Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: learning styles, metacognition, organization, UDL
I really love the principles of UDL as guidelines for designing supportive and accessible educational experiences for students. However, one question that keeps coming up when I discuss these principles with people outside of class is the issue of transferability– for example “If students are used to having everything presented to them visually, how will they cope when they end up in a workplace where that doesn’t happen?”
I don’t think this is a particularly persuasive reason not to use multiple representations, forms of expression, etc., because I don’t think that placing students in a learning environment that’s inaccessible to them is useful for anyone, and I don’t think it has been shown to cultivate adaptability in learning. However, I do think it’s important that we augment UDL designs with metacognitive strategies that allow students to become advocates for themselves, and to adapt environments and work to meet their needs.
For example, I was struck during Todd Rose’s lecture on Monday by the way he built visual self-reminders into his PowerPoint presentation to guide and structure his remarks, taking a proactive action to face the challenges he faces with working memory. I have always struggled with organization– particularly organization of space. During my adult life, I have learned that I really need to consciously create organizational tools for myself– I work best when I have everything in my workspace out in the open, on shelves or bulletin boards, and really try not to use drawers at all (I’m very out-of-sight, out-of-mind). However, none of these simple skills were ever taught to me in school, and I spent years digging around for lost items in dark backpacks and deep desks.
I think that, as educators, we have a responsibility not just to teach our learners about the content, but to teach them about themselves as learners. Why not make the principles of UDL explicit in our teaching and our lesson designs, so that students can take these strategies with them throughout their lives?
