Universal Design For Learning Programs

As educators, it is important to address individual differences in students’ recognition, strategic, or affective networks, thus providing the best possible support by individualizing pathways to learning through Universal Design for Learning (UDL). A study on alternative education for children suggests oversimplifying learner differences by categorizing students into two groups, regular and special, fails to accurately represent the full diversity of learners in the classroom. ( Meo, 2010, p. 21) Therefore, UDL is a framework for designing curriculum which provides all students equal opportunities to learn, with no discrimination to individual needs. In order for students to have equal opportunity in their learning and achievement,

In the educational world, there are countless programs, curricula, strategies, manipulates, and resources for teachers to pull from in order to aide in the teaching of concepts and learning of students. Whatever method(s) a school or district has deemed best practice, or adopted as their curriculum, tend to be the instructional practices or resources utilized the most by those teachers. Additionally, teachers will also have preference to teaching styles, resources, and materials they use for their students. While autonomy in any classroom is important to students’ academic growth, one must also be careful to select and implement instructional with great intention and purpose. Consideration to students needs is equally important as the mandate of teaching standards and demonstrating proficiency amongst students. Even when teaching non-disabled students, it can be time consuming and overwhelming to plan lessons so just how much more is involved when planning for students with significant disabilities (SD)? Better yet, what are appropriate instructional strategies to use for students with SD? Regardless of the instructional setting, these are considerations that must be given when teaching students with SD in order to maximize their learning opportunities to learn

This assignment is another opportunity to apply the principles of universal design for learning (UDL) in the design of instruction and assessment. In this assignment, a lesson plan is developed, incorporating UDL and effectively leveraging educational technologies in the classroom.

Darragh starts off pointing out the issues that are taking place when providing special education and early childhood education together. She suggests that every childhood professional should be given a training and textbooks or special chapters with materials regarding special education or alert them issues related to inclusion in order to provide a proper “framework”. Darragh states that Universal Design for Early Childhood Education (UDECE) provides the best “framework” for combining special and early childhood education. UDCEC understands the concepts of inclusion and flexibility and that every child views the world differently on every growing year and also the views of the world towards the child changes as well. Therefore UDECE “designs

The use of technology in educating children with special needs has widely grown in the past few decades, and has since has changed the way people with disabilities live, work, and learn” (Winzer, 2002, p. 98). Individuals with special needs are unique and all have different areas in which they need assistance. Due to the advancements in assistive technology, computer programs, software, and other technology tools, have helped people to find useful and easier ways to become educated.

Universal Design Universal design provides a foundation for “increased accessibility, safety and health for

The “Universal Design for Learning (www.udlcenter.org)” consists of a group of principles that require all children to receive the same form of education and learning. There are three main principles which aid in protecting students with disabilities. These three principles make sure that the students with disabilities receive the same education as any other student as well. The following will explain my opinion on the learning of all children and how the UDL principles apply to this.

Math concepts can be very daunting to students especially if they do not feel confident in the subject. Talking with maths teachers this year students do not cover rearranging formula or equations at high school until later in year nine, or early into year ten. If this unit is taught early in the year teachers need to take into consideration that teaching this part of the lesson will take longer than expected. To recap rearranging formula I have started with time tables which students will have covered previously. By using previous knowledge to learn a new concept will help students create meaning and then they will be able to apply this concept to a more difficult situation (National Center for Universal Design for Learning, 2014). By providing

When it comes to education, it is important to determine what method of content delivery is going to be the most effective for each individual class. Furthermore, it becomes increasingly important to determine the most effective strategies for each individual student. Within the concept of a universal design for learning (UDL), it becomes important to ensure that students have more than just access to information: “Non-educators often make the mistake of equating access to information with access to learning” (Rose & Meyer 2002). With UDL, students not only have access to information, but they are enable through the access to learning. This can be manifested in a number of ways, but is characterized by the availability of environments that promote learning and education that promotes learning. UDL then becomes the method for which educators provide students with a variety of methods to engage cognition, and allow for educators to meet the needs of diverse learners.

Universal Design is a newer building principle that was introduced into the world of design in late 20th century. The concept of universal design is similar to the ADA Accessibility Guidelines, however the difference is that universal design works for everyone. Therefore, ensuring that the elderly, able bodied, and disabled individuals are all able to use and access buildings and products equally. However, many of the universal design components that are implemented in buildings today, are the principles that which apply to the ADA requirements, benefitting only the disabled. At one point or another in life, all people experience a time of discomfort. Universal design strives to make daily living in both residential and commercial spaces

In today’s educational environment, all students expect to receive the same level of instruction from schools and all students must meet the same set of standards. Expectations for students with learning disabilities are the same as students without any learning difficulties. It is now unacceptable for schools or teachers to expect less from one segment of students because they have physical disabilities, learning disabilities, discipline problems, or come from poor backgrounds. Standardize testing has resulted in making every student count as much as their peers and the most positive impact has been seen with the lowest ability students. Schools have developed new approaches to reach these previously underserved students while

This article, published in 2002 by Nancy Gadbow, examines some of the issues experienced by adult learners with special needs. The author asserts the concept of diversity should include special needs and differences in terms of disability, ethnicity, culture, language, age, gender, experience, and geography. Furthermore in order to give each person equal access to the curriculum a range of instructional approaches and technologies should be incorporated into the learning environment.

The use of technology in educating children with special needs has widely grown in the past few decades. Individuals with special needs are unique and all have different areas in which they need assistance. Due to the advancements in assistive technology, computer programs, software, and other technology tools, it has become much easier for people to find useful and easier ways to become educated. Because of this, “technology has changed the way people with disabilities live, work, and learn.” (Winzer,98)

According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, students with disabilities should be placed in a “least restrictive environment.” One of the main ideas of this act was to improve the learning experiences of students with disabilities by giving them learning opportunities outside of a special education classroom. The number of students with disabilities being placed in their general education classrooms is increasing more and more each year. The U.S Department of Education’s 27th annual report to Congress on the implementation of The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2005) indicates that the number of students with disabilities in general education classrooms has risen to almost 50 percent. This is about a 17 percent increase from the 1997 U.S

Develop promising approaches for increasing the accessibility and potential effectiveness of online learning for students with disabilities. These may include accessibility and support features for online learning, providing supplementary offline resources, individualizing online learning, identifying and addressing student learning problems as soon as possible, and training students, teachers, tutors, parents, and others involved in online learning on ways to support student learning. (cast.org, 2016). this is important