Quick Links: Resources for Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

National Center on Universal Design for Learning
Universal Design for Learning, Version 2.0
Presentation: Universal Design for Learning (Stephanie Richardson)
Website/Wiki: UDL Technology Toolkit (Karen Janowski)

CAST: Transforming Education through Universal Design for Learning
Book: A Practical Reader in Universal Design for Learning 
(David H. Rose and Ann Meyer, Eds)

UPDATE: TRUESCORES blog post: Trends in Alternative Assessments (with links and resources about/for the "2-percent" group)

I recently discovered an interesting post, Trends in Alternative Assessments, written by Natasha J. Williams, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist, Psychometric and Research Services at Pearson. The post was published in the TRUESCORES blog, and raises some very good points regarding the assessment of students who are assessed using the "2 % test", a term used in educational circles that describes alternative assessments that are given to students who have cognitive disabilities. One of the goals behind this is to measure AYP (adequate yearly progress.) for this group of students.

At the high school level in my state, North Carolina, the "2-percent test" refers to the OCS Extend 2 exam. Many of the students within this category are classified as Intellectually Disabled, Mild,  and function cognitively  below the 3rd percentile for their age -  at or below two standard deviations from the mean.  The OCS Extend 2 exams were recently eliminated in North Carolina.  Current 9th grade students in the OCS program will be required to take Algebra I, Biology, and English 9 exams at the end of the 10th grade.  A cohort of students will take these exams at the end of the current school year. 

How will these changes impact they way we conceptualize and measure transition outcomes for these students?  In the US, in many high school,  students who receive special education services have a much higher drop-out rate when compared with their peers.   We haven't solved this problem!   Those within the "2 percent" range need a high degree of support to develop the skills needed join the workforce and participate more independently within the community.

Here are some quotes from the  blog.  I encourage you to read the original post!

"There are differences in opinion about how students should be performing on the 2% test. If students perform poorly is that to be expected because they shouldn’t be able to perform well on grade level material or does that indicate that the test has not been modified enough for these students to be able to show what they know? If students perform well on the assessment does that mean that the modifications have been done well or that the wrong students are taking the test? We would like to think that the intent of the legislation was for states to develop a test that assesses grade-level content in such a way that students could be successful. Even so, we have heard the argument that if students taking the 2% test are not doing well they are still performing better than they would have if they had taken the general test."


"Growth models for both the 1% and 2% assessments are also being developed. Again, the type of growth expected from the students taking these assessments is questionable, especially for the 1%. The question is how to capture the types of growth these students do show. Models are being implemented now, and we are curious to see what the evaluation of these models will show. Are we able to capture growth for these students?"


One of my concerns is that no-one is exactly sure how to appropriately measure AYP for students with cognitive disabilities:

The No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Act: A Progress Report (2007)
Scott Swail, Educational Policy Institute, Betsy Brand, American Youth Policy Forum  (National Council on Disabilities).
This 2007 progress reports includes a discussion about  issues related to the assessment of students with disabilities who fall within the lowest 1% and 2% of the population.

"Most interviewees voiced these two concerns: first, education policy needs to recognize that some students will need more time to meet grade-level proficiency standards, and second, we are too bound by the traditional structure of education and the requirement to complete high school in four years."  Recommendations begin on page 97.

Additional reading:
NCLB and Special Populations, Selected Readings (Pearson)
NASSP President Testifies Before Congress (2007)


RELATED READING AND RESOURCES
Although some of the resources below focus on K-8 students, they may be appropriate for assisting high school students with cognitive disabilities:


Universal Design for Learning Guidelines
Video Series:  Universal Design for Learning
On-line Planning for All Learners Template
National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials
CAST: Center for Applied Special Technology
Curriculum Access for Students with Low-Incidence Disabilities pdf (Richard Jackson, National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum
Developing Effective Fractions Instruction for K-8 Students pdf
IES Practice Guide, What Works Clearinghouse
National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities
Special Education Resources, Grades 7-12
What Works Transition Research Synthesis
Evidence-Based Secondary Transition Practices
Resources for Implementing Evidence-Based Interventions Across Transition-Related Indicators
Transition Assessment Toolkit
Predictors of Post-School Success

Accessible Instructional Materials: Exploring the On-line AIM Navigator and Universal Design for Learning Resources

The National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials at Cast has an on-line interactive program for IEP teams to use when planning for students who require accessible instructional materials.  Here's the description from the AIM Navigator website:


"The AIM Navigator is a process facilitator that guides the work of a collaborative team as they work through the AIM-related needs of individual students. It is not a screening or diagnostic tool. The Navigator consists of a series of guiding questions to assist teams with decision-making about need, selection, acquisition, and use of accessible instructional materials. Learning supports for completing each decision-making step are available throughout....As a team works through the decision-making process, the Navigator collects the decisions made along with any notes entered into text boxes at each point. All are included in a summary that can be viewed at any time, saved to a local computer, or printed."


UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING AT A GLANCE
"Today's methods are hands-on, interactive, engaging, so hopefully by doing that and having them (the students) actually doing something, instead of reading about sugar molecules, we're going to demonstrate it in a different way."  (Discussion about a UDL science lesson)


David Rose on Implementing Universal Design for Learning


RELATED
National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials
National Center on Universal Design for Learning
Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age:  Universal Design for Learning
(On-line interactive version of the 2002 book of the same name.  Still very good!)
Universal Design for Learning Research
UDL in Detail:  UDL Guideline - Version 1.0

SMARTtables in North Carolina:

Kicking SMART up a notch (Morgan Wall, The Mount Airy News 9/2/09)

"The table is hands-on and interactive, allowing students to use a number of their senses to learn. It can be beneficial to visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners."

"Shoals Elementary has two SMART Tables which can be checked out through the main office. Riggs sees them mostly as being for K-2 students but said 3-5 students can use them as well."

I wonder if any teachers at schools who have adopted Universal Design for Learning strategies have SMARTtables in their classrooms. If so, please leave a comment!

Revisiting the CITEd Website: Center for Implementing Technology in Education

The CITEd Research Center has expanded a bit since my last visit. It is worth the time to browse around the site.

"CITEd's Research Center offers evidence-based, promising, and emerging practices based on the latest research. Explore how technology can be used to enhance instruction with an emphasis on students with special needs. Browse research and its implications for your classroom, school, and district."

You can now follow CITEd on Twitter.

Here is a sample of the topics and related resources from the CITEd site:

Multimedia Instruction of Social Skills

Learning with Computer Games and Simulations

Universal Design for Learning in a Digital Multimedia Environment

Using Technology to Support Diverse Learners

Technology to Support Writing

Data Systems and Data-Driven Decision Making

Technology to Assess Student Progress

Evidence-Based Practices

Types of Learners

If you have the time, you can take an on-line course, "Differentiating Instruction", through CITEd, via AIRlearning. The course is free, an you can sign-in as a guest.

Also visit NCTI & CITEd's TECHMATRIX

"Each product in the TechMatrix has features that assist students with special needs. For example, products that read text aloud help students with visual impairments and learning disabilities."

The resources included in the TECHMATRIX are also organized by learning supports across all subject areas.

AccessApps: Open-Source Assistive Technology from RSC

From the AccessApps Webpage:

"AccessApps is an initiative developed by the Scottish JISC Regional Support Centres in cooperation with JISC TechDis. It consists of over 50 open source and freeware assistive technology applications which can be entirely used from a USB stick on a Windows computer (here is a full list of applications on offer)."

"AccessApps will run without needing to install anything on a computer and provide a range of e-learning solutions to support writing, reading and planning as well as visual and mobility difficulties."

AccessApps has a good help page that includes "how-to" information in video format, a step-by-step guide that you can download, and a FAQ page. Categories of applications include a free installable screenreader, games, utilities, presentation tools, multimedia tools, keyboard/mouse alternatives, visual support, reading and writing support, planning and organization, productivity software, and guides.

AccessApps won an award from the Scottish Open Source Award 2008.There is more information about the various applications on the AccessApps download page.

Animoto, Tokbox, iSpeech: Good on-line resources for implementing Universal Design for Learning and supporting assistive technology.

I just received an email from a colleague with the following cool links:

Animoto
http://www.animoto.com --creates cool slide shows... You will want to sign up for the Educator Pass, it takes a day or two to verify.

"Animoto is a web application that automatically generates professionally produced videos using their own patent-pending technology and high-end motion design. Each video is a fully customized orchestration of user-selected images and music. Produced on a widescreen format, Animoto videos have the visual energy of a music video and the emotional impact of a movie trailer."

This would be great for student work presented on interactive whiteboards!

Tokbox
http://www.tokbox.com -if you have a webcam you can create messages and post to a website or email

"Tokbox is a free service that lets you talk with your friends over live video. Here's how it works: you sign up and we give you a link. When you want to talk with anyone, just give them the link - they click and you chat."

iSpeech
http://www.ispeech.org --- is a text-to-speech program. Has a speech synthesizer so you can type or paste in a message to hear it talk

"Read with your Ears: iSpeech blog covers text to speech topics relating to iSpeech.org. iSpeech converts websites, RSS feeds, blogs "

Free webinars from CITEd, the Center for Implementing Technology in Education

CITEd, in collaboration with Don Johnston Incorporated, is presenting free webinar sessions over the next few months.

Assistive Technology: Written Productivity & Assessment 12/10/08 & 12/16/08
Presenters: Denise DeCoste, Team Leader, High Incidence Accessible Technology (HIAT), Montgomery County Public Schools

Technology Implementation: Getting to Where You Want to Be (Overview of Universal Design for Learning) 12/6/09 & 12/13/09
Presenters: David Rose, Co-Founder, CAST; Mary Thorngren, Deputy Director, Center for Implementing Technology in Education (CITEd); and Jenna Wasson, Research Associate, CAST

Accessible Instructional Materials 101 2/4/09 & 2/10/09
Presenters: Joy Zabala, Project Manager, AIM Consortium; and Diana Foster Carl, Special Projects Coordinator, AIM Consortium

You can find links to previous Moving Forward with Technology webinars on the CITEd website.

Although the school year is nearly half over, it is not to late to move forward with technology!

Multi-touch notebook by V12: Possibilities for Universal Design for Learning and AT?

Link to Interactive Multimedia Technology Post:

V12's Dual-Touch-screen Canova: Multi-touch could support applications for universal design, education, and assistive technology.

(The pictures below are from the LaptopMag website and do not depict the newest version of Canova.)

Games for Health conference audiocast; Game Accessibility in K-12

I recently presented at the Games for Health conference in Baltimore, Maryland. The attendees and presenters at the conference came from a variety of fields- game development, education, occupational and physical therapy, health, bio-mechanical engineering, media arts, and more, all interested in sharing ideas about using game, simulations, and virtual worlds to improve health.

Many of the topics covered during the recent Games for Health conference apply to K-12 settings. If you think about it, many children and teens are at risk for health problems that will adversely impact their lives as adults. If we can provide a means for young people to develop healthy behaviors and attitudes at an early age, we will help to ensure healthy futures, for individuals and communities alike.

If you have a little time, you can listen to the overview provided in an audiocast consisting of interviews with Ben Sawyer and others involved with the conference.

My presentation slides - Game Accessibility and Health Education in K-12 Settings - from the pre-conference, are posted SlideShare, where you can find slides from other presentations on the Games for Health group section.

You can find more information on the Pioneer Portfolio of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation website, including a section about Games for Health.

(Cross-posted on Interactive Multimedia Technology.)

Shneiderman's book, "Leonardo's Laptop" and Don Norman's "The Design of Everyday Things: Must-Reads for Universal Design for Learning Enthusiasts

UNIVERSAL USABILITY DESIGN AND THE EDUCATION CONTROL PANEL

Don Norman and Ben Scheiderman are well known in the fields of Human-Computer Interaction and Human-Centered Computing, but not as well known by K-12 educators.

Don Norman's Design of Everyday Things (2002) was originally issued as the Psychology of Everyday Things, published in 1988. It is a fun book to read, and the inspiration for my hobby of collecting pictures and video clips for my "usability and interaction hall of shame/fame".

Don has a background in cognitive psychology and computer science, and is the co-founder of the Nielson Norman group, a consulting company that focuses on human-centered services and product development.

Here is a quote from his book:

• "Before I wrote this book, I was a cognitive scientist, interested in how the mind works. I studied human perception, memory, and attention. I examined how people learned, how they performed skilled activities. Along the way I became interested in human error, hoping that my understanding of error would provide ways to teach people how to avoid mistakes. But then came the nuclear power plant accident at Three Mile Island in the United States, and I was among a group of social and behavioral scientists who were called in to determine why the control-room operators had made such terrible mistakes. To my surprised, we concluded that they were not to blame: the fault lay in the design of the control room. Indeed, the control panel of many power plants looked as if they were deliberately designed to cause errors."

If you think about it, Norman's insights hold true for the way many textbooks, lessons, and tests are designed. School psychologists and educators are interested in how people learn, and gain much information to guide instruction and interventions from the errors students make. This is also holds true during the process of functional behavioral analysis. We look for patterns of "error" behaviors to inform the sorts of behavioral interventions and supports needed for helping the student gain effective coping strategies, social skills, and related positive behaviors.

Take a few steps back, and think about the "things" common to many schools- the layout of the hallways and classrooms, the configuration of furniture and learning materials within the classroom, the organization of the instructional day, curriculum guidelines, method of instructional delivery and student assessment. How might these be elements be similar to the design of the control panels in power plants?

From this vantage point, administrators, teachers, students, and support staff play the role of the power plant operators. They are the humans embedded in this system, and they must interact within its constraints. Without much notice, the system maximizes the "error rate" for many more students than it should. This is the opposite of the intentions of the humans involved in the design. The faulty design of the education control panel may also also unintentionally contribute to the "errors" made by teachers when they make decisions about instruction and behavior management.

Universal Design for Learning principles entice us to look at how our schools are structured and and instructional methods and materials are designed, in ways that are very much akin to Don Norman's observations. From the UDL perspective, up-front design decisions made by educators or teams of educators, can ensure the likelihood that outcomes for students are maximized and errors are minimized.

On a similar note, Ben Shneiderman, in his book, Leonardo's Laptop: Human Needs and the New Computing Technologies , discusses ways that computers and technology can support the participation of all ages, abilities, and levels of literacy , in modern society.

Shneiderman begins his discussion about the concept of universal usability with the following quote from Thomas Jefferson, from a reply to the American Philosophical Society (1808):

• "I feel... an ardent desire to see knowledge so disseminated through the mass of mankind that it may.. reach even the extremes of society: beggars and kings."

Universal Usability combines the concept of Universal Design with the concepts of accessibility and usability. It is apparent that Shneiderman's thinking is strongly influenced by Jefferson's quote, which in todays terms, can be viewed as a desire for universal knowledge dissemination. This means that we must work towards inclusiveness, and exclude no one.

Shneiderman suggests that it is important to work collaboratively in order to develop methods that bridge the gap between what people know and what people need to know. Although Shneiderman's book has a broad scope,much of what he discusses holds true for K-12 settings. He proposes that education should provide students with learning opportunities beyond the traditional lecture-discussion format. Below is an outline of the components that should be incorporated into the classroom:

• Collect: Gather information and acquire resources

• Relate: Work in collaborative teams

• Create: Develop ambitious projects

• Donate: Produce results that are meaningful to someone outside of the classroom

Take the time to read Design of Everyday Things and Leonardo's Laptop. I think they would be great for school-based book studies.

Technology Review: "Bill Gates says Microsoft is pushing touchscreen and speech technology to replace keyboards"

"Bill Gates says Microsoft is pushing touchscreen and speech technology to replace keyboards" is the headline from an article in the 2/22/08 MIT Technology Review.

Imagine what this will do to pave the way for Universal Design for Learning!

Some form of keyboard-related input will be needed until speech, gesture, haptic, and motion tracking technology is refined a bit.

Response to Intervention, Universal Design for Learning: Resources for Implementation

If you are a teacher, a school psychologist, a speech/language teacher, or any other professional who is working in a school that has adopted RTI (Response to Intervention), or is planning to do so, now is the time to consider adopting Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Universal Design for Learning is a "Tier 1" support, as it is geared for all students. Your efforts are likely to pay off!

RTI

If you aren't very familiar with RTI, the chart below shows how the model is applied to academic and behavioral systems:

Michigan Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Early Intervention Services

Response to intervention (RTI) is the practice of:

(1) providing high-quality instruction, intervention, and support matched to student needs;

(2) using learning rate over time and level of performance through data collection/analysis and accurate progress monitoring;

(3) make important educational decisions (data-driven decision-making, etc.)

Most schools who have adopted RTI use a team problem solving approach. Although it might vary from place to place, most use the three-tiered model of prevention and intervention for all students, including those who have special needs. Although RTI was initially designed to support students with academic difficulties, it also works well with school-wide positive behavioral support efforts.

According to Jim Wright, the creator of the web-based Intervention Central, "....To implement RTI effectively, schools must develop a specialized set of tools and competencies, including a structured format for problem-solving, knowledge of a range of scientifically based interventions that address common reasons for school failure, and the ability to use various methods of assessment to monitor student progress in academic and behavioral areas. "

UDL
If you aren't familiar with UDL, it is an approach that integrates technology, differentiated instruction, and best practices in regular classrooms to support all learners, including those considered "at-risk" or who have special needs.

• Multiple and flexible means of presenting information to students
• Multiple and flexible means of providing ways for students to respond to learning
  
• Multiple and flexible means of engaging students

Steps to consider:

• Educate yourself about UDL
• Educate yourself about the National Technology Standards for Teachers
• Educate yourself about using a team problem-solving approach to implement Response to Intervention and UDL
• Bring together key people who serve your school (or schools), for a series of discussions and workshops. Getting everyone's perspective is important.
  
• Who are these people?
  
• Curriculum specialists, special education coordinators, reading support teachers, instructional technology coordinators, and assistive technology consultants, school psychologists, speech/language teachers, OT's, and media specialists.
  

UDL Resources:

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) model has been piloted in a range of schools in the state of Indiana. PATINS stands for Promoting Achievement through Technology and INstruction for all Students.

Daniel McNulty's is a Universal Design for Learning consultant for the PATINS program. On his PATINS-Rapid Fire blog , you can find a variety UDL-related tips, as well as links to resources.

Here are some links to UDL lesson plan links, created by real teachers: http://www.patinsproject.com/udl_team_information.htm

Although some of the information on Daniel's blog is geared for educators in Indiana's pilot classrooms, he has links to cool applications that meet the guidelines of UDL. Some would work well in UDL classrooms that have interactive whiteboards or displays, such as the online VisuWords program, an interactive graphical dictionary:

VisuWords Screenshot

Daniel McNulty links to Tina Jone's on-line assistive technology overview course. Classrooms that provide a UDL environment are in a good position to help students with disabilities access the general education curriculum, as support for assistive technology is "built-in".

The concept of UDL was developed by the folks at CAST, the Center for Applied Special Technology, who provide an excellent on-line resource for educators that supports UDL implementation in the classroom. The resource is Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning. CAST is involved with the CITEd Research Center, which provides supports instructional technology integration to support learning for all students. CITEd provides information about ways to implement UDL in digital environments, also discussed in a previous post.


Additional Resources

Response-to-Instruction and Universal Design for Learning: How Might They Intersect in the General Education Classroom?
Response to Intervention (RTI): A Primer for Parent
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association RTI resources and link
National Center on Response to Intervention
National Association of School Psychologists: A Problem-Solving Model for Improving Student Achievement
Intervention Central
RTI Wire
Positive Behavior Support
RTI and BPIS Article

IMPORTANT:
If you are new to this blog, you can subscribe to it via email or through an RSS feed by clicking on the appropriate link on the side of this webpage.

If you are interested in topics such as interactive multimedia technology, the use of games in education and social skills development, engaged learning, interactive whiteboards and displays in the classroom, the use of virtual worlds and virtual reality in education and related fields, and exploring the possibilities of new technologies, take a look at my Interactive Multimedia Technology blog.


-Lynn

Cross post: Nobelprize.org

Nobelprize.org's Educational Outreach Program: Multimedia Games, Experiments, and Simulated Environments

From the website:

"Nobelprize.org has a unique way of introducing the Nobel Prize that goes beyond the mere presentation of facts. These introductions, aptly called 'educational', are made in the form of games, experiments, and simulated environments ready to be explored and discovered. The productions are aimed at the young, particularly the 14-18 age groups, who may know about the Nobel Prizes and the Nobel Laureates, but often lack a deeper understanding about the Nobel Prize-awarded works."

"These educational productions do not require previous knowledge. A central thought or issue is explored during 10-20 minutes of activity, using a specific Nobel Prize-awarded work as a springboard for the whole exercise."

"The productions offer an excellent way of using the Internet for homework, or just plain, wholesome entertainment. The high level of interactivity and the sophisticated illustrations ensure an enriching time spent in front of the computer."

Note:

I recently came across the Nobelprize.org website when I was searching for interactive learning games suitable for use on interactive whiteboards or large touch-screen displays.

For those of you who follow my blog, you'll know that I periodically look for engaging visual and multimedia activities that have potential for use in classrooms where Universal Design for Learning is practiced. Visual and multimedia forms of knowledge representation can help to reach a wide range of people, including those who have reading difficulties, language-based learning disabilities, auditory attention and memory deficits, or have autism spectrum disorders (Asperger syndrome, autism, etc.).

If you are an educator who is interested in using games in your classroom, the resources from Nobelprize.org are a good start, since background information is provided for each game.

MegaPost: Resources for All

Since I started blogging, new technologies have made their way into an increasing number of classrooms, and many educators are aware of efforts such as Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Response to Intervention or Instruction (RTI), as well as innovative technologies that provide engaged, interactive learning experiences for students.

I've consolidated information and updated links and resources from some previous posts from my TechPsych and Interactive Multimedia Technology blogs. Although many of the resources cited in this post relate to K-12 education, some of the information is useful for instructional designers, school administrators, researchers, college/university educators, parents, and technologists who are interested in developing interactive multimedia applications for children and teens.

Take the time to review the "MegaPost" on the Interactive Multimedia Technology Blog!

Karen Janowski's Blog Post: Free Technology Toolkit for UDL (Universal Design for Learning)

I just came by a great blog, "Ed Tech Solutions: Teaching Every Student" authored by Karen Janowski, an assistive technology consultant. Click on the above title link to find her post about a wide range of free technology tools that can support Universal Design For Learning (UDL) and assistive technology efforts. Great job, Karen!

David Rose, from CAST, addressed the NCLB Commission on the importance of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Here is the link!

CAST to NCLB Commission: There's a Way to 'Leave No Child Behind'

Chief Scientist David Rose makes case for universally designed approaches

Wakefield, Mass., August 2, 2006 --Today CAST Chief Scientist and Co-Founding Director David Rose told the bipartisan Commission on No Child Left Behind (NCLB) that applying Universal Design for Learning principles is the best way to ensure that all children, including those with disabilities, have equal opportunities to a high-quality education...........