#331 – Universal Design for Learning: Action and Expression

#331 — Universal Design for Learning: Action and Expression

AVID Open Access
14 min

Keywords
students, digital, tools, learning, learners, providing, udl, include, choice, options, classrooms, express, universal design, section, text, offer, media, allowing, graphic organizers, access

Transcript

Paul Beckermann  0:01  

Welcome to Tech Talk for Teachers. I’m your host, Paul Beckermann.

Transition:
Check it out. Checkit out. Check it out. Check it out. What’s in the toolkit? What is in the toolkit? So, what’s in the toolkit? Check it out.

Paul Becermann
The topic of today’s episode is Universal Design for Learning: Action and Expression. We’ve come to the final installment in this series of episodes exploring the Universal Design for Learning Guidelines. We’ve explored the release of the new version 3.0 and we’ve done a deeper dive into designing multiple means of engagement, as well as representation. This last episode will focus on the third and final section of the guidelines, ways to design multiple means of action and expression. This is an important section because it focuses on how students act on their learning and express what they know. So on one level, it’s about assessment and allowing students not only to show us what they know, but also to put their learning into meaningful action. On another level, it’s still about overall engagement. The following two-part question sums it up pretty well. How do we make sure all of our learners can interact meaningfully with new learning? And also, how do we authentically allow them to express what they have learned? As with the other sections, not all students are going to be able to effectively complete these tasks in the same way. So once again, it’s important that we offer options or multiple means for students to act on and express their learning. As with the other installments in this series, I’ll break down the three main sections, in this case that relate to the Universal Design of action and expressions. I’ll take a look at how universal design impacts learners in the subsections of access, support, and executive function.

Transition:
Let’s count it. Let’s count it. Let’s count it down.

Paul Beckermann
The first section addresses access. It instructs us to design options for interaction. In this area, we must intentionally design options so all learners can meaningfully access and interact with their learning. That’s a big job. And CAST sets this section up by asking a helpful guiding question. They write: How might we design materials and physical environments that ensure access and participation for every learner? Now if we break that question down, we can quickly see the two main elements of this section: materials and physical spaces. Materials refers to the learning materials in our classrooms, things like textbooks, online resources, handouts, learning management systems, and physical or virtual manipulatives. Are all of our learners able to access these learning materials? Or do we need to provide support of some kind so that they can? This is where assistive technology often comes into play, tools like screen readers, speech-to-text programs and even switches to turn pages for students or to activate online content. All students must be able to physically access the learning materials and experiences in our classrooms. To achieve this standard, we must, once again, offer options. This time, for how students might respond, navigate, and move through the learning experience. In simple terms, how will they interact with the learning?

But interaction goes beyond those individual resources. It also includes access to the physical spaces and virtual spaces in which students are moving around and learning in our classrooms. In a physical space, this might include how desks are arranged in the room. Is there enough space for students to actually move around freely, even those with wheelchairs or other mobility limitations? I’ve been in some classrooms that are pretty small and cramped. How can we get around that? Similarly, are whiteboards and technology devices accessible to every learner? They should be. In virtual spaces, it may once again involve providing multiple media formats through which students might engage with their learning. Are they allowed to express themselves in a variety of ways, perhaps writing, recording, drawing, or constructing, to both engage in the learning and show what they know. Now, digital options can improve access in this area in a number of ways. When designing the digital aspects of your classroom learning spaces, it’s helpful to offer choices whenever possible. The simplest option here is to allow students to use a variety of media modalities to express themselves. If it aligns with your learning objectives, consider allowing students a choice of typing or handwriting text-based responses, recording audio, producing a video, drawing a sketch, or perhaps creating a computer animation. Sometimes it’s possible to require one digital program that includes many options and choices within it. Canva and Adobe Express are really good examples of this. They’re essentially multi-dimensional digital suites that can offer a wide range of options of expression and creation for users. So while you’re requiring a tool, you’re leaving a choice within that tool wide open.

A tool like Padlet also allows users to input ideas using a wide range of media types–text, video, audio, images, links, and even more. Ask yourself if the format matters, or if there are multiple means by which students might be able to express themselves in what they know. While your academic outcomes may not be flexible, the avenue by which students take to get there might be. Providing options where you can will greatly empower your students and increase their odds of success. The other big technology component here is assistive technology. This might mean that a student with a physical disability uses a switch to activate a digital device, or it might mean that students use a text-to-speech browser extension like Speechify to allow text to be read to them. It might mean using Google’s voice typing feature to convert voice to text. Or maybe students leverage a translation tool like Google Translate to convert content in English to a preferred language. If the language itself is not the primary outcome, a translation tool can greatly level the playing field, and these work seamlessly in digital environments. Technology has been transformative in improving accessibility by encouraging students to use these tools when they’re with us, or helping them to become more self-sufficient once they leave our classrooms.

The second area involves Expression and Communication. How can we support our students as they strive to express themselves and communicate? Once again, providing options is the key. By intentionally providing multiple modalities for possible expression, we are reducing communication barriers. What does this look like? Well, it might again include providing options for text, audio, video, or other multimedia formats. It also might mean providing multiple tools to communicate within a chosen medium. For slideshows, maybe students are allowed to use Canva, Seesaw, Prezi or Google Slides. Not all digital tools will be equally intuitive for all students. By providing options, students can choose the one that best meets their learning styles and needs. This is not to say that students should never be challenged to step outside of their comfort zones. Not at all. In fact, we’re doing students a disservice if we don’t ever stretch them. However, when we do push them outside of their comfort zones, it’s important that we provide scaffolds and supports to help them develop the skills that they’ll need to be successful within those new platforms. This might include offering a variety of tutorials or supporting materials. It might include setting up a buddy system with a classroom expert. It might include providing differentiated models as exemplars to emulate. Learning can also be structured using a gradual release approach, where initial attempts are fully supported before allowing students later opportunities to perform on their own, with little or maybe no support. Once again, digital options are plentiful here. Unless specific media and materials are central to the learning outcome, it’s powerful to allow student choice. There are also so many ways in which students can use digital tools to construct meanings. They can write, speak, record, draw, code, perform, and they can integrate these virtual tools with physical manipulatives such as building blocks or 3D models. Perhaps clay models are used to create stop-motion animations that result in an educational video. What a great way to blend the offline and online worlds together into one product. Even if you dictate the specific type of media, a video for example, there are many options within that media category that can be used. Sure a video editing program that’s dedicated to media production can be used. That’s probably the default choice, but students can also use other digital tools to create before transforming them into a video. A digital slideshow can be turned into a virtual flipbook video. A comic strip can be captured in a series of screenshots, added to pages in Book Creator and then converted into a video with audio narration. A website can include a library of embedded videos or video playlists that’s accessible, online and interactive. Really, this list can be as long as the imagination of you and your students. Not only does providing options help to differentiate the learning experiences, but it also fosters creativity and problem solving, not to mention adding a layer of excitement and motivation to the learning process. Creation is fun, and having voice and choice in that creation makes the experience come alive even more and at the same time, these are life skills worth developing.

The last section once again focuses on the development of executive function skills, this time focusing on processing skills, like setting goals and planning. CAST calls this “strategy development.” Strategy development involves setting goals, making plans to reach those goals, monitoring progress toward those goals, and adjusting as necessary. Once again, these are core life skills that may or may not show up specifically in content area standards, but they’re essential to the mastery of not only those standards, but life beyond school. In this section, CAST offers strategies for scaffolding these skills. To offer some places to begin, I’ll share some digital tools that can be used to support several of the specific considerations presented in CAST strategy development section. CAST’s first consideration here is to set meaningful goals. To support this, consider using digital goal setting templates and forms. These can help students put their ideas into a meaningful structure, while giving you a quick way to skim their ideas. You might even use something like a Google Form to collect the submissions.

Another consideration in this section involves organizing information and resources. To assist students with this, consider offering digital checklists or graphic organizers that they can use when generating their plans, when they’re researching, or when they’re putting their ideas together. If you do offer graphic organizers, it can be helpful to provide more than one option for students to pick from. I’ve even found that allowing students to choose between digital and paper versions of those graphic organizers is an empowering choice. The mental skills are the same, even if the outcome is in a different format. I’ve also found that it’s helpful to have students try each approach at least once before deciding which works better for them. It’s really hard for them to know for sure what they like and respond to until they’ve experienced it at least once. Monitoring progress is another key part of the strategy development. Checklists and rubrics can be really helpful here. By actively having students reference these during the process, they can stay on track and focused. If you’re using a learning management system, you can include this as a digital assignment or resource that’s shared with you. This allows you to peek in and see student thinking, and intervene as needed, all in real time. Structured feedback can also be an important part of the monitoring process. You can use virtual peer review systems to have students provide each other with feedback when they get to various steps in the process, for example. Once again, if this is done through an LMS, you can look in and check their progress. On an overarching level, you might have students engage in some sort of self-reflection at various stages of the learning process. Students could be allowed to journal in the modality of their choice. Maybe they type it out in text, maybe they record audio, video, maybe they draw sketch notes, or maybe something else. If you can, let the student decide what will allow them to process best. If you use an online discussion forum, you can engage the class with peer feedback, as well. If you go this route, just be sure to set protocols and expectations before having students comment on each other’s ideas in public.

So that wraps up my review of the UDL guidelines. I find them to be a great framework for helping support all learners in my classrooms. I guess if I were to sum up what they mean to me in really simple terms, I’d say number one, all of the learners in my classroom are unique. Number two, offering options and choices empowers all learners. And number three, digital tools can support students in the areas of information access, learning support, and the development of executive function skills. If you haven’t already done so, I suggest you head over to UDLGuidelines.cast.org, and explore the UDL guidelines for yourself. They’re really great.

To learn more about today’s topic and explore other free resources, I also encourage you to visit AvidOpenAccess.org, specifically, use the search tool on the site and search for UDL. You’ll find multiple articles there, as well as podcast episodes from UDL experts like Dr. Sam Johnston from CAST and renowned author and consultant, Dr. Katie Novak. And of course, be sure to join Rena, Winston, and me every Wednesday for our full-length podcast, Unpacking Education, where we’re joined by exceptional guests and explore education topics that are important to you. Thanks for listening, take care and thanks for all you do. You make a difference.