Making Digital Learning Inclusive with a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Perspective
- Catherine McFee
- May 28, 2023
- 3 min read
“UDL is not just about providing tools for students to access learning experiences and managing your classroom. It’s about eliminating barriers so every student can succeed” (Novak, 2022).
The foundation of UDL is built on three principles - Engagement, Representation, and Action & Expression. Within these three principles, the goal of UDL is to provide students with choices within these areas. In order to design UDL type courses, the advancement of technology and digital tools can make it easier for instructors to develop. It is just a matter of meaningfully choosing the tools and reflecting on the purpose of your choices and learning goals (Rao, 2021).
Positive Impacts of UDL and Online Learning:
-Student variability is considered right away when designing courses (Rao, 2021), the goal of UDL is to make sure different methods and technology are offered in order to “provide equal access to learning for all students, not just those with disabilities” (Sowell, 2023, p. 3)
-Student feedback shows that they had positive thoughts about participating in a course that was designed with UDL in mind and enjoyed the multiple choices that were offered to help their learning (Bryans Bongey et al., 2010). They found they would choose a course with UDL principles over a course that does incorporate UDL.
-With the increase in digital tools and technology, instructors have more resources to help implement UDL within their classrooms and therefore can make their courses more accessible (Rao, 2021).
-UDL is meant to be designed already accessible to most students, but educators make sure to still include any student Individualized Education Program (IEP) as well which helps the students whose direct needs to be met (Rao, 2021).
-The three principles are seen as positive as instructors are meant to provide various means to help students within these areas (Sowell, 2023).
Barriers Discovered using the 3 UDL Principles
These barriers were outlined by renowned UDL educator Katie Novak, EdD (2022):
-Challenges understanding the goal of a lesson
-Socially or emotionally struggling to understand
-Incorrect learning levels for assignments and tests
-Unrelatable assignments with no value to students
-Recall, attention, and memory struggles
-Keyboarding or handwriting skills
-Test-taking anxiety
-Lack of test-taking strategies
-Misunderstanding instructions
-Difficulty with lectures for auditory or hearing impaired
-Lack of understanding vocabulary
-Visual impairment
-Text decoding
-Reading grade levels and stamina
In conclusion, while UDL shows to impact the online learning environment in various positive ways, there are still barriers that must be addressed. For instance, one barrier that does not revolve around the three principles would be the consideration of funding or lack thereof (Hersh, 2020). While these barriers may seem like a lot, we feel that the positive impact UDL has within the sphere of digital learning outweighs them. UDL offers students the opportunity to choose and gives them the “freedom and self-management” (Ryberg et al., 2010) which is a main motivator in deciding to participate in courses that are embedded in UDL principles.
References
Bryans Bongey, S., Cizadlo, G., & Kalnbach, L. (2010). Blended solutions: using a supplemental
online course site to deliver universal design for learning (UDL). Campus-Wide
Information Systems, 27(1), 4-16.
Hersh, M. (2020). Technology for inclusion. Global Education Monitoring Report
Inclusion and Education Background Paper. United Nations Educational, Scientific
And Cultural Organization, 1-53.
Novak, K. (2022). UDL now! A teacher’s guide to applying universal design for learning. 3rd ed.
MA: CAST Professional Publishing.
Rao, K. (2021). Inclusive instructional design: applying UDL to online learning. Journal of
Applied Instructional Design, (10)1, 1-9.
Ryberg. T., & Georgsen, M. (2010). Enabling digital literacy. Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy,
2(5), 88-100.
Sowell, J. (2023). Making learning inclusive in digital learning environments. English Teaching
Forum, 1-13.
By Catherine and Marni
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