Course Lessons
IN THIS LESSON
Gain an understanding of diversity in learning
Learn about universal design for learning guidelines and examples
Share your ideas about diversity in learning and UDL
This first section on diversity in learning is available as an audio recording along with the text below.
Learning is Complex
As you explored in Lesson 1, MOOCs provide educators and learners with tools to create opportunities that expand access to learning. As a framework, MOOCs provide one set of tools that can meet the challenges and opportunities of diversity in learning environments. As we see throughout the MET program, diversity of learning is more than learning styles, it encompasses the range of differences a learner will bring to and encounter in whatever kind of classroom they learn in. Today, those classrooms could be online, in-person with laptops, or a hybrid or blended experience. Recognizing that learners (and instructors) each bring their own complex selves to class requires an understanding of diversity in learning.
Before continuing, please take a moment to answer a question from the forum to get you thinking about diversity in learning. Feel free to respond in the forum in any format you want, or think about the question without replying. The question is, what do you think about when you hear the phrase, diversity of learning?
Defining Diversity of Learning
When I think about diversity, I think about racial, cultural, and socioeconomic differences.When I think about diversity in terms of learning, I think about how those same factors interact with different cognitive and physical abilities within learning environments. In this context, the learner is a whole person whose knowledge of the world and ability to learn is inseparable from everything about them.
Recognizing diversity in learning involves recognizing that there are many different ways that people learn. A learner’s previous educational and life experiences as well as cognitive and physical abilities shape how they learn and these differences must be addressed by instructors and course designers to ensure equal access to learning opportunities (Mathews and Landorf, 2016; Stratton and Grace, 2016; Pilgrim and Ward, 2018).
To embrace diversity in learning is not about creating adaptations for individual learners but is about embracing complexity within a particular learning environment (Pilgrim and Ward, 2018). As we live, teach, and learn in a globalized world, viewing all learning through the lens of global learning provides a way to better understand diversity in learning, no matter where it happens.
Learning with Diversity: Global and Interdisciplinary
In their 2016 examination of the potential of MOOCs to support global learning, Sarah Mathews and Hilary Landorf borrow from Landorf’s earlier work with Doscher to define global learning as “the process of diverse people collaboratively analyzing and addressing problems that transcend borders” (p. 3). They argue that global learning aligns with the necessary skills for 21st Century learning which they identify as problem-solving, collaboration, and diversity (Mathews and Landorf, 2016, p. 3). Emerging from this concept of global learning is the idea that learning occurs in a community that, as Mathews and Landorf note, “breaks down academic boundaries because categorization curtails the ability to contemplate complexity” (2016, p. 5). The interdisciplinary approach that global learning requires can be applied to learning situations where a diversity of learners will interact - in reality, all learning environments.
As Andrew Northedge argues in a 2003 article about teaching within increasingly diverse higher education environments, successfully engaging a diverse population of learners requires the creation of a learning community in which learners can “develop identities as members of the knowledge community” (p. 31) of the classroom and the respective discipline. In learning through an intentionally created learning community, students gain “the capacity to participate in the discourses of an unfamiliar knowledge community” (Northedge, 2003, p. 17) while expanding their own knowledge.
How to create inclusive learning environments that respect and embrace the diversity of abilities, experience, and knowledge of learners has been explored by many researchers and practitioners. The Universal Design for Learning principles are a widely accepted approach that provides instructors and course designers with guidelines to create inclusive learning environments. In the next section, we’ll explore Universal Design for Learning principles.
To get ready for the next section, watch this 20 minute video about how universal design can support diversity initiatives.
Diversity, Inclusion and Universal Design by Teddi Doupe (20 minutes)
Universal Design for Learning
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) “promotes effective design and a flexible, responsive curriculum, where there are options for how information is presented, how students demonstrate knowledge and skills, and how students engage in learning” (Pilgrim and Ward, 2018, p. 231). UDL is an expansion of the concepts of universal design (UD) that emerged in the field of architecture, whereas “the goal of UD is the removal of barriers from the physical environment, the goal of UDL is the elimination of barriers from the learning environment” (Pilgrim and Ward, 2018, p. 232).
UDL provides a framework for creating learning that embraces diversity rather than seeing particular learner needs as exceptions. As Pilgrim and Ward (2018) note, designing and teaching using UDL principles takes away “the burden on learners to adapt to curricula” (p. 231), making it easier for a diverse range of learners to actively engage. Shifting the burden requires that the instructor and curriculum designer begin by understanding the kinds of barriers their usual practices create. By analyzing their practice through the lens of UDL, they can create learning experiences that include all learners.
To deepen your understanding of UDL, watch this video produced by the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) which provides a quick and engaging explanation of UDL that builds on what you read.
Though widely accepted and practiced, UDL is not without its critics. Comparing its focus on the diversity of learners to the concept of learning styles, Boysen (2021) suggests that UDL’s impacts haven’t been empirically tested and that its reliance on neuroscience overlooks the role of cognitive science in learning. As ways to prevent UDL from becoming a fad, Boysen suggests increasing rigour around UDL research and practice. This includes the use of control groups during studies, even suggesting that “students could serve as their own controls, sometimes receiving the UDL intervention and sometimes not” (2021, p. 217), better defining “what constitutes a UDL intervention and how the outcome of that intervention should be measured” in order to confirm learning outcomes are being met (218). Rather than seeing such critique as a barrier, it is important to see UDL as a set of principles and guidelines that help shape holistic teaching practices, rather than as strict rules to follow.
Universal Design for Learning and Social Learning
As sociocultural theory teaches us, learning is an individual and social process of meaning creation mediated by language that happens within specific cultural contexts (John-Steiner and Mahn, 1996). As a social act, learning involves interaction and engagement with people and with objects created for learning (John-Steiner and Mahn, 1996, p. 198-199). These contexts constitute spaces of situated cognition, in recognition that knowledge is “embedded in activity, people, culture, and language across physical and social space and time” (Schrader, 2015, p. 27). From this understanding, learning spaces are sites of negotiation where the learner creates meaning in context with instructors, classmates, and learning materials. UDL provides guidelines to ensure that learning spaces are open and inclusive of all learners and ways of learning.
Building from Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development where instructors provide scaffolding to help learners get themselves to the next cognitive zone, UDL “provides scaffolds for learners during the planning stage of instruction, when selecting materials, and using appropriate assessments” (Pilgrim and Ward, 2018, p. 233). This approach is based on choice and shifts control of learning from the instructor to the learner. No longer having to adapt to the curriculum, the learner can choose how they receive information and demonstrate their knowledge. The application of UDL principles creates a community of learning because everyone has an opportunity to succeed in a way that works for them.
For a further look at the connections between Vygotsky and UDL, click the Open Library logo or follow the link below:
https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/innovativedigitalpedagogies/chapter/social-constructivism-udl/
Next, we’re going to explore the guidelines for UDL and share some examples of UDL in action.
Guidelines for Universal Design for Learning
Researchers at the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) developed guidelines for learning design that focuses on learner agency and empowers learning “that is purposeful & reflective, resourceful & authentic, strategic & action-oriented” (CAST web). Those guidelines break down into three categories that reflect the recognition, strategic, and affective networks in the brain.
Elements of UDL
Multiple means of representation (recognition networks)
The what of instruction: “instructors identify and plan various ways to represent material, recognizing the need for the learners in the margins as they plan” (Pilgrim and Ward, 2018, p. 233)
Multiple means of action and expression (strategic networks)
The how of learning: “instructors provide options for action and expression” (Pilgrim and Ward, 2018, p. 233-234) - don’t lower the standard for marginal learners, create new, adaptive standards for all learners that meet the needs of everyone
Multiple means of engagement (affective networks)
The why of learning: “instructors plan lessons that engage learners” (Pilgrim and Ward, 2018, p. 234)
Explore the UDL Guidelines below and download a graphic organizer here: https://udlguidelines.cast.org/
Application
Explore ways the UDL principles have been applied in different educational settings through the resources below. We suggest exploring ones that are most relevant to your experiences and that use a mode of representation that best meets your learning needs.
UDL Principles explained with examples for application.
Sourced from Jodi Pilgrim (Pilgrim and Ward, 2018, p. 235).
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The what of learning.
Learners perceive and comprehend information differently
Application:
Use different modalities to present information
Use tools that can be adjusted by the learner
Examples:
Audio
eBooks
Translation tools
Text to speech
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The how of learning.
Learners demonstrate what they’ve learned differently
Application:
Create opportunities for choice
Allow learners to complete assignments in various formats
Examples:
Choice of tools:
Pencil, stylus, mouse
Write, podcast, code
Support tools:
Spell checker, speech to text
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The why of learning.
Learners are motivated by different factors
Application:
Create an environment that considers personal relevance for learners, collaborative preferences, and previous knowledge
Examples:
Real-world tasks
Flexible collaboration options
Simulations and games
Experiments
Community projects
Artistic expression
UDL and Child Learning
UDL principles can be used to create inclusive classrooms that help all kids, as you can see from this video about how a 5th grade teacher uses universal design for learning guidelines with his class.
Application of UDL in a 5th grade classroom. (10 minutes)
UDL and Adult Learning
While the work of Pilgrim and Ward (2018) frames UDL from the perspective of teaching in an elementary school setting with children of various physical and cognitive abilities, the principles of UDL apply in all teaching and learning environments, including adult learning.
To learn more about the connections between adult learning principles and UDL you can read this article and watch this webinar from CAST.
Application of UDL for adult learning. (60 minutes)
Benefits of Universal Design for Learning
A UDL approach creates learning environments that encourage a diversity of learning experiences.
Recognizing and avoiding bias
Making all learners comfortable to learn
Giving marginalized learners tools to learn
Expanding learning options for all learners
In the next lesson, you will learn about different tools you can use to apply universal design for learning principles to shape diverse and engaged learning.