DIVERSIT Y &

ACCESSIBILIT Y
UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING

• The National Center on Universal Design for Learning is the clearinghouse for information,
resources, and research related to Universal Design for Learning.
•
• Here are the guidelines for UDL in infographic form so you can print and post it on your
desk.
• This video is from CAST, the Center for Assistive Special Technology, who are boosters of the
concept, funding projects in a variety of arenas, from online education to kindergartens.
• https://youtu.be/bDvKnY0g6e4
CA ST SUG G EST S T H ESE 1 0 T I P S FO R DESI G NI NG A N ENG A G I NG L EA R NI NG
ENVIR ONM ENT T O A DI VER SE G R O UP O F L EA R NERS, I NCL UDI NG SUP P O R T I NG R I SK -
TA K I NG , I NCR EA SING OP P ORTUNITIES FOR COL L A BORATION, A ND P RESENTI NG
FL EX IBLE A SSESSM ENT O P T I O NS.
M A K ING SENSE O F UNI VER SA L DESI G N FO R L EA R NI NG VI DEO — W H I CH P R O VI DES A
Q UICK OVER VIEW O F T H E B A SI C CO NCEP T S B EH I ND UNI VER SA L DESI G N, T H AT Y O U
SH OUL D T R Y T O DESI G N P R O DUCT S W I T H A W I DE R A NG E O F L EA R NER S A ND L EA R N.

H T T P S: //YOUT U. BE/M OUDMZ A ZRC8

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

• Diane Ravitch defines DI as instruction that attempts to "maximize each student's growth by
recognizing that students have different ways of learning, different interests, and different ways of
responding to instruction. "In practice, it involves offering several different learning experiences in
response to students' varied needs. "Educators may vary learning activities and materials by
difficulty, so as to challenge students at different readiness levels; by topic, in response to students'
interests; and by students' preferred ways of learning or expressing themselves”
• Here is a video about a classroom that put Differentiated Instruction into practice with a strategy
called “Reteach and Enrich.” They saw major gains in student achievement after the implementation
of this new approach.
• https://youtu.be/t7kcFkRgiV4
LEARNING STYLES – MYTH?

• When we talk about differentiated instruction, the topic of learning styles inevitably arise. Let me
tell you what. Researchers have been arguing that learning styles are a myth. (Riener, C., &
Willingham, D. (2010). The myth of learning styles. Change: The magazine of higher learning, 42(5), 32-
35.)
•
• Howard Gardner, the scholar who had suggested multiple intelligence wrote a reflection on multiple
intelligence and learning styles. (Gardner, H. (1995). Reflections on multiple intelligences: Myths and
messages. Phi Delta Kappan, 77(3), 200.)
• Now you know how to respond when people say "I am a visual learner, I am a kinesthetic learner."
• Instead of worrying about the learning style myth, you can try this: Letting go of learning
styles by Amber & Andy Ankowski on PBS Parents.
ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY

• Understood provides a comprehensive guide to define and identify assistive technologies for diverse
needs.
• According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 508, persons with disabilities should not
be discriminated against by federal agencies, requiring electronic and information technology to be
accessible to persons with disabilities. Annie Bixler of ATD (Association for Talent Development)
discusses the ways in which you can make your instructional technology products ADA compliant,
which also lines up with a lot of the Differentiated Instruction and Universal Design principles.
• This site is part of the W3C’s initiative to make the web more accessible to people with disabilities,
providing guidelines. This page explores how people with disabilities use the Web. This site on the
page shares stories from actual web users with disabilities and how they navigate the Internet.
• https://youtu.be/SIm2MuJUCTEhttps://youtu.be/SIm2MuJUCTE
MULTIMEDIA LEARNING

• Mayer’s 12 Principles for Multimedia Learning offers a guide to designing all multimedia
products, from animation to movies to online course modules, built on a solid cognitive
psychological foundation of Dual-Coding Theory.
• It is not necessarily tied to assistive learning, but it can help us create better, more inclusion
designs for our instructional technology products.