Ruth Bomar presented at LDA International Conference 2014 on Universal Design in Learning.

UDL is short for Universal Design in Learning. This term was coined by educational researchers (Meyer & Rose) at the Center for Applied Special Technologies (CAST). The concept of Universal Design in Learning stems from Universal Design in architecture, an idea attributed to Ron Mace from the University of North Carolina.  With automatic doors and curb cuts, buildings became accessible not just to the individuals in the margins but also to a wider population such as people with strollers or rolling bags, and those making deliveries. By making accessibility part of the design, expensive and often times awkward retro-fitting can be avoided.

The classroom is a microcosm of our society. Students are at different levels of language and academic proficiency. Students learn and process in diverse ways. The educator must maintain academic standards while meeting the differing needs of students with varying skill levels. When we apply the idea of Universal Design to education, learning becomes accessible to the increasing diversity of students in our classrooms. And when we build in accessibility at the design of curricula the need for accommodations can decrease.

Thanks to technology such as neuro-imaging, scientists can watch the brain at work. The more brain science shows us about the learning brain, the more educators can design instruction to match how the brain learns. The learning brain is comprised of three complex and interconnected networks: the recognition, strategic and affective networks.

The recognition networks are designed to sense and assign meaning to patterns received from sensory input. They enable us to identify and understand information, ideas and concepts. The strategic networks see mental and motor patterns which enable us to plan, execute, and monitor actions and skills. The affective networks evaluate these patterns and assign them significance. They enable us to engage with tasks and learning, and with the world around us. All three learning networks interact when learning concepts. Information is processed in parallel through separate pathways in all three networks. Information travels in detail to big picture and from big picture to detail.

The “so-what?” to all the research about the learning brain is this. There are no regular students. Each student brings a unique assortment of strengths, weaknesses and preferences to learning. Disabilities can be explained through recognizing the interaction between students and their environment.

UDL’s basic premise is that barriers to learning occur in the interaction with the curriculum—they are not inherent solely in the capacities of the learner. Thus, when education fails, the curriculum, not the learner, should take responsibility for adaptation. With the UDL framework, curriculum designers anticipate and reduce or eliminate barriers by making curricula flexible. (Meyer & Rose, p. 8)

The big take-away here is this. The key to helping all students achieve is identifying and removing barriers from our teaching methods and curriculum materials.

Click here for reference list on UDL.

Click on picture to see Ruth’s power point on UDL What? Why? How?