Meeting Diverse Learner Needs Through Universal Design for Learning

The concept of universal design originated in architecture as a means to create structures that accommodate the widest spectrum of users, including those with disabilities. Instead of retrofitting structures such as ramps and elevators to existing buildings for accessibility, universal design considers the needs of all possible building users from the start, thus allowing architects to integrate universal accessibility into the building's design. An unanticipated benefit of universal design is that addressing the divergent needs of special populations increases usability for everyone. The classic example is the curb cut. Curb cuts, originally designed to enable those in wheelchairs to negotiate curbs, also ease travel for people pushing strollers or riding skateboards, pedestrians with canes, and even the average walker. Thus, by focusing on the needs of users with disabilities at the outset, universal design produces better solutions for all users by providing multiple choices.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) was developed to extend the concept of universal design to embrace the diverse ways in which individuals learn. It does so by incorporating knowledge about the brain and how individuals vary in their learning methods. There is perhaps no greater example of diversity than in the way individuals process information and how they learn. Much of what we know about learning emerged from brain imaging technologies that allow us to measure brain activity. This research has demonstrated that different parts of the brain oversee different, relatively simple activities, such as distinguishing color or moving a finger. More complex activities and behaviors rely on interactions between these individual brain regions, which join together to form functional "networks" akin to a computer network. There are large person-to-person differences in both individual brain areas and how they "network" to perform complex actions.

Thus, one of the most important revelations stemming from brain research is that there are no "regular" students. The notion of rigid categories of learners - smart/not smart, disabled/not disabled, regular/irregular - is an unrealistic oversimplification. By categorizing students in this way, we focus on single characteristics while missing many subtle and important qualities. The truth told by brain research is that each student brings a unique assortment of strengths, challenges, and preferences into the learning environment.

The brain regions that take part in learning can be grouped roughly into three sets of interconnected networks, each one with a fundamental role in the classroom: (a) recognition networks are specialized to receive and analyze information (the "what" of learning), (b) strategic networks are specialized to plan and execute actions (the "how" of learning), and (c) affective networks are specialized to evaluate and set priorities (the "why" of learning). The functions of these networks parallel the three prerequisites for learning described by the Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky, namely: (a) recognition of the information to be learned, (b) application of strategies to process that information, and (c) engagement with the learning task. Putting this all into practice, we now have guidelines for what a universally designed learning environment must provide to be accessible to diverse learners:

• Multiple means of recognition
• Multiple means of expression
• Multiple means of engagement

To provide multiple means of recognition, expression, and engagement, Universal Design for Learning relies on the ability of new digital media to provide flexible presentation. Unlike printed matter, new digital media, such as audio text, images, audio, video, and networked environments, allow for transformation from one medium to another, such as text-to-speech (e.g. talking word processors), speech-to-text (e.g. captions), text-to-touch (e.g. Braille), and image-to-touch (e.g. tactile graphics) (explore http://www.cast.org/udl/ for examples). These transformations not only permit a user to choose the format that is most accessible, they allow for multiple representations for clarity and enhanced meaning. Thus, new media have the potential to go beyond merely providing access to information and actually enrich the communication and absorption of that information, and thus potentially improve learning and mastery of the material.

When teachers get to know their students' strengths and challenges in recognition, strategy, and engagement, they can better choose when and how to use what medium and how to best set goals and select materials and methods for a range of learners. Printed text is often not the best option. If a learning goal can be achieved via other means and media, or if certain parts of text comprehension are suitable for scaffolds and supports without jeopardizing the learning opportunity, the use of other media is warranted - indeed beneficial. Consider a student with dyslexia in a 4th grade math class: the availability of a digital textbook that supports reading by voicing selected words aloud may make the difference between her success and failure. Unable to manage the reading component of the task, even the most ardent mathematics lover might lose his or her enthusiasm. The digital textbook makes it easier for a struggling reader to keep up with the reading component of the task, preserving his or her interest and enthusiasm for math and focusing the learning challenge where it is meant to be - on mathematics not reading. These kinds of supports allow teachers to provide instruction that is more highly focused on the educational goals.