Reading the articles provided, I was very intrigued to learn the difference between UDL and DL. The biggest take away for me was comparing Universal Design for learning to a buffet so your patrons can pick from based on their own likes and dislikes. Then we have what we call DL which is differentiated learning, and that is meeting the needs of every specific needs of each student which can become a lot for one person to handle. Oftentimes as teachers we are alway presented with differentiated learning being the best way to equip students and believe this is “student choice”, when in reality or from my understanding of it, it seems that the teacher instead of a facilitator in their learning is becoming the one doing more of the work. I can see the pros and cons for both, but in reality Universal Design for Learning, I feel is designed in a way to give the responsibility more on the student instead of the teacher, which in the long run will prepare the student to be a lifelong learner, and advocate and make their own choices based on what they know they need.
With that being said, the guidelines that I am already using in my classroom are
Some of the guidelines I could add right now would be, providing multiple means of representations within perceptions, language and symbols, comprehension. Currently being a 2nd grade bilingual math teacher, I really feel that I have honed into this area, I am not perfect and at times I am sure I fall short. Overall I would say that my students are successful with math in my classroom because of what I have been able to implement and provide all of my learners with different ways to learn our topics. For example, when learning about geometry in my class I always make sure to use visual aids which help my non-english speakers get more comfortable with the vocabulary and to use it daily in our classroom, I also make sure that the lessons always have a hands on part because I know that this will meet the needs of other students who don’t necessarily only need the written words, but need to physically explore with them. I have also been a big advocate for my students when it comes to getting text-to-speech, as some are being newly introduced to this country and struggle with the english language and I struggle with the thought of them being tested on what they can “read” on a math test, instead of the skill they are actually being tested on, and have been taught and sometimes they become frustrated because they can’t read the question being that they have only been in the country for a few weeks, or months. Within all of this learning, we are also building their background knowledge on all of the topics we are learning because it really is necessary, we cannot build on something they have not previously learned or have been exposed to.
One of the things I can begin to add to my teaching right now is providing options for expression and communication, and this being more with them exploring ways to do it digitally and also providing some writing to go along with it, but essentially making it their choices out of all the buffet options to choose from that would best help them express what they have learned.
The guidelines I would like to explore but would need some help and guidance to implement would be providing options for executive functions, specifically with facilitating managing information and resources. We have learned alot about copyright and fairuse and the use of all of the resources, but it still frightens me a bit to “let go”, but this will really be a big goal of mine so that my students can use what they have learned to help them guide their learning.
When implementing differentiated learning at my campus or what they like to call “personalized learning”, we have a whole program for that, that would also teach us about PBL (project based learning), so I wonder if there are any programs/organizations like that for UDL.
Overall, the goal of Universal Design for Learning is to give the student more choices, and have them advocate within themselves, they become their greatest resources while being purposeful and motivated to be more knowledgeable and goal oriented for their future and current learning paths.
References:
Novak, K. (2017, February 1). UDL vs DI: The Dinner Party Analogy - Novak Educational Consulting. Www.novakeducation.com. https://www.novakeducation.com/blog/udl-vs-di-dinner-party-analogy
CAST. (2018). Universal design for learning guidelines version 2.2. UDL Guidelines. https://udlguidelines.cast.org/
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