Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

This week, we continue exploring the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework, developed by CAST, which helps us design learning environments that give every student the opportunity to succeed. The CAST UDL Guidelines can be applied in any discipline or setting to ensure that all learners are able to access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities. Rooted in neuroscience, UDL encourages us to create flexible pathways that give all students equitable opportunities to engage, access information, and demonstrate understanding. Instead of asking, “How can students fit the lesson?” UDL asks, “How can the lesson fit our students?” 

These principles remind us that learning is both emotional and cognitive, students need to be motivated to learn, and they need to encounter information in ways that make sense to them. 

• Engagement (the why of learning): recruiting interest, sustaining effort and persistence, and self-regulation.
• Representation (the what of learning): perception, language and symbols, and comprehension.
• Action & Expression (the how of learning): physical action, expression and communication, and executive function.

As we put these UDL principles into practice, here are a few strategies to keep in mind when designing or reflecting on your lessons:

• Build learner agency: Embed tasks where learners make choices, reflect on their process, set their own goals, and monitor their own progress.
• Collaborate and reflect: Work with colleagues to share UDL strategies, reflect on what worked/didn’t work, and iteratively improve your design.
• Keep learner voice at the center: Regularly solicit feedback from your learners about how they access, represent, express their learning, and what could make things more meaningful for them.