Apply and Discover 9.1

      What does it mean to "provide equal access to the digital world"? 

   
     Providing equal access to the digital world means being able to meet the many different learning needs and styles of our students through the use of technology. Teachers need to plan and accommodate the wide range of learning abilities that they have in their classroom by providing many outlets of technology for their students to explore and learn about a given topic. After all, it has been said “The way people learn is as unique as their fingerprints” (UDLCast). If that is the case, teachers have their work cut out for them!

     In Module 9 we read and viewed videos all focusing on Universal Design Learning (UDL), “a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn” (Cast). The Center for Applied Special Technology (Cast) has formulated those principals into three main principals –

 --The curriculum provides multiple means of representation. Subject matter can be presented in alternate modes for students who learn best from visual or auditory information, or for those who need differing levels of complexity. 


 --The curriculum provides multiple means of expression to allow students to respond with their preferred means of control. This accommodates the differing cognitive strategies and motor-system controls of students. 


 --The curriculum provides multiple means of engagement. Students' interests in learning are matched with the mode of presentation and their preferred means of expression. Students are more motivated when they are engaged with what they are learning. (Orkwis)

While many teachers have been implementing the ideas of UDL for many years, whether it is by offering larger text books for students who have trouble reading or by viewing visual aids such as pictures or videos, the growing use and availability of technology in the classroom is providing teachers the opportunity to reach a wide range of student abilities. Technology only works to aid teachers in their practice of UDL because it provides the greatest flexibility for teachers when it comes to presentation of material and assessment of student progress.
   
     With almost all of our students growing up in a world flooded by technology, teachers are able to utilize technology and all its tools and really engage and interest their students in learning. Our students come to us from all walks of life, it is our job to reach each one of them and challenge them in a way that will encourage them to learn and grow. If we can use technology to speak to the diverse learning abilities of each of our students we are able to create more of an equal playing field in the classroom where students all learn together.

 Resources 

Cast. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/

Orkwis, R., & (1999, December). Curriculum Access and Universal Design for Learning. Retrieved from http://www.ericdigests.org/2000-4/access.htm

UDLCast (2010). UDL at a Glance. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDvKnY0g6e4