UDL: Universal Design for Learning

 My Experience with UDL


CAST (n.d.) stated the three principles of UDL: engagement, representation, and action/expression. As an elementary school teacher, I always try to incorporate UDL into my classroom in order for students with different learning preferences and styles so that each student can succeed independently. For engagement and representation, I give the learning materials in as many different modalities as possible in order to engage each student and give them equitable access to the learning materials. For me, this means putting the material in text, audio, visually, and kinesthetically. For action/expression, I try to let students submit their work in the modality that best suits their learning preferences: text, visual graphic, artistic representation, video, and so on, just as Rao et al. (2016) suggested. 

Rao et al. (2016) emphasized first unpacking the stated learning objective and then addressing what can be made flexible in it. For example, if the learning objective is to recall the layers of the Earth, students can show their ability to recall the different layers in a variety of ways. 

Here is where I struggle: how do you actually do all of this in a time-constricted elementary school classroom? How do you prepare learning content in all of these different modalities when you have to prepare 15 different lesson plans each week for 5 different grade levels? 

In addition to this issue, I find that elementary school students, although I love them, lack executive functioning. This part of their brain is still developing! The YouTube video by Massachusetts DESE (2020) explains how critical executive functioning is especially to the action/expression stage of UDL because students must independently choose the best way for them to demonstrate their knowledge that is still rigorous. 


Using Instructional Technology (IT) with UDL to support my students


Rappolt-Schlichtmann et al. (2013) examined using an interactive, web-based, science notebook in elementary school that was designed using UDL principles. They found that the notebook improved learning outcomes (Rappolt-Schlichtmann et al., 2013). I wanted to highlight their use of IT to implement UDL for elementary school science because I believe that more IT should be designed with UDL principles. I find that the G-Suite, for example, does a great job with UDL because of all of their easy to access accessibility features and wide range of presentation materials (Google Slides, record using Slides, Google Docs, making a Google Form mock quiz, etc.). I have used these examples in the classroom, as well as other types of IT like Kahoot and Prezzi. These would all be for the action/expression stage. For the engagement and representation stages, I try to find the learning material in a variety of formats and then make those formats available via Google Doc in Google Classroom. I also always use easy to read fonts, sizes, and colors. 


My biggest challenge is that specific science education software does not always come with UDL principles, such as Science4Us and Gizmos. Many times, the content will be in both text and audio, but I would like to take it a step further. Have you encountered similar challenges with implementing IT tools that do not follow UDL principles? How have you overcome them?


References


CAST. (n.d.). Universal Design for Learning. Retrieved July 7, 2025, from https://www.cast.org/what-we-do/universal-design-for-learning/#.Wo9mLZM-d25


Massachusetts DESE. (2020, February 25). Universal design for learning and equitable access [Video]. 

YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dinkwH6H1Jg


Rao, K., & Meo, G. (2016). Using universal design for learning to design standards-based lessons. Sage Open, 6(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244016680688


Rappolt-Schlichtmann, G., Daley, S. G., Lim, S., Lapinski, S., Robinson, K. H., & Johnson, M. (2013). Universal design for learning and elementary school science: Exploring the efficacy, use, and perceptions of a web-based science notebook. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(4), 1210-1225. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033217

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