Tools and Materials that Support the Learning Brain

By Anne Meyer, Ed.D., and Lucinda M. O'Neill

Rapid advances in science have helped reveal many of the secrets of how our brains work. These new insights have given us new ways to understand individual differences in learning.

We now know that there are three brain systems involved in learning tasks: recognition systems identify patterns, telling us what and where an object is; strategic systems generate patterns, telling us how to do things; and affective systems determine priorities, telling us which objects are important and interesting. Though interconnected, these systems are all unique. Their role in learning, and how they explain variations among learners, guides the Center for Applied Special Technology's (CAST) concept of Universal Design for Learning™ (UDL). UDL is a framework for responding to individual learner differences through the use of technology.

In order to reach learners of varied backgrounds, interests, abilities, and levels of expertise, learning" tools" and materials must be flexible in ways that support the three brain systems involved in learning. Some ways to achieve this include the following approaches:

• Multiple representations of content, providing options to suit varied recognition systems.
• Multiple means of expression and control, providing options to support different strategic systems.
• Multiple options for engagement, which act upon the affective systems, providing alternative ways to attract and hold students' attention and motivating them to learn.

There is always an ongoing search for the right combination of materials that will work, since no single curriculum or software program can provide all of the flexibility needed to create a UDL environment. This requires assembling a variety of tools--computer devices, software programs, materials, and Web sites that can be used in different combinations for different learners and for different teaching purposes. The flexibility comes in part from the collection itself, which enables varied approaches for reaching a given instructional goal, and in part from the inherent flexibility of each component.

Consider Martin and Euie--two students for whom universally designed tools and materials offer greater access to learning.

Representing content in multiple ways

Martin plays sports, listens to music, and enjoys his friendships. Reading is not the way he commonly gets information or enjoys himself. There are few books in Martin's home. Though smart and curious, Martin has difficulty in school with courses requiring extensive reading. When his class studies the human body, Martin has difficulty grasping the major organ systems and their interrelationships, primarily because this information is being presented exclusively via a printed textbook.

Martin might be able to understand the human body more easily were he able to use a program such as A.D.A.M., the Inside Story (A.D.A.M. Software, Inc.). This CD ROM program presents information in multiple media, including still pictures, animations, speech and text. Unlike Martin's science textbook, where printed words and illustrations are the only alternatives for conveying critical content, programs like A.D.A.M. can use animation to demonstrate relationships, speech to reinforce concepts, and color, sound, and other media to highlight important facts. The essential information is represented in multiple ways.

There is no one way of representing information that is ideal, or even accessible, to all learners. Some students thrive in lectures, others obtain information effectively from text, while still others learn best through visual media such as diagrams, illustrations, charts, or video. These learning differences reflect variations in neural pathways, background experiences and constitution, and they are apparent along a continuum from slight preferences to profound necessities. One student with a proclivity for art may find an image easier to comprehend than a verbal description of an idea; another who is deaf will be shut out completely if only a verbal description is provided.

Universally designed materials accommodate this diversity through alternative representations of key information. Students with different preferences and needs can either select the representational medium most suitable for them, or gather information from a variety of representational media simultaneously.

Providing multiple options for expression and control

d CAST camper Euie surfs the Web at home using an adapted joystick.

Euie can't type a school research paper because he doesn't have the manual dexterity to use a computer keyboard, but at CAST's summer computer camp, this 16-year-old created a sophisticated multimedia Web page about one of his favorite subjects--science fiction. The page features spinning space ships, the theme from Star Wars, and other dazzling special effects. The World Wide Web offers Euie, whose motor difficulties are caused by cerebral palsy, an exciting new vehicle for learning and self-expression.

For students with physical disabilities there are alternatives that offer support, such as using keyboard commands to replace a mouse or voice recognition software that converts speech into text. However, these physical adaptations are only a small piece of the adjustability needed for different strategic systems. Each step in learning a new skill needs to reflect the individual learner. This is best accomplished by "apprenticeship" learning, a teaching approach that allows students to learn from successful examples; provides support at different skill levels; provides ample opportunities to practice skills; provides "feedback," or information, on whether the answer is right or wrong so the learner can monitor his or her own progress; and provides opportunities to demonstrate skill.

A number of educational software programs allow practice to be customized to offer different levels of support and difficulty. With Access to Math (a software program by Don Johnston, Inc.), teachers can create a worksheet and adjust the program to alert the student to any mistakes as he or she is working on a problem. This enables the student to make corrections along the way. Alternatively, the program is flexible enough to provide feedback on demand. When the student clicks on the feedback button after completing one or more problems, the program provides feedback in visual and auditory formats. This immediate feedback helps students analyze their work, both improving their performance and helping them learn self-monitoring skills.

Education research indicates that more options for expression, including artwork, photography, drama, music, animation and video, open doors for a greater number of students to successfully communicate ideas, knowledge gained, and talents. This applies to students with particular skills and proclivities as well as to students with disabilities that prevent them from using certain media effectively or at all.

A composition tool that offers digital recording and playback enables students to compose ideas orally, then analyze and revise them until they "sound right" before writing. Drawing and other graphics tools can help students generate ideas and organize their work visually. For teachers, providing multiple options for expression requires thinking carefully about the purpose of an assignment. Requiring that a student "write a story" limits the student's options to text. However, requiring that a student "create a narrative" can open opportunities for a variety of modes of expression. Providing multiple approaches through multimedia allows students a greater opportunity for successful learning, and then builds momentum.

Motivating children to learn

Engaging children in learning includes building their confidence and arousing their interest, enthusiasm and desire to learn. Motivating children to learn may be the most challenging aspect of teaching and instructional design. Next month, we will explore ways in which universally designed tools and materials can support the learning brain's affective systems, where engagement and motivated are generated.

Anne Meyer, Ed.D., is co-executive director of CAST, the not-for-profit Center for Applied Special Technology, in Peabody, Mass. Lucinda M. O'Neill is a staff writer at CAST.

Information about A.D.A.M., the Inside Story, is available at http://www.adam.com. Access to Math is available at Don Johnston, Inc., 26799 West Commerce Drive, Volo, IL 60073 USA, (847) 740-0749, http://www.donjohnston.com.