Universal Design for Learning
The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a holistic approach to education designed to give all students the necessary support to succeed in their academic journey. It comprises three pillars with a series of guidelines to help you transform how you interact with your students. It was created by a non-profit education research group called CAST and has already been validated and adopted by thousands of teachers worldwide. It provides the necessary steps to transform your classrooms into inclusive and equitable environments.
The UDL methodology is divided into 3 main pillars: Engagement, Representation and Action&Expression
Three pillars of UDL
These pillars are directly linked to our brain neural networks as presented in the image below:
The 3 main pillars of the UDL
We present here a snapshot of this powerful methodology for inclusion. A series of videos and recommendations are included here to help you get started in your UDL journey
Introduction to UDL resources
This suite of resources offers an introduction to the concept of Universal Design for Learning and one of the key tools educators across the globe use to translate this concept into practice.
Video 1 explores the concept, video 2 focuses on the UDL framework developed by CAST and video 3 looks at two strategies to apply UDL in practice.
- Universal Design for Learning – An Introduction: Video 1 https://youtu.be/HRmUu9kBTQk
- Universal Design for Learning – The Framework: Video 2 https://youtu.be/NvYYfYRZODY
- Universal Design for Learning – Applying in Practice: https://youtu.be/4ul-API2f1g
Further reading and examples can be found in the following references:
Resources
Links
AHEAD (2024) AHEAD website UDL resources.
CAST (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.2.
Toland, M. (2020) UDL Implementation Rubric. Retrieved from
Universal Design for Learning: A Best Practice Guideline: Universal Design – License to
Learn. Funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union
Podcasts and Videos
Think UDL is a podcast about Universal Design for Learning where we hear from the people who are designing and implementing strategies in post-secondary settings with learner variability in mind.
The UDL Approach https://theudlapproach.com/podcasts/
(a) UDL in 15 Minutes – The Podcast is our original podcast where educators and UDL leaders share their experiences and thoughts on implementing and using UDL.
(b) UDL Research in 15 Minutes – The Podcast is our newer Podcast where researchers share their findings about the implementation, the impact, and their investigations of the Universal Design for Learning framework.
The UDL @ UL YouTube channel includes videos from staff and University of Limerick, Ireland students discussing their UDL practice.
The DisabilityAwareness elearning channel includes videos from experts in the area of
inclusive education including discussion on UDL in practice.
UDL networks
INCLUDE: International Collaboratory for Leadership in Universally Designed Education: a global network of researchers, students, and practitioners committed to strengthening outcomes for all learners. INCLUDE aims to link colleagues for partnership and support in the research and design, implementation, innovation, and exploration of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
The UDLHE Network is a special interest group of the UDL-IRN and a place to collaborate with others in higher education who are working towards the intentional development of UDL initiatives to increase the quality of learning for the predictable variability of students and faculty today.