UDL - Universal Design for Learning

Using the UDL framework and its practical guidelines, participants will gain:

> A working knowledge of the neuroscience of learning and how individual variability plays out in different educational environments

> Guidelines and techniques to apply UDL principles to the design of lessons and curriculum units

> Strategies on how to improve classroom practice and school culture by raising awareness of variability and UDL

> Access to and tips on using flexible instructional tools such as CAST learning, authoring, and planning tools:  UDL Exchange, Science Writer, and UDL Connect

CAST is offering the UDL101A Online Course that consists of 12 sessions - 9 online sessions and 3 synchronous Web conference sessions. Space is limited to 20 educators.

"This course examines how motivation and emotions interact with learning and how UDL can be used to facilitate deep engagement in learning. Using the UDL Guidelines, participants learn to help students develop the self-awareness and self-determination that will allow them to succeed in a high, standards-based curriculum."

Universal Design for Learning: Theory and Practice authored by Anne Meyer, David Rose and David Gordon is the first significant new statement about UDL since the 2002. A multimedia presentation of the content can be accessed at no charge online at http://udltheorypractice.cast.org (free login required).

This book gives the UDL field an essential and authoritative learning resource for the coming years.

Join Anne Meyer, David Rose and David Gordon in their first free webinar in February where they will discuss their new book: UDL Theory and Practice.

"Meyer and Rose return with Universal Design for Learning: Theory & Practice, an up-to-date multimedia online book (with print and e-book options) that leverages more than a decade of research and implementation."

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has a great ring to it as it infers that lessons and instruction are designed for all learners in the classroom. Can you imagine learning environments where all learners can thrive? Using the UDL lens to understand the learners in your classroom can help teachers do exactly that.

Placing this concept in the field of education, the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) coined UDL to apply to all learners, regardless of (dis)abilities. In 2003, CAST has been creating instructional materials for over 10 years, mostly digital, to fit this principle of “universal”. Now 10 years later, the concept is finally becoming more known in our new times of the Common Core and increasingly accessible digital technologies. 

"UDL Implementation: A Tale of Four Districts is the story of four school districts taking the journey into the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) implementation process. Baltimore County Public Schools in Maryland, Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation in Indiana, Cecil County Public Schools in Maryland and Chelmsford Public Schools in Massachusetts participated in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded project to explore and pilot processes and tools developed to support UDL Implementation within their own unique districts. The story is told primarily through the voices of the dedicated educator leaders from these districts and the UDL facilitators who supported them. During the one-year grant, the districts worked with CAST, Inc. to develop and implement an effective and sustainable district plan to support the integration of Universal Design for Learning."

Elizabeth Stein creates a wonderful analogy of using UDL to create learning environments for all learners. Here is a brief exerpt from her blog on this subject:

"I’d like to offer my version of a teacher’s chisel–a professional tool that can help us to successfully create optimal learning environments. This tool is called the Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

And UDL can be such a powerful chisel. If we stay mindful as we use it, we can not only create one sculpture at a time, like the artist. We also have the power to create a classroom full of masterpieces –simultaneously. It’s simply amazing."

"Individuals are unique and learn in ways that are particular to them. And in the past quarter century, science has elucidated the great variability of the human capacity to learn..." (p. 49, Universal Design for Learning: Theory and Practice). Join CAST research scientist Samantha Daley and other CAST staff as we discuss the variability of learning and its implications for education. Specifically, we will talk about recent findings in variability of affective networks that are involved in engagement and impact learning and performance."

Register on this site for this April 30th webinar.

UDL is the framework for personalized learning. We found this very helpful for the teachers we are working with to personalize learning. UDL made sense for all learners. If you look at the three principles from the learner’s point of view, it is all about access and how they process information, how they engage with the content and use what they learn, and how they express what they know and understand. To personalize learning, we recommend using these three terms: access, engage, and express to help teachers wrap their hands around the design of their curriculum and learning environment. 

Check out this video and learn how Foundation Science Physics , a free application, makes the curriculum accessible to all learners.

"Foundation Science Physics is a 9th grade, technology enabled curriculum focusing on the laws of motion. The curriculum is modular so that the materials can be adopted in the context of any 9th grade Physics course. The Universal Designfor Learning (UDL) approach renders the content flexible and accessible so barriers to learning are removed. All students can work from the same materials while having a personalized learning experience."