Multiple pathways to demonstrating success. Be authentic! Assessment Reduce construct-irrelevant variance 23
UDL requires Teaming! Teaming A team comprises a group of people linked in a common purpose. Teams are especially appropriate for conducting tasks that are high in complexity and have many interdependent subtasks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/team 24
Teaming Buy-in from administrators, teacher leaders, technology coordinators and parents is key Collaboration between teachers and in some instance other professionals is essential Teaming Marriage of AT and IT Just as the IT staff must learn to support the needs of the teachers of students with disabilities, the teachers and AT coordinators, themselves, must learn more about the PCs and networks with which they interface. Connsense Bulletin Ben Satterfield and Pat Satterfield 10/11/05 http://www.connsensebulletin.com/marriage.html 25
Teaming 26
Why is Flexibility Important to UDL? Flexibility is essential for two reasons: Individual differences between learners Differences between instructional media. Differences between instructional media There is no universal medium of instruction 27
Medium of Instruction Auditory - Listening / Speaking Text - Reading / Writing Visual - Viewing / Representing Qualities of Speech Natural speech has expressive power. Speech is transitory. 28
Qualities of Text Representational - permanent record Reduces memory demands Qualities of Text Representational - permanent record Reduces memory demands But we must be able to decipher the code 29
A picture is worth a thousand words Qualities of Images But do you see what I see? Long ago, Plato raised a concern in his Phaedrus that is familiar in our era: new technology will undermine traditional literacy. Plato (quoting Socrates) expressed the fear that the emerging technology of writing would destroy the rich oral literacy that was central to his culture. Writing would reduce the need for memory and attentive listening. It would give learners the appearance of wisdom by aiding rapid recall of information and facts without requiring internalization of such wisdom. This sort of superficial learner would inevitably be less literate. It turned out Plato was right only in part; although writing did change the meaning of literacy it enabled incredible advancements in knowledge. 30
Technology & Digital Media Digital media matter! 31
Digital media is: Versatile Transformable Can Be Marked Can Be Networked http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystud ent/ideas/tes/chapter3_9.cfm Digital Media is Flexible and Transformable 32
Digital Media is Flexible and Transformable Proactive Approach 33
Moving to Accessibility A3 Model APPROACH ACCOMMODATION (Assistive Technology for Learning) ACCESSIBILITY (Universal Design for Learning) ADVOCACY (Barriers to learning exist) APPROACH CHANGES OVER TIME 34
Accommodation vs. Accessibility Accommodation is grounded in the medical model of disability a professional typically identifies the individual s functional limitations or deficits and prescribes adjustments that allow the person to participate to some degree in the normal environment Sheryl Burgstahler Accommodation vs. Accessibility Whereas accommodation is a reactive approach to provide access to an individual, accessible, usable, and UD processes are proactive approaches to ensure access for groups of potential participants. Sheryl Burgstahler 35
Accommodation vs. UDL Access is a problem for the individual and should be addressed by that person and disability services Access is achieved through accommodations and/or retrofitting existing requirements Access is retroactive Access is often provided in a separate location or through special treatment Access must be reconsidered each time a new individual uses the system Access issues stem from an inaccessible or poorly designed environments and should be addressed by the designer The system/environment is designed, to the greatest extent possible, to be usable by all Access is proactive Access is inclusive Access, as part of the environmental design, is sustainable Source: AHEAD Universal Design Initiative Team Change the Environment 36
21 Century Classroom 37
Making Differences Ordinary!! I don t want it if it s different 38
Universal Design for Learning calls for... Multiple means of representation, to give learners various ways of acquiring information and knowledge Multiple means of expression, to provide learners alternatives for demonstrating what they know Multiple means of engagement, to tap into learners' interests, offer appropriate challenges, and increase motivation. Tools of our culture (Vygotsky in the 21 st Century?) 39
UDL seeks to decreasing unacceptable challenge while maintaining acceptable challenge Support Challenge UDL & 21st Century Learning Not coming into the information age we are leaving it! 40
UDL & 21st Century Learning Information is easy to get! UDL & 21st Century Learning What will be valued is people who can make usable knowledge with that information! 41
Expert Learners In UDL we are seeking to create expert learners, individuals who whatever the particular strengths and weaknesses, know themselves, and know how to learn. Expert Learners are: Strategic, goal directed learners. Know who you are as a learner. Knowledgeable learners. They have prior knowledge or know how to find it. Purposeful, motivated learners. They are intrinsically rather than extrinsic learners. 42
Amplification of Differences In the 21st Century the goal of education to recognize the diversity and amplify it not reduce it! Thoughts? 43
I want to learn more! Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) www.cast.org UDL Guidelines http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines A Parent Guide to Universal Design for Learning http://www.ncld.org/publications a more/parentadvocacy guides/a parent guide to udl Kathy Howery khowery@ualberta.ca 44