Walden 6714 Reflection - UDL and Differentiation

Reflection on EDUC-6714 Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology

As I toured our new high school last evening with my husband, I noticed that an elevator had been installed amidst the disarray of broken down boxes and dust (yes, I know, there’s still a lot of work to be done before September 7th). I had to keep from boorishly announcing to everyone, “Hey, that’s an example of Universal Design for Learning?” I can imagine my husband cringing at my lack of social graces and seemingly arrogant I-know-something-you-don’t-know comment. The point is, however, I am oddly amazed that I now constantly notice signs of UDL in everyday life. I consider the injustice of having a brand new high school that students in wheelchairs cannot access. Wow! I am so glad our society is at least attempting to be all inclusive in the 21st century. As we continue our tour, I note that teachers have access to voice enhancement necklaces for hearing impaired students, and I see the ramp access down into the brightly lit cafetorium. But then I am reminded of what Dolan and Hall (2001) suggest, “It is a dreadful irony that students with disabilities have better access to school buildings than they do to the curricula within them” (p. 22). So, as I begin my seventh year of teaching, I can hardly contain my excitement regarding differentiated instruction (“DI”) based on the principles of Universal Design for Learning (“UDL”). I feel challenged to meet the needs of every student, but I no longer feel that challenge is out of reach. The introduction and in depth look at the principles and suggested techniques of UDL have empowered me not only as a professional, but as a human being.

Remember in undergrad when your education methods teacher first mentioned the idea of differentiation? I remember thinking, “What, huh? You mean we have to do something different for each student that walks through our door? Are you crazy? This is not what I signed up for.” And for years, I kept that same disposition despite that fact that I was well aware of the uniqueness of each student. I simply could not wrap my mind around how to effectively reach each child where they were. Studying the principles of UDL has helped me to see that DI is the requisite way of teaching; students deserve it; teachers can accomplish it; technology can help to make it a reality. It is the humane thing to do – just like providing an elevator.

One reason I now see DI as a requisite way of teaching is the fact that I have a better understanding of the workings of the brain. Rose explains how the brain is made up of three networks: recognition, strategic, and affective. He goes on to explain how each student “differs within and across all three brain networks, showing shades of strength and weakness that make each of them unique” (Rose and Meyer, 2002). UDL illustrates a clear connection between the networks of the brain and the need for DI. For example, the principles of UDL suggest that teachers provide “multiple means of representation, multiple means of action and expression, and multiple means of engagement” (CAST, 2009). By following these principles, teachers can reach more students because each student’s brain is looking for information in different ways. There is no one-style-fits-all lesson. If I intend to meet my students’ needs, I must provide content through text, video, and graphics. Likewise, I must provide them with a variety of ways to process and demonstrate their knowledge – honing in on their strengths and scaffolding their areas of weakness.

When a teacher can effectively utilize technology in the classroom, matching a student’s needs to the appropriate technological supports, differentiation is taking place. The first step is getting to know each student – their interests, their intelligence preference, and their readiness level. The second step is to determine the learning objective. The learning objective is a non-negotiable. As Tomlinson suggests, when implementing DI we have one solid set of goals with different avenues to reach them. (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009a).

By collaborating with my peers at our Walden Ning site, I have acquired quite a collection of websites that provide ideas on how to use technology to differentiate. Storing these sites on my Portaportal, adding to this list of resources, and continuously revisiting these sites for ideas on how to differentiate using technology both excites and motivates me to try new things in the classroom. In addition to the online resources, there are differentiation projects and activities such as ChoiceBoards, Tic-Tac-Toe, WebQuests, I-searches, RAFT writing projects - all of which will become constants as I plan for my students.

According to Rose (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009b), UDL provides alternatives so that every student can learn. Digital media, word processing adjustments such as changing color or font, providing summaries for some students and not for others, providing additional background knowledge for ELL students, individualized vocabulary lists, implementing text-to-speech capabilities – all of these are examples of how to differentiate in the classroom. Some of these strategies are simple and simply require student consideration, but some of these accommodations are only made possible through the availability of technology. So now it becomes a matter of investigating available tools and matching them to the needs of the student.

Getting to know students in a more varied way – noting their interests, surveying their learning styles, and continuously pre-assessment to determine their readiness level - is one immediate change that I plan to make as this new academic year dawns. Always considering how I can use technology to differentiate is a second, more on-going change I will make. As my tour through the new high school continued, one of the best things I spotted was the area in my room where four computers will soon be installed. The technology is ready and available; I just need to seek out and use it to meet the needs of my students.


References

Center for Applied Special Technology (“CAST”). (2009). UDL guidelines, version 1.0.
Retrieved from http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines

Dolan, R. P. and Hall, T. E. (2001). "Universal Design for Learning: Implications for Large-Scale Assessment." IDA Perspectives 27(4): 22-25.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009a). What is differentiated instruction? Reaching and engaging all learners through technology. Baltimore: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009b). Universal Design for Learning. Reaching and engaging all learners through technology. Baltimore: Author.

Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/