Considering Universal Design for Learning in Lesson Preparation

1) Universal Design for Learning

 

The article by Rao and Meo (2016) discusses Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework as a guideline for teachers to reduce barriers in the classroom before class begins, rather than making adjustments after and “unwrapping” academic standards by identifying clear goals to deliver inclusive lessons for all learners.

UDL is a framework for designing flexible lessons and educational environments that are engaging and comprehensible for a wide variety of learners. The article describes how teacher’s can “unwrap” academic standards to determine the main learning goals and apply UDL guidelines to four lesson components: goals, assessments, methods, and materials (Rao & Meo 2016).

Unwrapping the standards is the process of taking academic standards and identifying the skills within the standard, which is often verbs associated with what the student must be able to do, and the key concepts, often nouns or descriptive phrases, a student needs to learn. With clear goals of what the students should learn, the teacher is allowed to apply any of the principles from UDL framework (representation, action and expression, and engagement) to any of the four lesson components. The example provided in the article is English Language Arts standards for students to write narratives. Using UDL framework (Checkpoint 5.1) the teacher is able to modify ‘writing narrative’ to ‘creating narrative , by giving student’s opportunities for multi-modal learning through multi-media communication(Rao & Meo 2016).

By utilizing UDL guidelines in developing the four components of a lesson plans, teachers can create more flexible pathways for reaching learning goals, reduce barriers, and allow all learners to reach high standards.

 

 2)  CAST Universal Design for Learning strategies to integrate into the lesson I’m developing.

 

For conducting my lesson “Digital Scavenger Hunt,” I want to make learning feel secondary to playing a game. UDL guideline 7.3 states learning environments that spark joy and opportunities for play are essential for children and adults. Nurturing play can take forms in outdoor play, sensory play, imaginative play, and play through the arts (CAST 2024). I think this already fits into my original lesson idea for conducting the lesson outside (park setting) and creating a ‘secret mission’ theme. By considering UDL guidelines, I believe the lesson’s theme of play can be strengthened through purposeful tasks connected through scaffolding of activities and and the connection of Triple E as the framework for technology integration.

Another consideration for my lesson plan is connecting knowledge to new learning, UDL guideline 3.1- Anchoring instruction by linking to prior knowledge using visual imagery, organizers, modeling, and explicit cross-curricular connections (CAST 2024).

With a non-traditional class setting and limited materials, I think an important area to consider is setting up learning goals and activity expectations for students. As CAST (2024) UDL guidelines state, reducing barriers and creating equality can be better achieved when background knowledge is activated. A tablet, as one of the digital tools necessary for our lesson plan is required, can also be used for providing visuals that setup a mission task by activating prior knowledge. This may be done through images of hands, ears, and mouths to indicate listening, looking, and taking photos. Considering the use of charts or modeling the mission tasks, utilizing the tablet for photos, and creating a student portfolio are good ways to start activating prior knowledge.

 

3) Reflect upon the guidance provided in the 2024 NETP regarding the integration of UDL strategies to address the Digital Use Divide.

 

The NETP 2024 Guidelines for Closing the Digital Divide explicitly recommends following UDL principles to create customized lessons to reach learners of varying needs (Office of Educational Technology 2024). For my lesson of “Digital Scavenger Hunt,” the academic standards utilized are the Oklahoma Academic Standards in English Language Arts for Pre-K:

PK.1.L.2 Students will follow simple one-step oral directions.

PK.1.S.2 Students will engage in collaborative discussions about various topics and texts

The active use of technology in the lesson, where students have autonomy in how the take photos, record audio, and make a customized portfolio of works, combines visual, auditory and sensory learning tasks that apply to multi-modal learning and a variety of learners. Something to consider for this lesson in the future is class size and learners of disability or even learners whose first language is not English. The activation of prior knowledge with physical and visual prompts should be relatively inclusive, if there were to be a larger number of students for this activity, I may need to make further accommodations.

  

Resources:

 

CAST (2024). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 3.0. Retrieved from https://udlguidelines.cast.org

 

Office of Educational Technology. (2024). A Call to Action to Close the Technology Access, Design, and Use Divides: National Educational Technology Plan. Department of Education. Retrieved from: https://tech.ed.gov/netp

 

Rao, K., & Meo, G. (2016). Using Universal Design for Learning to design standards-based lessons. SAGE Open, 6(4).