Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a critical component of a PowerUp Classroom. UDL is a framework that you can use to develop curriculum which provide maximum learning opportunities for students. Drawing on UDL principles, you can create classroom lessons that meet the needs of all of your students. UDL can also help you remove barriers that impede your students’ learning.
UDL reflects the latest research in the neurosciences. Researchers have identified three primary brain networks responsible for successful leaning:
- Recognition Network, the “what of learning”
- Strategic Network, the “how of learning”
- Affective Network, the “why of learning”
These three networks lay the basis for a second assumption: All students can and should be “expert learners.” To become expert learners, they must be:
- Strategic, skillful, and goal directed
- Knowledgeable
- Purposeful and motivated to learn more
The UDL Guidelines can help you develop curriculum and classroom lessons that address the three brain networks and the assumption that students will become expert learners. PowerUp’s technology resources can also help you. Technology tools are key to the success of UDL. Tools provide the flexibility that fixed text or one-size-fits-all curriculum lack.