This week, I decided to reflect on the 2015 video “UDL in Higher Education.” In this video, several educators and researchers discuss how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) helps create more inclusive and effective learning environments for all students. The video explores how UDL shifts the focus from accommodating individual students after challenges arise, to designing instruction that anticipates and embraces learner variability from the very beginning. The main goal of UDL is to provide multiple means of engagement, multiple means of representation, and multiple means of action and expression. UDL encourages educators to design lessons that offer students different ways to access content, stay motivated, and demonstrate what they’ve learned. 

One thing that stuck out to me in the video was when Sam Johnston, a research scientist at CAST, stated that “UDL is really critical for helping faculty feel like they can teach all students, because it’s about designing for all students from the onset” (1:35-1:43). Evidently, the point of UDL is to design learning for all students. However, I had never thought of it as proactively shaping the learning environment from the very beginning, rather than reacting to specific needs as they arise.

So often when we hear about differentiation in the classroom, it is as a result of a student with a learning disability or another specific need being present in the class. In these cases, differentiation tends to be an afterthought, and something that teachers do to accommodate individual students once they have identified a specific challenge or need. However, UDL takes a different approach. It is proactive, aiming to design lessons, activities, and assessments in ways that naturally support all learners from the start. The goal isn’t to wait for issues to arise, but to anticipate them and address them ahead of time by creating a flexible and inclusive environment.

This proactive approach is incredibly effective as it removes the pressure of having to constantly “catch up” with individualized needs. Instead of rushing to modify a lesson after discovering that a student struggles with a particular aspect, UDL ensures that multiple pathways to understanding are already in place. For example, by offering choices in how students can engage with content, such as through text, audio, or video, teachers can meet a diverse set of needs without having to adapt their approach for every learner individually.

As well, UDL offers flexibility that benefits not just students with learning disabilities, but all learners. For instance, offering multiple methods of representation (such as visual aids or interactive elements) not only helps students who may struggle with reading comprehension, but also supports those who learn best through visual or hands-on experiences. UDL acknowledges that every learner is different, and instead of trying to mold everyone into a single “ideal” learner, it embraces these differences as strengths.

UDL is absolutely something that I plan to incorporate it into my future classroom. It is not only a more equitable and inclusive way to teach, but also a more efficient and thoughtful one. Designing with all learners in mind from the start ensures that no student feels like an afterthought, which is one of my many goals as an educator.

References

UDL On Campus. (2015, October 7). UDL in Higher Education [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_MCvjkd8Jc&t=46s