Universal Design for All Learners (UDL)

What is Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Why is it Important?

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework to proactively address learning variability. UDL is about inclusive design to benefit everyone involved in learning interactions. It is a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning based on scientific insights into how humans learn. The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 recognizes UDL as a “scientifically valid framework for guiding educational practice” and supports implementation at the post-secondary level of education" (2008). UDL provides a framework by which course developers and instructors can create course materials that are accessible not only to students with disabilities but to all students. It promotes the idea that accommodations should be naturally built into a course from the start and made available to everyone, reducing barriers for all learners, as well as taking a proactive versus reactive approach. 

The three guidelines of UDL are to provide multiple means of:

Representation - provide information in various formats (text, videos, websites, etc.)

Engagement - provide variety in the types of activities and engagement with the materials.

Action and Expression - provide more than one way for students to demonstrate what they have learned.

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UDL and Post-Secondary Education

Post-secondary students are "incredibly diverse. They have a wide range of strengths and weaknesses, and UDL is really about how to make that learning journey tractable for as many of those learners as possible." -- Gabrielle Rappolt-Schlichtmann (n.d.). Please watch the brief video below to learn how other institutions are approaching UDL.

 

UDL and Higher Education (Time 2:09) from UDL on Campus by CAST