The Future of Education

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework provides a roadmap for designing flexible instructional environments that address learner variability. UDL has three main principles: 1) Providing Multiple Means of Representation, 2) Providing Multiple Means of Expression and Action and 3) Providing Multiple Means of Engagement.  These three principles are further defined by nine guidelines.  These UDL guidelines, developed by the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) delineate how multiple means of representation, expression and action, and engagement can be incorporated into the design of curriculum and instruction.  The UDL framework (http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines) defines ways in which supports and scaffolds can be proactively incorporated into the design of lessons to support a range of students, including students with disabilities and students with diverse backgrounds, abilities, and preferences. The UDL guidelines are relevant for educators in K-12 and in post-secondary environments.

The built-in features of the technologies we use daily, such as laptops and mobile devices, support the provision of multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement in the classroom.  Teachers can utilize these features of instructional technologies to provide supports and scaffolds that address varied student needs and preferences.  This paper describes how some of the built-in multimodal features of commonplace technology devices can be used for UDL-based design of instruction. For example, the paper addresses how presentation software, interactive whiteboard apps, text-to-speech functions built into operating systems, and voice recognition features of mobile devices can be incorporated into instruction as aligned to UDL guidelines of representation, expression and engagement.