Nualang and the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Framework
Learn how Nualang can support incorporating the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Framework into your classroom.
The History
First coined by Roland Mace, the term Universal Design first emerged in 1973. Mace was an architect and, in 1973, designed the first accessible building regulations that would later become law in North Carolina in the United States. He defined Universal Design as:
"The design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialised design."
The most common example used to show Universal Design in action is the curb-cut, which goes unnoticed in our day-to-day lives.The average curb is between 6 and 7 inches high. To those without any physical impairment, not so big, right? However, to someone with additional needs, this can be completely impassible. So, for several years now, we have had a curb cut. This designed ramp allows those with disabilities to successfully mount and dismount a curb. However, a curb cut can benefit everyone, not just those who physically require it, such as those on bikes, scooters, and parents with buggies. This shows that if modifications are designed effectively, they can accommodate and benefit everyone.
CAST
David Rose and Ann Myers were the first to apply these architectural principles to education. They were both researchers from the Harvard School of graduate education, and in 1984, they formed CAST Centre for Applied Technology. Initially, their focus narrowed to technological advances and how they could aid students with learning disabilities in educational settings—this effective method shaped how we support students with special educational needs today.
The Science Behind It All
However, in 1990 they altered their approach. In line with Roland Mace's concept of Universal Design, they began to focus on the shortcomings of schools and materials. In conjunction with how they could be redesigned to "be useable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation" rather than consistently modifying various aspects of school life to accommodate individual students with learning difficulties. To attempt to develop a universal framework, CAST delved into the inner workings of the human brain and how we learn and store knowledge. Renowned developmental psychologist Lev Vgotsky (1962) suggested that the brain has three major networks: affective networks, representation networks, and strategic networks. CAST built on this ideology to use these networks to represent the Why, What, and How of learning. An essential underpinning of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is that one must allow for and expect variability. No two learner networks will operate optimally in the same environment; and therefore no two learners will view, engage with or execute a task in the same way.
UDL Principles
Using this foundation, CAST developed a framework by which no learner would have to adapt or modify themselves, as a curriculum has been designed that can accommodate variability and individual learning differences and preferences. UDL achieves this by encouraging multiple means of engagement, presentation, and action and expression.
Engagement
Engagement is inspired by the "why" brain network. It refers to what motivates and challenges students to learn. This can be achieved by providing students with a wide variety of activities to tap into the multiple interests of a vast body of students.
Presentation
Presentation is inspired by the "What" brain network. It refers to what format, information is provided to students and what type of information they learn best from. This can be achieved by allowing students to intake information from aural, visual and reading sources in order to accommodate all learners' needs and preferences.
Action and Expression
Action and Expression are inspired by the "How" brain network. It refers to how students are invited to articulate and demonstrate what they know and have learned. This can be achieved by allowing students to present information in several formats, such as visually, through speaking, or writing. This accommodates those with additional physical and intellectual needs while also catering to students with strong preferences and already established learning styles.
How Nualang aligns with the UDL framework:
Nualang is an interactive and immersive way to utilise the UDL framework in the classroom. To cater to the widest variety of learners, Nualang is jam-packed with various exercises that can be answered and learned from in a way that suits students' modal preferences and needs!
Engagement using Nualang:
If there is one element you will never need to worry about while using Nualang, it's engagement. Students love the array of activities available to support their language learning and acquisition. These activities range from interactive chatbots to picture quizzes. This ensures that all students' needs and interests are tapped into and utilised in a way that helps them learn at an optimal level.
Presentation using Nualang:
How students receive the information needed for their language learning is imperative to how the information is consolidated and stored for later use. By providing students with multiple means of receiving this information, Nualang supports both learners with additional needs regarding hearing and visual impairments and supports other students with modal preferences for intaking new information. Nualang has various features that allow for this accessibility, such as the option to have phrases read aloud and the option to slow down or speed up the speech. As well as the option to create picture quizzes and script-based roleplays.
Action and Expression using Nualang:
In addition to how students intake information, how they demonstrate the information and skills they have learned in the classroom is equally important. Nualang allows students to put their best foot forward and present what they have learned in various formats. This includes through speaking, which can be used in chatbot, roleplay and pronunciation exercises and writing which can aid spelling and grammar acquisition across all exercises. This allows Nualang to accommodate learners who may struggle with presenting the language skills they have learned traditionally. By providing students with the opportunity to use other means of expression, students can develop skills such as the skill of speaking and conversation, which is indispensable for language learners in our classrooms today!
Why does it matter?
It is a well-established truth that if classroom materials are not accessible to all learners, then all learners' abilities cannot possibly be accessible to all educators. Where possible, students with additional needs progression in the classroom should not be reliant on modifications and adaptations, especially when there are benefits to be reaped by all students when multiple means of engagement, presentation and action and expression are provided in the classroom.
Making your classroom universally accessible can take time. However, nothing is more rewarding than knowing you are providing students with an opportunity to learn optimally in a way that simultaneously supports students' educational needs and harnesses their modal preferences.
