Week+3+update

The readings this week provided me with more insight into the power of the Universal Design for Learning. In order for teachers to plan an effective lesson using UDL, they must know what the students are going to learn, which strategies will provide evidence of that learning, what strategies will be used to help students acquire the learning, and what strategies will help students practice, review and apply the learning. To find what students will learn, the educator can consult their state content standards along with the National Educational Technology Standards or N.E.T.S. Next, teachers must look at strategies that provide evidence of students learning. Word processing applications can be used to track changes and insert comments into students’ written work. Classroom response systems, grading software, and a variety of web resources provide students with a variety of ways to express their learning. Blogs, Wikis, and social networking sites can also be effective if used appropriately. Educators have found that they can use technology to differentiate instruction primarily when they use strategies to help students acquire and integrate learning. The depth of the lesson can be modified to support a variety of learning levels. In addition, the teacher could decide to use a video feed for auditory learners and virtual manipulative for kinetic learners. In order to let students practice, review, and apply learning, the educator must realize that a student must practice a new skill twenty-four times to reach Eighty percent mastery. To accomplish this, teachers can use web sites that allow students to find similarities and differences, create analogies, and test hypothesis on a topic. For UDL to be effective, the student must be given many ways to acquire knowledge based upon their individual learning style. They should also be able to demonstrate and express their learning in a variety of formats. Lastly, student should be presented with multiple means of engagement to keep them motivated and challenged.