scholarly journals Applying Universal Design for Learning to Center for English as a Second Language

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karwan Kakabra Kakamad ◽  
◽  
Zana Hasan Babakr ◽  
Pakstan Faiq Mohamedami
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
English Language ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
The University ◽  
Goals And Objectives ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Methods

This paper investigated the possibility of applying Universal Design for English Language Learning. Throughout the paper, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used for data collection. The students were first asked to critique the ESL program using a methodology created by Paulo Freire to ascertain how much freedom students have in creating their learning environments and establishing their own learning goals and objectives. The results showed that the majority of students rated the ESL program very low regarding their ability to influence the program's curriculum materials or learning outcomes. Moreover, the research shows that the majority of students did not believe they were adequately prepared for graduate-level studies in the University upon completion of the ESL program. As a result of these findings, several recommendations are made about creating more opportunities for individual students to use UDL principles to control their learning environments and establish their own learning goals and objectives.

scholarly journals Applying Universal Design for Learning to Center for English as a Second Language

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karwan Kakabra Kakamad ◽  
Zana Hasan Babakr ◽  
Pakstan Faiq Mohamedami
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
English Language ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
The University ◽  
Goals And Objectives ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Methods

This paper investigated the possibility of applying Universal Design for English Language Learning. Throughout the paper, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used for data collection. The students were first asked to critique the ESL program using a methodology created by Paulo Freire to ascertain how much freedom students have in creating their learning environments and establishing their own learning goals and objectives. The results showed that the majority of students rated the ESL program very low regarding their ability to influence the program's curriculum materials or learning outcomes. Moreover, the research shows that the majority of students did not believe they were adequately prepared for graduate-level studies in the University upon completion of the ESL program. As a result of these findings, several recommendations are made about creating more opportunities for individual students to use UDL principles to control their learning environments and establish their own learning goals and objectives.

scholarly journals Universal Design for Learning in Assessment: Supporting ELLs with Learning Disabilities

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-91
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Delaney ◽  
Maiko Hata
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
English Language ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
World Population ◽  
Design For Learning

Studying English is challenging and, for many learners, undiagnosed learning disabilities can present a serious threat to their success. Recent studies indicate that up to 10% of the world population has a non-apparent disability, such as autism or dyslexia. At the same time, few English language learner (ELL) instructors in higher education have training in learning disabilities, and they are often unsure of how to support learners who seem to have extra challenges. This is especially true when it comes to assessment, as instructors often rely on traditional tools that could negatively affect the validity of the assessment outcomes. In this brief reflection, the authors share how instructors can apply the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to their assessment practices to support students with disabilities, regardless of diagnostic status. First, disabilities that affect language learning will be briefly discussed, followed by the explanation of how English to speakers of other languages (ESOL) assessments present specific challenges for students with disabilities. Then, the authors will provide an overview of UDL theory, which proposes that learners with disabilities are often best served by accommodations in representation, expression and engagement that can benefit the entire class. Most of the paper will focus on specific, practical strategies for implementing UDL within assessment in higher education. Such strategies include building executive function, implementing multi-channel assessment, and learning about students through an “evaluation loop.”

scholarly journals Reimagining Disability and Inclusive Education Through Universal Design for Learning

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Doolittle Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
White Male ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Regular Classroom ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Design For Learning

In 1975, Congress enacted a law eventually known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which ensures that children with disabilities receive a free, appropriate, public education. Since then, scholarly and popular debates about the effectiveness of inclusive education have proliferated and typically focus on the ability or inability of students with disabilities to succeed in so-called regular classrooms. These debates reflect widespread assumptions that the regular classroom is rightly the province of nondisabled students and a neutral, value-free space that students with disabilities invade and disrupt via their very presence and their costly needs for adaptation. But as many scholars in the field of Disability Studies in Education (DSE) have argued, these discussions often fail to recognize that the space of the regular classroom, far from neutral, is constructed for a nondisabled, neurotypical, white, male, middle-class "norm" that neither reflects nor accommodates the wide range of diverse learners within it, regardless of whether these learners have been diagnosed with a disability. A DSE perspective sees the educational environment, not students with disabilities, as the "problem" and calls for a Universal Design for Learning approach to education, or the design of instructional materials and activities that allows the learning goals to be achievable by individuals with wide differences in their abilities and backgrounds. Agreeing with this DSE perspective, this article uses an autoethnographic approach to reexamine inclusive education and to consider how university classrooms, pedagogy, and curricular materials can be improved in order to accommodate all students, not just those with disabilities. Ultimately, the article argues that Universal Design for Learning has the potential to radically transform the meaning of inclusive education and the very concept of disability.

scholarly journals The Goal of the Universal Design for Learning: Development of All to Expert Learners

2021 ◽  
pp. 23-57
Author(s):  
Julita Navaitienė ◽  
Eglė Stasiūnaitienė
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Personal Learning ◽  
General Education Curriculum ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
Learning Development

AbstractOver the past 10 years, every learner’s ability to achieve the highest level of learning success has become quite an important topic. The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) sets a goal to allow all learners to achieve their optimal learning experience that matches inclusive education. Learners who can assess their own learning needs set their personal learning goals, and monitor their progress are termed the expert learners (McDowell. Developing expert learners: a roadmap for growing confident and competent students. Corwin, 2019). This chapter focuses on theoretical backgrounds for expert learners’ paradigm. It starts from fundamental constructivist theories and moves towards the theory of self-regulation and cognitive neuroscience approach. It concentrates on the theory of self-determination, which, in our opinion, validates in the best way the nature of the expert learners’ development. Implementation of the Universal Design for Learning allows all learners to access, participate in, and progress in the general-education curriculum. This chapter presents the specific profile of the expert learners covering their main characteristics and qualities and revealing the essence of the UDL framework. Educators could use the profile as the educational guidelines conductive to understand how the process of becoming the expert learner proceeds.

Universal Design for Learning in Today’s Diverse Educational Environments

2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Kathleen Bastedo ◽  
Jessica Vargas
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environments ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Stepping Stone ◽  
Design Learning ◽  
Barriers To Access ◽  
Educational Environments ◽  
Diverse Learning ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
Made In

Learning can be difficult for a myriad of reasons and not just for those with disabilities and for those dedicated to teaching in its many forms. It can be next to impossible to accommodate the variety of students encountered in today’s diverse learning environments. This is where the principle of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can be successfully applied. This chapter explores the strides made in creating content that brain-based research supports as a way for not only motivating students to learn, but also for allowing those with disabilities a way to learn that meets their specific needs. Although there is no one surefire way to design learning that teaches everyone, UDL is a stepping-stone to that pursuit. If implemented to its fullest potential, it can be a panacea to reducing many barriers to access and learning.

Meeting the Needs of Exceptional Students

2012 ◽  
pp. 28-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Frey ◽  
E. Ann Knackendoffel
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Exceptional Students ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
K 12

Today’s K-12 classrooms are learning environments that present teachers with the challenge of meeting the diverse needs of learners. Utilizing technology and the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can help teachers to meet the exceptional needs of learners in a variety of areas. This chapter presents ideas and strategies to utilize technology to facilitate the implementation of UDL principles (using multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression in the design of instruction) in teacher education and K-12 classrooms. Each principle of UDL is described, and examples of technology that can support implementation of the principle are shared. The chapter concludes with considerations for teacher education programs including providing modeling of UDL instruction and designing instruction with UDL in mind.

Using the SAMR and UDL Models to Differentiate Online Instruction

2020 ◽  
pp. 141-157
Author(s):  
Joanne Caniglia ◽  
Michelle Meadows
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Interactive Software ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Online Learning Environments ◽  
Inclusive Learning ◽  
Design For Learning

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss two frameworks that are useful for integrating and differentiating technology within online learning environments for students with disabilities: Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and the Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition Model (SAMR). Following a review of the literature of each framework, the interactive software program, Desmos®, will be used to demonstrate how to integrate these two models. Finally, the authors make recommendations that will support all students to benefit from an online environment and engage in inclusive learning experiences.

scholarly journals Ready-Made Technologies: Incorporating Universal Design into Everyday Activities

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley Smith ◽  
Anya Evmenova ◽  
Kara Zirkle ◽  
Courtney Shewak ◽  
Korey Singleton
Keyword(s):  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Learning Preferences ◽  
Learning Curves ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Everyday Activities ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
Education Courses

Universal Design for Learning is the scientifically valid framework for developing educational practices that provides flexibility in how information is presented, in the ways students respond or demonstrate knowledge and skills, and in the ways students engage in learning. Instructors who adopt UDL principles in their teaching can reduce barriers and support all students regardless of their abilities, needs, and learning preferences. This presentation will focus on ways to establishing UDL environments in higher education courses through "ready-mades," hi-tech platforms with low-tech learning curves, while simultaneously energizing learning and nurturing collaborations.Attendees will learn to provide three principles of UDL, which include multiple means of:Representation: Screenchomp, Jing, Video presentationsAction and expression: Voki, Glogster, Popplet,Engagement: Dipity timeline, Voice Thread, PrimaryPadSuch ready-mades also energize collaboration between students. To demonstrate the flexibility of ready-mades, we shall execute an interactive presentation via some of these tools and challenge participants to a hands-on application of these tools to their own learning goals.

scholarly journals A System-Wide Approach to Universal Design for Learning Implementation

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-47
Author(s):  
Joni L Degner
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environments ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Value System ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
High Standards ◽  
Every Student Succeeds Act

Universal Design for Learning (UDL), an instructional framework based in neuroscience, optimizes teaching and learning by supporting learners through three overarching principles: Multiple Means of Engagement, Multiple Means Representation, and Multiple Means of Action and Expression (?About universal?). These principles and the subsequent framework that grew out of the work of CAST co-founders and framework co-creators Dr. David Rose and Anne Meyers has become greater than the sum of its parts. Practitioners who have even dabbled in Universal Design for Learning have likely come to the understanding that UDL is a student-centered value system of flexibility, accessibility, and high standards for all students; indeed, the goal of Universal Design for Learning is to create learning environments where students grow to be experts in their own learning. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) defines and endorses Universal Design for Learning as the framework for designing learning experiences that support the success of all learners

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