Envisioning Future Curriculum

Changing populations, world competition, and public policy are putting new demands on school curriculum. Future curricular materials will be expected to meet the needs of all members of an increasingly diverse population, help all students achieve the highest standards and effectively integrate computers and telecommunications into the classroom. In CAST's view, UDL is the key to achieving these objectives.

The power of future curriculum will be in the alternative formats, contents, activities and links of the learning network, all afforded by universal design. CAST's vision includes the following characteristics:

Curriculum of the future will be universally designed to achieve effective and successful instructional practices and meet the needs of diverse learners and learning contexts. It will comprise a distributed "network" of learning resources (materials, experiences, and people) presented in different media from many locations.

1. Content will be provided through multiple representations with multiple strategies for acting upon it. New curriculum will:

• Provide alternate routes for learners who may have difficulty working with certain media or may prefer certain media
• Provide alternate routes for making patterns more explicit and expertise more accessible to all learners
• Increase engagement of all learners by allowing them to work from their areas of strength and interest

2. Curriculum will be constructed as modules and accessed via networks. New curriculum will:

• Allow customization so that learning goals, materials, and experiences can be matched with student, teacher, and parent needs
• Allow customization to support particular instructional approaches, points of view, standards, and types of assessment
• Make viable the creation of alternate versions adapted to different populations and different locations
• Make viable a continuous update and revision process allowing materials to be current and responsive to world events and discoveries, consumer expectations, and market demands
• Allow timely selection of learning resources

3. Materials, experiences, and supports will be drawn from a wide range of sources and integrated into the core structure of the curriculum. New curriculum will:

• Take advantage of the wealth of resources available via the Internet while maintaining curricular focus and standards of excellence
• Provide current and relevant learning experiences
• Provide real-life examples to support classroom learning
• Increase engagement for all learners by allowing them to do "school work" within topics of interest
• Provide a forum for members the community to get involved with their schools, share their expertise, act as mentors, and provide other needed services
• Provide a forum for students and teachers from all over the world to connect with and learn from each other

Developers, publishers and schools face major challenges in evolving and applying the principles of universal design. Yet curriculum that meets the needs of the most challenging students and the highest learning goals will better serve all learners. Creating universally designed curriculum will address ethical imperatives and answer legal mandates for equitable access to learning opportunities. Universal design will pave the way for educational materials with sufficient breadth, depth, and flexibility to reach all learners and learning contexts effectively.