Technology,+Teaching,+and+Universal+Design

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=Visit this link for resources and Web 2.0 tools to create a universally designed classroom = = = = = = = =The following is a list of links relating to universal design and its place in education. There is a short summary of the resource accompanying each link. =

Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) This reading gives a thorough introduction to the principles of Universal Design for Learning. Please read through the entire Introduction by scrolling through all six pages under this heading in the right-hand navigation box. As you read, think about how your current curriclum design fits with these principles. Note: You may find this visual presentation of the UDL Guidelines, provided by CAST, to be helpful as well. You will revisit these guidelines in Sessions Three, Four, and Five, focusing on a specific column in each session.

Fast Facts for Faculty: Universal Design for Learning, The Ohio State University This fact sheet designed for faculty at Ohio State University offers a summary of the basics and benefits of Universal Design.

Higher Education Opportunity Act (Public Law 110-315) This document provides some excerpts of the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA), a Federal Statute passed in 2008 that established the "statutory definition" of "Universal Design" and "Universal Design for Learning." The full text of the law is also available.

Digital Diversity: Engaging All Students in Education, Grace Rubenstein,Edutopia This article discusses the shift from using technology as a tool for special education to using technology to benefit all learners.

Connecting to the 21st-Century Student, Josh McHugh, Edutopia This article highlights the challenges and opportunities in teaching learners in the digital age.

Framework for 21st Century Learning, Partnership for 21st Century Skills This article summarizes the critical systems necessary to ensure student mastery of 21st Century skills. As you read, consider how 21st Century skills can be addressed through UDL principles.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Strategy Instruction Goes Digital: Two Teachers' Perspectives on Digital Texts With Embedded Learning Supports, Nicole Strangman, ReadingOnline <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">This article summarizes the experiences of two teachers who use supported, digitized texts in their classrooms. The teachers used CAST E-Reader and Thinking Reader software, both of which incoroporate a “Reciprocal Teaching” approach to reinforce skill development. You may need to scroll down to get the full text of the reading.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">How New Technologies are Changing What a Literacy Program Should Be, David Rose and Bridget Dalton, CAST <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">This excerpt details some of the ways technology has changed the way we teach literacy, with a specific focus on the principles of Universal Design. The article also includes several video examples of literacy instruction using these principles.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, CAST <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">In this session you will think about assessment from a UDL perspective. Before delving into this session's content, review Column II: Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression in this diagram from CAST.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Universally Designed Assessments, Better Tests for Everyone!, Sandra Thompson and Martha Thurlow, NCEO <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">The authors of this piece declare, "Universal design opens the door to ways to rethink assessments to ensure that it is not the assessment itself that produces the barrier to improved learning." They then offer concrete examples of how to design learning assessments with UDL principles in mind.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Increasing Assessment Accuracy and Accessibility through UDL, David H. Rose and Anne Meyer, Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">This selection highlights the role technology can play in making assessments more accessible for all students. As you read, consider how your current assessment strategies may not be fully accessible to some students, and how these strategies could be included.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Differentiated Instruction and Implications for UDL Implementation, Tracey Hall, Nicole Strangman, and Anne Meyer, CAST <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">This article offers an introduction to differentiated instruction and the UDL applications of this instructional method.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Universal Design for Learning and Differentiated Instruction: Compatible Approaches, CAST <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">This brief article offers a summary of the ways the principles of Universal Design and Differentiated Instruction overlap and work together.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Chapter 8: Making Universal Design for Learning a Reality, David Rose and Anne Meyer, Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Read about the UDL implementation strategies of one particular district in this chapter from Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age. The five sections of Chapter 8 can be found on the left-hand side of the CAST webpage, or you can click "Next Page" when you have completed reading each section.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Promising Practices, Center for Universal Design in Education <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Review this collection of articles and choose two links that seem relevant to the grade you teach. How can the strategies highlighted in these articles contribute to your plan for implementing UDL practices?