Universal+Design+for+Learning+(UDL)

**Differentiating Instruction** to reach the needs of varied learners in the classroom is an issue at the forefront of current pedagogy. To learn more about this issue, students were directed to take an individual learning styles survey to determine their personal learning style then to proceed to the CAST website to explore the concepts and principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) which can be found at [] (see attached files for the assignment).

Here are some websites that include UDL information besides the CAST site:
 * The Assistive Technology blog : []
 * U.S. Department of Education toolkit: @http://www.osepideasthatwork.org/UDL/index.asp
 * A parent's guide to UDL **: @http://www.ncld.org/publications-a-more/parent-aamp-advocacy-guides/a-parent-guide-to-udl **
 * The IRIS Center: [] - this is a wonderful resource tutorial that explains how to integrate UDL activities in a classroom to meet the needs of varied learners.

**Below** are students' reactions/reflections to their exploration of the UDL concepts and principles.

When completing the learning style survey, I found out the I am a visual/nonverbal kind of learner. I believe that the survey confirmed what I already knew about my learning style. I like to read information or view it in picutre format. I take detailed notes on a topic and use highlighters and pens to separate key points. I had my small marketing class also take the learning style survey and they agreed that the survey also was pretty consistant with how they learned. I think next year I will have all of my students take the quiz at the beginning of the year so I know exactly what I am dealing with. I think that the CAST website was extremely informative. It almost was too much information to take in all at once. I particularly liked chapter 6; "Using UDL to support every students learning." Designing the instruction in different manners is a very challenging part of a teacher's day. I was surprised to know that some of the differentiated instruction techniques that they suggested I use in my classroom and I didn't even realize that they were a way to differentiate instruction, using examples, providing feedback, and allowing different ways to demonstrate a skills. I found that the first activity was a little difficult to understand. Once you picked a topic you had to identify your background knowledge and right away your strengths and weaknesses. I wasn't exactly sure how those strengths and weakness in climbing a mountain with friends was demonstrating the 3 parts of the brain. I enjoyed the second activity more. I agree that if you have a purpose for doing something then certain things come to light. When we were asked to focus our attention and answer different questions based on the question the picture became more clear and had direction. I am definitely going to share the website with my fellow teachers. I know that differentiating instruction is extremely difficult when your class sizes are large and you are under cirriculum time constrants and benchmark tests. I'm interested in learning more about the things I can do to reach all of my students and hope that they are receptive to wanting to learn and try new things. I would like to explore more of the science behind the testing for UDL. I think the way the brain works is extremely fascinating and interesting how the brain evolves and changes with the generations.


 * Jessica McGivern **

Before I began the survey, I thought of myself as being a visual, hands on learner. My results: Visual/Nonverbal! So I was exactly what I thought I would be. A lot of the recommendations are things I do or used to do – flash cards, a lot of colors to represent different types of information, and I used to make a lot of diagrams. I remember studying and using a big erase board to lay out my thoughts! There is a lot of information on the CAST website! It seems never ending! I think it is a great website to have now because there is so much technology and schools seem to be acquiring new technology every day! I also think it may help decrease the gap between digital natives and digital immigrants. The more resources the ‘immigrants’ have, I think the better they will feel about exploring and experimenting with it! Granted I have not seen the whole website, but the parts I have seen show some simple ways to easily implement simple technology into a lesson! I also think this website really express that students CAN learn, and there is more than one way for students to present the information they really know! In Chapter 6, I read that information should be presented in many different ways or forms. I know I try to do that – even if it is as simple as showing the letter A in ten different fonts – the kids will still learn that A is always A, but it may look differently! I also try utilizing different Medias and formats. I try to find pictures or short video clips about animals or money to help the students make a connection. I also show them the real coin or show them coins in books. I know in Kindergarten, kids are like sponges – they will start to connect that things can be the same, but different too! I am going to try to concentrate on using the different types of formats to teach concepts. I understand that students learn differently – and I try to really show that through my teaching. In the second activity when you had to look at the picture, the first thing I noticed was the child and the people –the results said that if you work with children, you will probably notice the child first! As far as completing the project about listing your strengths and challenges, I was trying to think of my background knowledge to which I could apply to cooking the Indian food – now I am trying to really concentrate on making students make personal connections to concepts – I think it will help them! I think the most important thing to do while teaching is try to figure out how your students learn best and apply that through teaching. I think almost all students want to learn, so it is important that the teacher makes that connection with the student. Using technology I think is something that keeps kids intrigued and it shows that them you can somewhat relate to what they experience! I would love to have more time to explore the website and read the information – a book might even work better for me – that way I can label and I won’t have so many options to click on!!!!


 * Ashley Grubb **

﻿ My scores on the learning style survery were tied for visual/nonverbal and visual/verbal at 28, then kinesthetic at 26 and auditory at 16. Most of the information that was offered confirms what I already knew about how I learn. I know that I am a very visual learner and need to be involved in my learning to recall the most information. In the past I have used index cards to help me learn vocabulary words or other important information, however I had no limit to the amount of information that I would include on the cards. The learning survey suggested that I put a limited amount of the information on the index cards so I can take a “picture” of the card mentally to help remember the information.

I have used the CAST website before in a class at Mount Saint Mary’s. We had to use the curriculum barrier finder to create a chart in our final project to describe the kind of class we were working with. The chart allowed me to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the students in an easy to read format. I think this is a really useful website that is easy to navigate through. There are so many different tools that can be used when planning a lesson and there are examples to go along with everything.

In the book //Teaching Every student in the Digital Age//, chapter 6 focused on using //Universal Design Learning to support all student learning//. There was a chart in chapter 6 that showed different teaching methods that you can use for different types of learners, recognition, strategic and diverse. This chart could be very useful when planning a lesson because you could make sure to incorporate one aspect from each network to make sure you are meeting the needs of each learner. Chapter 6 also includes different media tools that can be used to differentiate your teaching style. These ideas include Kid Pix, PowerPoint, Kidspiration and CAST eReader.

The Curriculum Barriers Template would be a good tool to help me plan a lesson that includes all learners. This tool helps you identify any barriers that may be exposed concerning materials and methods. Using this template before creating a lesson would allow me to see what barriers may students may face and plan my lesson accordingly to avoid these barriers.

The “Your Three Brain Networks” activity showed me that I tend to focus on the people in a picture rather than the other details, like what environment the people are in. I found it interesting how when I was shown the picture and asked to look at a specific aspect I saw different parts of the picture than I did when I was given no specific directions. The second activity, “Getting to Know you the UDL Way” allowed me to see how different people can contribute different aspects when working on a common goal. In the reflection part of the activity it said “tapping into strengths and interests draws on these “fuels” for learning and enables teachers to bring out the best in their students.” I thought this was a really important statement because it shows that everyone has strengths and weaknesses that can be touched upon to contribute to better learning.

The CAST materials are definitely something I would share with colleagues. I think all teachers should take part in the two activities so that they can see how everyone looks at things differently and realize that even though we see things differently we can all contribute in some way. I would like to explore the Book Builder section more. Depending on the difficulty of creating the books, I think it could be a fun activity for students to create their own book.
 * Lindsey Soutar **

My result for the learning styles survey was that I am a visual/nonverbal learner. This was a little surprising as I tend to ask a lot of questions as I learn which would make me think I am more of a verbal learner. Interesting tips that I hadn’t focused on before were to use more symbols, pictures, and diagrams as I learn.

The CAST website was very impressive, I was glad to have a guided session to navigate through because there is so much information. Everything is user friendly and easy to navigate. I thought the interactive options for reading the classic texts was especially cool. While it gets tiring reading the text on the computer, I can see students finding the tools helpful.

I enjoyed reading through the Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age. If this were a text for our class that we used frequently, I think that I might want to purchase a hard copy, reading on the computer screen started to hurt my eyes after awhile. I did some reading in chapter 2 : What Brain Research Tells us About Learner Differences. The chapter focuses on the networks in our brain play into our learning: recognition networks, strategic networks, and affective networks. These three networks coordinate together in our actions and learning, and the balance of these create our strengths and weaknesses. The two activities that we participated in were in these sections so it was interesting to see some of the description and logic behind them.

I found the Curriculum Barriers Template interesting. I can see myself using this to track student learning throughout a unit to use as a re-teaching tool. If one method didn’t work the first time, what might work later? What should I use or avoid in future lessons?

Of the two activities, I liked the second on the best. I think that the first one was unappealing because I didn’t have strong feelings toward any of the activities. I liked the second one because it discussed why you were attracted to certain features in the pictures based on your interests of what is going on in your life.

I think that it can be challenging to plan differentiated lessons, but I think that knowing my students and planning lessons that are interactive and interesting to them is most important. For the most part they will do the assignments that I ask them to, but when students take some ownership and find some fun in the lesson, they leave remembering something. I can see myself sharing CAST with my coworkers and using it in the future. In my little bit of navigating I found some math resources, and I’m sure with more time I could find many more to use!


 * Natalee Mickelson **

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After I took the Learning Styles Inventory, I was surprised that they didn’t say that I was an auditory learner. It turns out that I am visual and tactile! I have a photographic memory! I hear things and have conversations and can tell you where I was when I heard those words. I can multi-task and hear a speech and keep my hands busy and still retain the message! I play books on CD in my car. If the CD is in the wrong place when I start the car back up, I hit fast forward to find the right place. Every time I hear a piece of the story, I have a visual recollection of where I was when I heard that part! Anyway, I think all of us have a little of each type of learning in us, but maybe more of one type than the other. I see visual in my learning as well. I like the audio visual aspects of learning, but I need time to absorb information. Books are best. I can reread all I want to! And I enjoy charts as well. It lays it all out. I think the CAST site was interesting. A lot of information in a compact version! I enjoyed following my nose to this link, and that link. I enjoyed the variety of mediums you had to look through. You could link to an area with charts, video, diagrams, etc. An educational candy story for a visual learner! I enjoyed the //Teaching Every Student// in digital form. You can pick and choose items that you need or interested you. I headed directly to the differentiating for learning styles and student needs section. That is one thing I feel like I never have time for. Spinning around to three different schools is difficult, especially when you are trying to get a grasp on each child and what their needs are. So I need help in that area to see if that is something I can use to help my lower students. Our curriculum does not cater to our needs population, so we have to be creative and work hard to keep them afloat. As I said, I thought I was a visual learner, so I gravitated toward the Curriculum Barriers chart. And the UDL Solutions Mentor, Model two: Finding UDL Solutions. This is a great resource for me. It shows how a teacher can pick a solution to help students by reducing barriers, or missed opportunities. A barrier might be “difficulty seeing small text,” or “not engaged with material,” or some students intimidated by…” Reducing children’s fears in the classroom is paramount. This chart helps you filter through options on how best to help them with their limitations.


 * Victoria Hardwick**

-- After completing the learning inventory, I found it interesting that my scores indicated a balance of learning styles. Visual/nonverbal and visual/verbal were exactly equal, and auditory & kinesthetic closely behind. I thought back to when I was in high school and college, trying to discern whether I was always like that or whether my styles have merged over the course of time. Taking notes and developing outline format skills were strongly emphasized when I was younger, and I believe this helped me develop both my listening and writing skills. Charts and diagrams provided information and opportunities to develop analysis skills. I do think that the reason why I try to present information to my students in varying formats is because I recognize that we all learn in different ways. And even if each student has one predominant style, in a class of 20+ students, it is very likely that all learning styles are represented. The CAST website contained so much information and details that I felt that an entire graduate course could be devoted to the research behind brain development, basic principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and tools/resources for lesson planning. Although you could navigate easily through the site, I felt myself wishing that I had the hardcopy text in hand to mark specific passages and make notes. This is very ironic since //Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age // discusses the barriers of printed text, and promotes the movement away from this traditional learning tool. There was a lot of information within the text of //Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age. //I found the chapter on the different types of brain networks truly fascinating and appreciated the authors’ attempt to explain them without too much scientific detail. I believe that if educators understand the activities of these networks and the associated steps in learning (recognition of information to be learned; application of strategies to process information; and engagement with the learning task), lesson plans will be more closely aligned with the UDL concept. The examples, in both text and video format, demonstrate how teachers can adapt lessons (and objectives) to meet the need of all learners. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">The basic principle of UDL is that a successful learning environment supports and challenges students while minimizing barriers. Flexible teaching strategies, materials and student assessments address different learning styles and maximize learning opportunities. Differentiated instruction is an important part of this method. However, I think that it is a more complex equation. Differentiated instruction + multi-sensory teaching + integrated units + embedded assessment that is performance-based + teachers that act as coaches or guides = a cooperative learning environment with high levels of student achievement. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Although I believe that most teachers try to develop differentiated lessons, the full potential of UDL cannot be realized until there are fundamental changes in the education system at county and state level. Among the issues is the design of curriculum that is segmented by subject and set time blocks instead of correlated into an integrated curriculum. State and county objectives are written with specifics (ie student will locate and take notes from a nonfiction text) that do not address the needs of students with learning disabilities or physical challenges. As stated on the site, there needs to be an adjustment of the goals and methods, as well as separation of the two. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Some of the activities on the site clearly demonstrate the effective use of UDL. Each format of the presentation of the //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">I Have a Dream // speech had advantages and limitations. And although text-only was viewed as the least effective, I believe that it is important for students to read information and interpret it. The use of technology and multi-media must be balanced with developing students’ creativity and analysis skills. The second activity involved identifying and interpreting items in a picture. It demonstrated that the items you are attracted to correlate with your interests and your personal life. Prior to completing this activity, I would have conjectured that the responses would be linked to previous learning more than individual connections. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">The CAST website has many helpful tools for educators to use in the development of lessons. The //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Curriculum Barriers Template // provides a concrete format to evaluate lessons/goals, identify barriers and create lessons to meet the needs of all learners. I also thought the //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Bookbuilder // was a great resource, and one that I could use with my autism students. I plan to use these resources and share them with my colleagues. I have explored the site for 10-12 hours, but plan on spending more time on the site during the summer months.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Lisa Brown