I would like to start this blog with a confession of my misunderstanding of UDL. I’ve been introduced to UDL 6 years ago in one of my classes from the Department of Special Education. From then on, I have had the impression of UDL as a design framework for learners with disabilities. Instead of focusing on the online learning content, I thought UDL framework focuses more on student learning preferences and limitations. After reading the meta-analysis of UDL by Al-Azawei, Serenelli, and Lundqvist (2016), I have a new understanding of this design framework – UDL is tackling the limitations of learning environment rather than learner limitations.
What is UDL?
Let’s get to this key question – What is UDL? This is a design framework to build a better connection between learning outcomes and student performance. According to the excerpt of “UDL in the Cloud” by Novak and Thibodeau, UDL is a framework that is built upon a list of guidelines to allow all students access rigorous materials. UDL guidelines advocate students to use their preferred ways to process information and showcase their knowledge growth. The UDL guidelines have three categories as shown in this infographic from CAST website.
I quite like the analogy of a burning system that Dr. Katie Novak used in Day 2’s video in the OLC UDL Workshop. This analogy simplifies the functions of different guidelines in UDL framework:
- The guidelines under “Why” is the thermostat;
- The guidelines under “What” is the burner;
- The guidelines under “How” is the blower.
All of the UDL guidelines emphasize providing options with all learners – options for learners to access, process, and assess. The more options students have, the closer they can become expert learners.
UDL & Expert Learning
I’ve mentioned that UDL framework is to connect learning objectives with student performance. The ultimate goal in a UDL guided learning environment is that students will become expert learners. In the blog of “continuum of developing expert learners”, an expert learner is defined as
A learner who is self-directed, self-regulated, motivated and engaged to learn
As an educator, we can use UDL framework to create a continuum to help learners experience expert learning. Novak and Rodriguez (2018) created the UDL Progression Rubric to help educators and practitioners to implement UDL guidelines into course design. This rubric provides concrete examples for course developers to track if their options of learning activities align with the UDL guidelines.
UDL vs. Differentiated Instruction
To create a learner-centered environment, the content needs to be flexible. Therefore, learners can mix and match the learning materials and output formats to fully engage themselves in the process of knowledge acquisition. In an UDL learning environment, students will have access to all the materials, but it is up to themselves to pick the resources that they believe the most useful. Compared to differentiated instruction, UDL focuses more on the availability of diverse content that can be provided with learners. UDL framework is to minimize the barriers to accessibility and engagement in learning environment rather than picking on individual learner preferences to provide customized learning pathways.
The readings and videos in these 3 days from this workshop help me use UDL framework from a new direction. As an instructional designer, the UDL implementation will help me create more meaningful and engaging online learning environments for diverse learners.