Universal Design for Learning
Universal Design for Learning
UDL, or Universal Design for Learning, is a method to differentiate learning to motivate learners, provide a variety of ways to present the topic, and differentiate ways to allow learners to express what they learned but in ways that would interest them and have more meaningful learning experiences. I really like the way it was mentioned that these guidelines are not meant to be a “prescription” but instead suggestions to help diverse learners to maximize the learning experience () These guidelines are meant for students to be independent learners that take control of their learning.
Currently, I have been attending GT core training and I have learned so much on UDL methods. It has been such an interesting topic for me because I was in desperate need of ideas to change up my teaching style to differentiate and accommodate diverse learners in my classes. One of the principles that I need to work on is providing multiple means of action and expression. Choice boards is one method that I am really looking forward to using in my classes. Giving the students the opportunity to choose how they want to express what they have learned is such an awesome idea!
A weakness of mine and where I need help with is with promoting understanding across languages. Since I am a Computer Science teacher, I have found teaching programming languages to an ELL student to be extremely challenging. Finding translating apps for assignments is so difficult. At one point, I was using Google Translate to translate chapters into Spanish for these students. But one day, all of a sudden, Google Translate stopped working for me. Not sure if maybe I have met my limit as far as translating documents for the day or week. Another concern is how much is too much. Should I constantly be providing translated documents or at some point do I let the student sink or swim in the English language? I want my ELL students to be successful but am I really helping them by constantly providing these translated documents? How much is considered too much?
Resources:
CAST. (2018). UDL: About the Graphic Organizer. Udlguidelines.cast.org. https://udlguidelines.cast.org/more/about-graphic-organizer
CAST. (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines. CAST. https://udlguidelines.cast.org/
CAST. (2018). UDL: Promote understanding across languages. (n.d.). Udlguidelines.cast.org. https://udlguidelines.cast.org/representation/language-symbols/understanding-across-languages
Great post, and your query about how to handle translations is on point. I do not have the answer~ maybe others do. But I would say that it's the point of what you're trying to teach that drives the work. Do you want them to learn in English even though that's going to mean a lot more work for them than for others in the class? Or do you want them to learn in the most facile manner, regardless of the language? Is there a happy medium?
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts and perspectives on UDL! It's awesome that you are learning a lot about it through your GT training. Maybe you can find some training for teaching ELL students as well since that is always a challenge for teachers. I would suggest translating the most important points that you want/need the students to know. The rest they can learn through immersion, visual aids and body language.
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