Making the Connection: Universal Design for Learning and Technology

As most any educator can tell you, every student has their own unique skills and abilities. Through differentiation and accommodation, teachers strive to adapt how they teach to their students’ learning needs, ensuring every learner has an opportunity to reach their full potential.

But differentiation and accommodation alone have their limitations. Both are reactive, putting educators on their back foot with each new class of students. In an ideal world, the entire learning environment would be flexible enough to meet students’ needs, even before a learning challenge arises.

That’s where UDL comes in – and where assistive technology shines. Together, this dynamic duo makes building and maintaining inclusive learning environments achievable.

UDL’s principles can require educators to apply extra attention to detail, but that effort is well-rewarded. For students, a learning environment built with UDL in mind not only accommodates them, but also celebrates and empowers the diverse ways they learn.

Technology plays a starring role in making UDL a reality in today’s classrooms. Tech tools allow educators to build more inclusive learning environments with ease and confidence, ensuring such efforts remain sustainable and flexible over time.

These examples from the field don’t just highlight successful UDL implementation; they illustrate technology’s role as a catalyst in taking UDL from theory to practice:

Technology often provides built-in functions that add individualized agency to information gathering. Take a student with dyslexia, for instance. While a traditional textbook may feel like a barrier, text-to-speech tools provide a way to consume the same material audibly.

Its text-to-speech functionality reads the text aloud, enabling students to listen and follow along, which can help them better understand the material. Additionally, the tool highlights words as a student reads, promoting word recognition and fluency.

Immersive Reader also allows users to customize the display of text by adjusting font size, spacing, and background colors, which can make reading feel less daunting overall.

UDL encourages students to show what they know in ways that suit them. For example, a history project might result in one student creating a podcast, another designing a digital poster, and a third writing an essay. Technology can power those types of learning artifacts and more, giving students more choice when it comes time to share what they’ve learned.

Implementing this tool was a plus for both teachers and students. For teachers, the tool made it easier to efficiently infuse choice into a given lesson or project. All they needed to do was generate an inclusive choice board based on their standard or topic of study, revise the board using a built-in chatbot, and export the finished resource to a familiar format like Google Docs or Microsoft Word.

In turn, these robust expression options provided students with more opportunities to personally connect with the lesson. By integrating elements that reflect their cultural backgrounds and personal interests, students engaged more deeply with the material, fostering both creativity and autonomy in the classroom.

Engagement goes beyond catching and maintaining students’ attention. To be fully engaged and excited to learn, students must feel valued in their learning environment. 

Technology can foster this heightened engagement by offering different ways for students to connect. Whether students prefer participating in group discussions through chat apps, recording video reflections, or solving challenges with educational games, tech tools aligned with UDL principles open new doors to engagement.

Similarly, AI-driven software can assist educators in tailoring learning activities in real time, freeing up teachers to engage in meaningful interaction with students​​.

Bringing UDL to life using technology isn’t a call to add more devices or apps to the classroom. Technology needs to be added and utilized intentionally, with a clear connection to an educator’s teaching and learning goals.

Moreover, not every use of technology suits every student. UDL’s principles emphasize adding choice, but all tech-powered choices should still facilitate learning experiences that align with students’ unique needs and interests.

The message of UDL is simple but profound: education should be designed to work for everyone, right from the start. Technology can help make that aspiration a reality, starting with intentional planning and implementation in your classroom.

Eager to learn more about UDL? CAST, the organization that pioneered UDL, offers detailed guidelines, professional development resources, and practical tools to help educators create inclusive learning environments. 

On their website, you can also explore strategies for implementing UDL principles, access research-backed frameworks, and discover ways to integrate technology effectively.

Bringing UDL and technology together takes training and practice. The LTC’s professional learning team can help your teachers explore strategies for using technology to implement UDL principles. 

Connect with your local RETC to learn more about our customizable UDL training options, including in-person and virtual workshops.