UDL Module 1 Introduction
Welcome to this online community about UDL! We hope to use UDL as a framework to strengthen our adaptability as educators, so that all students engage in learning with deep understanding. As we explore together, it is our hope to address the following:
- Understanding 3 guiding principles
- Identifying what we are already doing
- Noting what we want to learn next
- Trying something new in our own settings
- Sharing what we learn with each other
We will use different ways to learn together – face-to-face, online, and in our own educational settings.
UDL Module 1 Goal(s)
- Joining the online community.
- Exploring UDL ideas and resources.
UDL Module 1 Activities
Who are we? Each group will have a page with photos and a brief bio of each member. Group facilitators will create these pages. (Prompt 1: Take a moment to create a short paragraph bio that tells us a little about you. What drew your interest to this online community project?)
Insert your information in the following locations:
How do we use key resources?
To get started, you’ll first need to register a login and password with the CAST website of resources around UDL. To proceed, please visit the UDL Theory and Practice text page, http://udltheorypractice.cast.org/login, and setup your own unique login and password (HINT: Don’t forget to write this information down in a place you can remember). This login will allow you to open any of the CAST learning tools and resources that we may begin to explore. (Prompt 2: How do you use technology to learn or communicate with others?”How do we get started with UDL?)
Insert your information in the following locations:
We’ll start by exploring the UDL framework. There are three key principles that guide UDL, (1) provide multiple ways to represent information to a learner, (2) provide multiple ways for learners to act upon and represent their understanding and (3) provide multiple ways to engage learners. The image below (http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines/udlguidelines_graphicorganizer) presents those principles along with additional guidelines and checkpoints (we’ll get into those a bit later in the weeks ahead).
Retrieved from The National UDL Center,http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines/download To begin, consider exploring the UDL Principles on your own
To begin, consider exploring the UDL Principles on your own
- Read more about the three principles of UDL at http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/whatisudl/3principles
- Explore the video that discusses the three UDL principles at http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/whatisudl/3principles
- Dig Deeper into an article on the three UDL principles at http://www.udlcenter.org/sites/udlcenter.org/files/TechnologyandLearning_1.pdf
(Prompt 3: What is most important to you to explore about UDL?)
Insert your information in this location:
A UDL Application
Now let’s take a look at how the three UDL principles are applied in a Bookbuilder online book……http://bookbuilder.cast.org/library.php?page=3&item=all&area=1&sort=title&order=asc
In the example above, a book about a cat has been created for a young reader using the CAST learning tool Bookbuilder. There are multiple examples of the UDL principles in action. First, you’ll note that upon opening the book there is a TextHelp toolbar in the upper left corner. This provides several ways a reader can have the text read aloud (highlighting the text and then clicking on the green arrow) and defining the text or translating the text into another language (highlighting and clicking on the speech icons). These offer multiple ways to represent information (UDL Principle 1).
Second, you’ll note that there is an animated character available at the bottom of the screen and, in this case, a character named Monty. When you click on this character he provides further clarification of what is written on the page and shares this through an audio recording. Also, when the text is highlighted and read aloud, the highlighting is synchronized and offers more targeted assistance to the reader. These scaffolds help the reader act upon and understand the information (UDL Principle 2).
Finally, the book includes pictures of the author’s cat and have meaning and relevance to this author’s story. The multiple features as well provide means to further engage the learner (UDL Principle 3).
