Rose and
Meyer discuss Universal Designs for Learning (UDL) and the role it will play in
the future of education. One notion I
found enlightening that Rose and Meyer mentioned is the belief that every student
has some learning deficiency and strengths and it is the teacher’s role to
identify them and teach to the strengths.
We classify the students with ADHD or who have audio or visual
impairments as disabled, but really instructors just need to find their strengths
and use these to help students learn.
This belief limits the need for labeling students “normal” or “disabled”
because every student has a unique learning style that needs to be
recognized.
Another
reason that identifying these learning strengths and weaknesses is important is
because we need to foster students who know how to learn and are not only
concerned with mastering the content. In
order to be successful, students need to understand their own limitations and strengths
so they can use them throughout their life.
Education should move beyond the TEKS and develop young adults who will
be productive citizens no matter their differences or struggles in the
classroom.
The
principal behind UDL is to use representation, expression, and engagement to
meet the learning needs of every student and encourage success outside the
classroom as a learner, instead of simply a student. I agree with the philosophy of UDL and the
sentiments that Rose and Meyer discussed, but I also think it is a nice
thought, but perhaps not a reality. It
will be difficult for districts and states to move away from standardized
testing in favor of just learning to learn.
Too many states put a heavy weight on district performance through these
tests and they will not be easily eliminated.
Reviewing
the UDL website I came across a few standards that were very applicable to the
math classroom. The majority of the
websites and information I found helpful were under the category of “Providing
Multiple Means of Representation.” Under
section 2.3, there were two sites that provided definitions and examples of
mathematical vocabulary and notation.
Section 3.2 listed programs for manipulatives and investigative
software. Overall the website provides
great resources because it suggests multiple sites to use at each part of the
UDL process. Not only it is suggesting
various websites to try, it states an explanation of it features, why it fits
into the UDL program, and most of them are free.
