Dive Into UDL, Second Edition: Immersive Practices to Develop Expert Learners

By Kendra Grant and Luis Perez

In this new edition of the popular book Dive Into UDL, learn how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) supports the creation of learning environments that ensure all learners feel valued, respected and understood.

UDL is a framework for designing instruction that meets the needs of every learner. This book is meant to support your professional learning, giving you options and choice in how you build your knowledge. You can wade in, take a shallow swim or dive into UDL as you develop your instructional practice and create a more inclusive learning environment that plans for variability, celebrates diversity and offers flexibility in how students learn and grow. In the process, you’ll learn how to foster high achievement for all students, including those with disabilities or limited English proficiency.

In this updated edition, readers will learn how to incorporate accessible learning materials and technologies into their instructional design to ensure choice for learners and help them develop into independent, motivated expert learners.

This edition:

• Explores how UDL is key to creating an inclusive learning environment that is equitable, culturally relevant, safe and welcoming.
• Expands the learning to include virtual classrooms, and emphasizes how UDL is key to ensuring rich, engaging and purposeful online learning.
• Examines the application of UDL principles to multiple grade levels and subject areas in both in-person and online environments.
• Dives deeper into the authors’ UDL Planning Guide guide at a variety of UDL levels of understanding (Wade in, Shallow Swim, Deep Dive).
• Features ideas and examples (on the companion website) from educators around the world to illustrate multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression.

Along the way, the authors draw connections to the ISTE Standards (Educators and Students sections), helping teachers strategically use technology to not only support the three principles of UDL but support the development of independent, self-regulatory empowered learners.

Audience: K–12 teachers, coaches and administrators; professors in pre-service programs

• Language: English
• Publisher: International Society for Technology in Education
• Release date: May 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9781564849403

Kendra Grant

Kendra Grant's first career (and love) was in K-12 education. She was a teacher, teacher-librarian, district special education coordinator, and assistive technology specialist in a large school district. Her second career, as the cofounder and chief education officer for a professional learning company, focused on UDL and technology implementation. Today, in her third career, Kendra's goal is to bring UDL to the workplace. Through intentional, inclusive design, her goal is to help companies move away from one-size-fits-all corporate training to help every employee develop learner expertise and reach their maximum potential. She was senior manager of learning design anddelivery at Walmart, and now is principal of her own L&D practice. Kendra holds a master's of educational technology degree from the University of British Columbia. She is a past president of ISTE's Inclusive Learning Network and was honored to be the recipient of the Outstanding Inclusive Educator award in 2019.

Book preview

Preface to the Second Edition

In spring 2020, all for us—educators, learners, workers, communities—were thrown into the rapids with little knowledge or support on how to evade the rocks under the surface. Overnight, how we worked, parented, learned, socialized, and shopped changed, while in the background, our very lives were threatened by a virus we didn’t yet fully understand. For many of us, just keeping our heads above water and surviving became the most important goal as the rapids seemed never-ending.

As we write this in spring 2022, calmer waters have appeared on the horizon. Slowly, daily life is returning to what is being called a new normal. For many in education, this means a return to the familiar rituals and routines of the typical school day. But in other areas, people are asking for options and choice to best meet their personal and work needs. Will education continue to embrace the changes that occurred because of the pandemic, or will it return to what was?

A return to normal may not be possible nor, in our opinion, desirable. The disruptions to education caused by the pandemic stirred the water, and suddenly conversations that took place before only among select groups were brought to the surface for everyone to see. These conversations—about equity and access, race and representation, and more—mark an inflection point for us as educators. A powerful undercurrent pulls us back to the status quo and our desire for things to return to the familiar and normal. Of course this desire is based on the assumption that normal worked for most. The pandemic has revealed that this is not the case. It made clear that not all families enjoy equitable access to technology, including devices and the internet. And when in response, schools sent home packets to be completed offline, it revealed that print and fixed, one-size-fits-all solutions don’t work for most either. For those of us who work in inclusive education and who have been swimming against the current in our advocacy efforts for some time, it was a welcome change to have our concerns bubble up to the surface.

If there is a silver lining to the pandemic, it is a greater awareness of the need to address accessibility, as a step toward realizing the vision of truly equitable and inclusive education. It remains to be seen if this increased awareness translates into action that leads to transformative and sustainable change. We believe Universal Design for Learning (UDL), the topic of this book, is a framework for that kind of change. Not only does UDL address the more immediate need to provide access to information and the learning environment, it also addresses the development of coping and metacognitive skills that will serve learners well as they navigate a turbulent and uncertain future.

More importantly, UDL focuses on highlighting learners’ strengths by emphasizing that the barriers are in the environment, not the learners themselves. This is a much-needed counterpoint to the current narrative around learning loss, which takes a deficit model look at learners’ experiences during and after the pandemic. Like a giant wave, this narrative threatens to wipe out much of the progress made in bringing conversations about equity to the surface in order to return us to the more comfortable pre-pandemic reality of standardized instruction and assessment.

Every generation has a defining event. World War II, the Vietnam War, and 9/11 were those defining moments for previous generations, and the COVID-19 pandemic will be it for this one. Yes, learners missed time in the classroom, but they also learned a lot about themselves while away from school. They learned how to persist in the face of multiple demands on their time and attention as entire families balanced learning and working from home. Unable to go to a school building, many families got creative and started enjoying the outdoors and using it as a lab for learning more about their own communities and the environment. That kind of learning may not show up on a typical measure of learning, but it will stay with learners well beyond the current moment.

Educators learned about themselves too. Even those who had seldom used technology prior to the pandemic mastered new tools, often in the span of just a few days, in order to re-create their classrooms in the virtual space. Not only did they have to learn how these new tools worked but also their privacy and security limitations and the unique ways in which they shape communication and interaction. As the pandemic subsides, the technology knowledge we educators gained should continue to serve us well in addressing other disruptions caused by natural disasters and other unforeseeable events.

We live in an uncertain time, and being comfortable with that ambiguity is part of the learning that has taken place. In the first edition of Dive Into UDL, we asked you to come in because the water was fine. With this updated edition, we hope to provide you with a revised map, in UDL, for navigating what we hope will be a new landscape of learning. We are asking all of us to work together to build a raft. Together, not only can we stay in the water safely, but we can also enjoy our ride as we navigate the waters ahead.

Introduction

Michael Phelps, the decorated Olympic swimmer, was diagnosed with ADHD around age 9 and struggled in school. Practicing some of the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) before they even had a name, Michael’s mother, Debbie, helped him with his learning challenges. As she put it in an interview for ADDitude Magazine, Whenever a teacher would say ‘Michael can’t do this,’ I’d counter with, ‘well, what are you doing to help him?’ (Dutton, 2007).

As a veteran educator, Debbie Phelps clearly understood that with the right supports in place, her son could learn. When the young Michael complained about reading, his mom used his interest in sports to keep him engaged. When a math problem stumped him, she would reframe it to How long would it take to swim 500 meters if you swim 3 meters per second? (Dutton, 2007). Debbie Phelps understood the importance of engagement as a lever that could be used to help learners overcome barriers to learning.

Not all learners are so lucky to have a mom or teacher like Debbie. But all educators, with time, can develop these same teaching skills. With UDL, the goal is to make this process more intentional. Much of the practice of UDL is what a lot of educators would recognize as good teaching. UDL is not adding one more thing to educators’ already full plates, but building on their best practices by making sure these practices are applied more systematically and with intention. UDL is thus a blueprint for ensuring what we do in the classroom is not just good teaching but good teaching for everyone, and by design.

Tweet: UDL is a blueprint for ensuring what we do in the classroom is not just good teaching but good teaching for everyone, and by design. #DiveIntoUDL

A Quick Definition

CAST (formerly the Center for Applied Specialized Technology) defines UDL as a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn (CAST, 2017). That may be a lot to take in if you are just getting started with UDL, but have no fear. In Part 2 of this book, we will examine the definition more closely as we delve into the many insights from the learning sciences that support the ongoing development and practice of UDL. For now, you just need to know that one of those insights is the great variability that exists among learners. Learners vary in what they find motivating and how they stay engaged (the why of learning), in how they are able to take in and process information in order to make meaning from it (the what of learning), and in how they are able to respond in order to demonstrate their understanding (the how of learning) (CAST, 2017). They may be strong in one area (remembering the information they read), yet struggle and need support in the others (maintaining their focus or expressing their thoughts). Addressing this variability requires a more flexible approach to instruction that adapts the curriculum to the variable needs of learners, rather than the other way around.

With UDL, this is accomplished by providing learners with options in the form of multiple means of engagement to recruit their interest and drive their motivation for learning, multiple means of representation to make information more accessible and understandable, and multiple means of action and expression to differentiate how learners can express what they know (Meyer, Rose, & Gordon, 2014) (Figure I.1).

Figure I.1 Because learners vary, UDL provides them with options by addressing the why, what, and how of learning in multiple ways.

Developing Expert Learners

Debbie Phelps recognized her son Michael was goal-directed and a hard worker based on his progress in the pool, but he just needed information to be presented in a more relatable way to account for his limited attention span. Just a small change in how the information was presented reduced the frustration Michael experienced when approaching his math assignments.

Michael Phelps’s experience shows that even when we are world-class in one area, we can struggle in others. That is the nature of variability. We each have, as Todd Rose has so brilliantly explained in his TEDx Talk The Myth of Average, a jagged learning profile (TEDx Talks, 2013). We are good at some things (vocabulary, memory, or the ability to swim really fast in Michael’s case) but maybe not so good at others (planning, organization, or the ability to focus for Michael). The key to success isn’t just shoring up weaknesses while building on strengths. It’s about recognizing that strengths and weaknesses are not only internal to the learner but also external to the environment: created or amplified by our instructional design. It’s about redefining what learning and success look like, as well as providing multiple pathways to get there. As this book will explore, UDL provides many ways to accomplish this. One way is by creating a learning environment that has the right balance of challenge and support to account for the variability all learners bring into the classroom: finding a variety of ways and means to help each one become an expert learner.

The ultimate goal of UDL is to help students become expert learners. Through the gradual release of responsibility, learners internalize not only the skills and strategies but their internal motivation as well. They move from being novice learners, who need the support of an external prompt, to expert ones, who are able to independently recall the strategy for themselves. Novice learners require quite a bit of prompting and support, while expert ones are capable of self-regulating with minimal external intervention. Through practice, they develop a rich repertoire of skills and strategies to help them cope with challenging situations on their own. UDL aims to create an environment that allows every learner, not just those who have been identified with a disability or learning difference, to develop into an expert learner. We may not all develop into world-class swimmers, but with the right supports in place we can all definitely get more out of our individual potential, whether it’s in swimming, project planning, or learning math.

Pause and Reflect

In what ways is your own learning profile jagged? (See Figure I.2.) What are some areas of learning where you are strong? What are some areas that are more of a challenge for you? Do you try to improve these areas, compensate for them, or avoid them? Do you share your profile with students? Why or why not?

Figure I.2 Every learner has a jagged learning profile; from language, to math and science, to executive functions—each learner is unique. This variability is to be expected, celebrated, and planned for.

Tweet: Gradual release of responsibility: Learners internalize skills & strategies AND their motivation-moving from novice to expert learner. #DiveIntoUDL

From Special Education to Universal Design

Although the development of learning expertise by all learners is at the core of UDL, many educators still believe that it is only about meeting the needs of learners with special needs. This is based on a commonly held misconception: that there is a group of learners with different needs from most of our average students and someone else teaches them; and that UDL and inclusive technology applies only to those students identified within this group.

In fact, the complete opposite is true:

•   Every learner has strengths, needs, and preferences.

•   UDL is for every one of our learners.

By dispelling the misconceptions surrounding UDL, we aim to help you see the value of UDL as an approach for instructional design and decision-making. We hope to facilitate the much-needed bridge building between general and special educators to ensure that both are benefiting from the best ideas and practices in their respective fields.

Tweet: #UDL is not Special Education. UDL is the development of learning expertise by all learners, NOT just meeting the needs of learners with special needs. #DiveIntoUDL

CAST originally set out to develop new technologies that would allow students with disabilities to overcome the barriers they were encountering in the classroom. For example, CAST began by producing digital books that included a number of supports for individual learners. Over time, the team came to an important realization: Although these digital books had a significant impact on the lives of individual learners, they did little to remove systemic barriers. Assumptions and beliefs about learning and curriculum design were the real problems. The CAST team also realized that the solutions they were developing did not have to be limited to students with identified disabilities. They could benefit all learners if implemented more widely.

The rethinking of UDL as an approach that could meet the needs of all learners was facilitated by developments in both technology and the learning sciences. New brain imaging technologies exposed the myth of the average learner as a statistical concept that did not describe actual learners. From a distance, the brains of individual learners may look similar, but taking a closer look at the learning brain in action reveals a more complex picture. Even while performing the same task, the patterns of activation vary greatly between learners, a fact that is captured in a popular phrase among UDL practitioners: our brains are as unique as our fingerprints.

Tweet: The average learner doesn’t exist. Design for variability. Our learners’ brains are as unique as their fingerprints. #DiveIntoUDL

UDL and Technology

Fortunately, as our understanding of the learning brain improved and supported the idea of learner variability, a revolution took place in the world of technology. Today, the smartphone most of us carry in our pocket has more raw computing power than the computer that once took astronauts to the moon. More importantly for us, it also includes a number of built-in accessibility features that can be used to customize the experience for each user: from adjusting the size of the text displayed on the screen to listening to that content with text to speech.

For educators, the challenge now lies in how to harness the power and flexibility offered by emerging technologies to improve learning in a meaningful way. As school districts began to spend significant sums of money on technology acquisition, it became clear that just adding the devices to the classroom was not enough to bring about the desired improvements in student engagement and learning outcomes. It was at that point that a number of frameworks came into play. The two that we will concern ourselves with in this book are the UDL Guidelines (CAST, 2011), and the ISTE Standards, specifically the Students and Educators sections (International Society for Technology in Education [ISTE], 2016 and 2017). At its core, a framework is a statement of our values. A framework provides a compass to guide our work and ensure it is always aligned with our values. As such, a framework, standard, or guideline is not a checklist but a heuristic: a tool for ongoing reflection and study through which we can examine the curriculum and ensure it reflects our goals and intentions.

Tweet: The UDL Guidelines are not a checklist. #UDL is a heuristic tool for ongoing reflection to examine our practice & ensure it reflects our goals & intentions. #DiveIntoUDL

For UDL, the core value is that everyone deserves the opportunity to become an expert learner and to reach their full potential in a learning environment that is as free of barriers as possible. In order for this goal to be realized, UDL emphasizes the need for flexible instructional design over rigid one-size-fits-all (or, actually, one-size-fits-none) approaches. Although UDL is based on a pedagogy-first stance and can be implemented even in the absence of technology, technology expands the reach and impact of UDL, making it easier to implement on a wide scale.

One example would be providing a human reader for a student who struggles with print. At first glance, this solution appears to be a good UDL solution because it provides another option for that learner to access the content. In practice, however, it would be difficult to implement if several learners in your class required a similar accommodation. Perhaps more importantly, from an engagement perspective, it also reinforces the abled/disabled mindset and forces learners to forego their independence and agency that others take for granted. A more practical (and empowering) solution would be to provide a digital and accessible version of the text so that multiple learners (because of need or preference) can access it independently by having it read to them with a screen reader or text to speech, two options that are now frequently found in personal computers and mobile devices. The latter is a more scalable solution with the potential to impact more learners.

Do you think it is possible to implement UDL without technology? If so, what are some of the tradeoffs for learners?

Tweet: Everyone deserves the opportunity to become an expert learner in a learning environment that is as free of barriers as possible. #DiveIntoUDL

The Design and Organization of the Book

Dive Into UDL, Second Edition embodies UDL’s emphasis on flexible instructional design over rigid, linear routes to learning goals. Although you may be reading a paper-based copy of this book, our goal isn’t a linear experience (Figure I.3). We want to provide you with options and choice in your learning, as well as a variety of means to engage with the information and apply it to your practice. In doing so, we want to model UDL but also provide you with an experience of learning similar to what your students experience in their (outside of school) learning: interconnected digital resources, tools, and communities that allow for a personalized experience, unique to the learner (Figure I.4). We don’t expect all of you to move lockstep through the book in a linear fashion (although you certainly can do so) and come away with the same standard experience. You can even step away from the pages into the supplemental online environment we created to customize your experience based on needs, strengths, and preferences. Together, the book and online environment embody UDL by including multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression for you to find personal meaning in the content. On the companion site, you can read a summary of chapters, access interactives to explore ideas, watch videos, find support materials to dive deeper, explore options to reflect on your practice, and we hope, share your learning with others (Figure I.5). The choice is yours!

Figure I.3 The traditional, linear path to reading a professional book is reading chapter by chapter; doing something with the book, such as jotting notes or discussing in PD; then putting the book on a shelf—and often forgetting it.

Figure I.4 Connected reading makes learning a personalized digital experience.

Figure I.5 The Dive Into UDL website, DiveIntoUDL.com, complements this book. You can also join us on Twitter and Facebook to connect and share.

Multiple Entry Points

Based on our experience with professional learning activities, we strongly felt this book should have multiple entry points to accommodate the variability educators as adult learners bring to this experience. To accomplish this goal, we structured Dive Into UDL like a Choose Your Own Adventure novel, aligned with the principles of UDL. Inspired by the experiences of Michael Phelps as both an athlete and a learner, chapters include a Wade In section that addresses a foundational concept, then move to a Shallow Swim section that extends and builds upon your previous knowledge of UDL concepts, and finally to a Deep Dive section where you can explore the depths of UDL for your own classroom and as a UDL leader, supporting those who might be at earlier stages of understanding and application. For a more personalized learning experience, you will be able to start where you are in your understanding of UDL and grow in that understanding over time with ongoing reflection and application of the concepts to real-life problems and situations. (See Chapter 3 for more advice on choosing whether to wade, swim, or dive.) To promote this reflection and help you identify the key ideas presented in each chapter, you will find a number of Pause and Reflect prompts throughout the text.

We encourage you to record your thoughts and reflections