National Technology Plan and Universal Design for Learning, What's not to Like?
Feb
22
Written by:
2/22/2011 10:46 PM
What does the National Technology Plan have to do with Universal Design for Learning and why
are they mentioned in the same document? I was very excited to read
about this marriage. Finally, a section of the document I could live
with and promote.
“The
model of learning described in this plan calls for engaging and
empowering personalized learning experiences for learners of all ages.
The model stipulates that we focus what and how we teach to match what
people need to know and how they learn. It calls for using
state-of-the-art technology and Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
concepts to enable, motivate, and inspire all students to achieve,
regardless of background, languages, or disabilities. It calls for
ensuring that our professional educators are well connected to the
content and resources, data and information, and peers and experts they
need to be highly effective. And it calls for leveraging the power of
technology to support continuous and lifelong learning.”
http://www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010/letter-secretary
UDL, Universal Design
for Learning, what do you know? Here is a fun quiz to get you thinking.
Be sure to come back and continue reading.
Alice Barr photo
As I get ready to
coordinate the learning of 20 students, I am embedding UDL into the plan
for the next 3 weeks. I will present information in many ways to my
class, I will offer student choice in presenting and reflecting upon what they
learned, I will be sure that student engagement is in place daily which
means that I will offer a variety of options which stimulate interest
and motivation in learning. Will it take more time? Sure at first, but
eventually this will save time in the end, and save some learners. I will have engaged
students who will work on the multiple collective assignments. I will
have a busy classroomHow can UDL work in any classroom? Here is a
comprehensive website which will assist you as you become adept at
integrating UDL principles into your mainstream or specialized
classrooms. What you will find is that most of the suggestions from this
website will be things that are common sense ideas that we need to
bring to the forefront of our planning. For example, Art Beyond Sight is a web resource
which explains how to discuss and describe art to individuals who are
visually impaired or blind. If you and I had a blind student we would be
sure to include this in our daily planning. However, what UDL promotes,
is by offering this kind of instructional alternative as part of our
daily routine, we meet the needs of students who function with limited
visual understanding or any student who may learn best with this
modality and support. This is the main difference in a UDL classroom.
As you begin this
process of embedding UDL into your lessons and classroom, start slowly,
follow the prescriptive outline at the website. Soon you will be adding
options for your visual learners, your auditory learners and, your
language learners, as you continue teaching your content area.This is what all
teachers can begin to do. It is good for our teaching and learning
process. It is good for all learners, general education students, gifted
students, special education students, ELL students and, it is good for
the teacher as well.Lisa Parisi said it best in response to Karen Janowski's Twitter post wondering why more teachers won't try UDL options in their classrooms: - Educators must believe
that they are responsible for teaching every child
- Educators must teach
students how to access tools and then allow them the access
- Educators must give up
that position of power to allow students the freedom to do what they
need to be successful
The one person in the
classroom working the
hardest is learning the most, I am planning that it won’t be me, but it
will be all my students! Good luck as you begin to adopt UDL
measures, your students will benefit!
Resources:http://udl.spps.org/UDL_Examples.htmlhttp://udl.spps.org/http://www.invisiblefist.com/2010/06/01/udl-from-the-bottom-up/http://lisaslingo.blogspot.com/2010/05/why-wont-more-teachers-set-up-udl.htmlhttp://www.accessfirefox.org/http://www.cast.org