Defining UDL
What is UDL? It is a collection of best practices and design philosophies anyone can use to design learning situations and environments. Why? Because we need all learners have the opportunity to become purposeful, motivated, resourceful, knowledgeable, strategic, and goal-directed.
This is all driven by one thing we know from neuroscience: learner variability.
Analogies like snowflakes and fingerprints are used to explain learner variability. Each person is not only unique (like those snowflakes and fingerprints), each person also learns differently based on the context. THAT is learner variability.
Knowing this, instructional leaders provide options from which learners choose. Those options come from the UDL Guidelines. By choosing from options, learners navigate around the barriers they are currently experiencing (e.g., like being too tired, not understanding the words they are hearing, not being able to read the letters, etc.). Learners begin to own their learning. How do we make this happen?
By taking four design steps:
- Create a clear and manageable goal.
- Design different ways your learners can show that they have achieved that goal and then let them choose from your list of options.
- Design your lesson and assessments so learners can choose from a variety of methods and materials to learn and show their knowledge and skills.
- Reflect and revise based on the experiences of your learners (e.g., their outcomes, their opinions, their voice).
Because UDL is a framework, the what and how of UDL continues beyond this description. Loui is passionate about helping everyone understand the depth of UDL. The UDL Tapestry helps users understand the concepts, constructs, processes and practices that drive the UDL framework. The UDL Gears help users understand the practices, skills, and mindsets used by those who are implementing UDL. For those seeking examples, you can visit Loui’s Podcast page and listen to over 100 different educators from around the world talk about how they have used UDL to improve the learning and learning experiences of their students.
Loui has also authored books and games, speaks, and consults. She knows that each individual, school, district, state, and even national government system will have its own needs and preferences when it comes to learning about UDL implementation. Loui has the experience and knowledge to guide the investigation, growth, and adoption of the UDL framework into any system.