UDL Strategy Lessons
Lessons to meet the needs of all learners
UDL considers the needs of all learners by embedding lessons with multiple means of engagement, multiple means of representation and multiple means of action and expression (Cast, 2018). Engagement impacts a student’s motivation to learn by enabling learners to engage with the material in a variety of ways. Representation refers to the way learners perceive and understand material using different means of representation to align with different learning preferences. Action and expression enables learners to express what they know in alternative ways that work best for them. In short, UDL provides a way to consider the needs of all learners by providing students with a choice of how and what they learn.
In addition to UDL, differentiated instruction enables additional opportunities for more students to be successful. It is a process of teaching students of differing abilities in the same class where teachers consider learners’ readiness, interest and learning preferences to adapt various elements of the curriculum (Tomlinson, 2014). Differentiation can occur through one or more of the following ways: “the content of learning (what is being learned); the process of learning (the types of activities); the products of learning (ways learning is demonstrated); or the environment of learning (where learning takes place)” (OME, 2013, p. 17)
