My Thoughts on UDL

Although I was a bit dubious at first, I think I'm coming around to UDL. In an introductory course in my first semester at Teachers College, my thoughts on UDL were that it was too broad an ideal; that it made sense for architecture, but education isn't so concrete. No pun intended. Bad joke. There should always be standards met and addressed that meet the needs of as broad a range of students (or learners, population, etc.) as possible, but each idea needs to be somewhat tailored to the individual with the same end goal in mind. The issue is that time, and attention to certain detail, vary considerably for each individual. I agree that UDL is not a "one size fits all" set of principles, but also that when we consider multi-modal instruction, we are not forgetting that while student A needs short vignettes of learning for short attention span, student B may need more time to digest information and repetition to retain. Auditory and Visual inputs may be beneficial for some, or distracting to others. This is why small group activity and stations may be in some cases more effective for grouping learners in the ways that they learn, and how to meet those methods with the appropriate supports. In this way, it is more student-driven design, and not the instructor's information overload.  Perhaps I feel that this is the case, because I myself, become very easily distracted in a learning environment. While I need quiet for concentration and minimal distractions, others I know work better while feeding off the energy of others or from music and background noise in their environment. However, I am a visual and kinesthetic learner. I need to see something, write it down myself or perform the act itself, in order to retain the information. But being a visual and kinesthetic learner doesn't always mean that a graphic or action will help, if that graphic is not clear itself or if that action is not in line with the end goal. We need to keep in mind the difference between supplement and distraction.

I do agree that UDL principles are grounded in means and access for as many individuals as necessary, without exclusion, and should always kept in mind when planning the end goal of a lesson. So keeping in mind that an educator should provide multiple means of representation, expression and action, and engagement will add to the lesson as a supplement, but necessarily a requirement. To compare it to architecture, the ramp can be used by everyone, but the stairs and the elevator are there for those who choose to use either or. In terms of architecture, the ramp is considerably more cost effective and efficient, but in terms of education, the choices and different means provide individual options to "get to the next level."