How can educators identify and address potential barriers when designing instruction?
Page 6: Methods
Educators use a variety of instructional methods every day. Methods refer to the ways in which the content is taught to help students reach the learning goal. Educators must be proactive in removing barriers from instructional methods to help ensure access and agency for all. When educators utilize methods that incorporate flexible options, students can make choices about how they learn and pursue the goal.
Educators who understand UDL know that no single method works for every learner. Therefore, educators should use a variety of evidence-based and effective methods to provide multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression. They can do this by adapting and combining multiple methods to address their learners’ variability.
The six common instructional methods listed below each exhibit strengths and potential barriers to learning, but educators can address these barriers using strategies aligned with the UDL principles. As you review these, keep in mind that different instructional methods serve different purposes and may look different in different grades, content areas, and cultural contexts, but every method can be designed and implemented using UDL.
Teacher-directed instruction, an instructional method in which the educator is the primary deliverer of instruction, usually involves practices like lecturing, modeling, and explicit instruction. Although this method allows the educator to communicate information to a group, teacher-directed instruction can pose challenges if educators do not address potential barriers such as those related to student engagement and comprehension. Educators can better align teacher-directed instruction with UDL by:
modeling
The act of providing an example as a means through which to encourage the imitation of a skill, process, characteristic, or style.
explicit instruction
An instructional approach in which teachers clearly identify the expectations for learning, highlight important details of the concept or skill, offer precise instruction, and connect new learning to earlier lessons and materials.
- Making purposeful connections to students’ interests and experiences
- Using strategies to activate background knowledge (e.g., advance organizers, KWL chart)
x
advance organizer
A preview or organizational guide used to acquaint students with the content, structure, or importance of written material or a lecture.
xKWL chart
A type of graphic organizer used to indicate what students know about a topic, what they want to know, and what they have learned. The first two columns are filled in before engaging with the content, and the last column is filled in as the student progresses through the lesson or unit (e.g., added to column at the end of each day) or at the end of the unit.
- Restructuring lengthy lectures into mini lectures of 10-15 minutes interspersed with active learning activities
- Providing guided notes
x
guided notes
A strategic note-taking method in which teachers provide an outline of the main ideas and related concepts being taught with blanks inserted for students to write key words or information as they are presented.
- Recording key ideas on an interactive whiteboard
- Using think alouds to verbalize thought processes while modeling
Asking questions of the class or individual students can help students commit content to memory, stimulate discussion, and serve as a type of formative assessment. Questioning can increase student engagement and promote expression. However, barriers can appear if educators do not address demands, such as those related to prior knowledge, language, and oral communication. Educators can better align questioning with UDL by:
- Asking questions at a variety of cognitive levels, from basic factual recall (e.g., who, what, where, when) to more inferential (e.g., why, how)
- Allowing adequate wait time between asking a question and expecting a response
- Providing nonverbal options for answering questions (e.g., gesturing, using technology, response cards)
x
response cards
Cards, signs, or items that are simultaneously held up by all students to display their response to a question or problem presented by the teacher.
- Using prompting to assist students in reaching the correct answer
x
prompting
An instructional strategy in which any one of a number of different cues (e.g., gestures, illustrations or photographs, modeling) is used to help a student to learn a new skill or behavior.
- Giving frequent, timely, and constructive feedback
When students are invited to practice previously learned skills independently, they move new information from working memory into long-term memory. Independent practice may be accomplished through activities (e.g., worksheets, written assignments, hands-on activities) that are directly connected to recent learning experiences. Although independent practice can support students’ understanding and retention of content, students can also encounter barriers to their learning. For example, barriers may occur if educators assume that all learners possess needed background knowledge or if they fail to provide constructive feedback. Educators can better align independent practice with UDL by:
working memory
The type of memory that allows a person to hold information while completing a task (e.g., following directions, comprehending text, solving a mathematics problem).
- Offering different types of practice activities
- Pre-teaching critical prerequisite skills needed to complete the independent activity (e.g., choosing materials, asking for help, following directions)
- Using scaffolded instruction to provide supports that can be gradually phased out as students become more independent with the skill
x
scaffolded instruction
A process in which a teacher adds supports for students to enhance learning and aid in the mastery of new skills and then gradually removes the supports as the students master the skill.
- Giving frequent, timely, and constructive feedback
- Asking questions to guide students’ self-monitoring and reflection
Educators may have their students engage in discussions about content, its applications, or their own perspectives. Discussions may occur with the whole class, in small groups, or in pairs. When facilitated well, group discussions can be very engaging for many students. However, they can also be inaccessible to some learners if educators do not address potential barriers, such as social and auditory processing demands. Educators can better align their discussions with UDL by:
- Establishing and teaching class routines for discussions
- Structuring discussions through pre-assigned or posted prompts
- Prioritizing discussions around authentic and relevant content
- Clarifying students’ statements using examples and analogies
- Recording key concepts on a physical or interactive whiteboard throughout discussions
- Offering virtual options for discussions (e.g., forums, video-based discussions)
Cooperative learning is an instructional method in which students work together in heterogeneous, or mixed-ability, small groups. This teaching strategy is associated with increased student motivation, positive social interaction, and improved academic performance. Nevertheless, barriers may be present when, for example, educators do not create groups intentionally or provide clear structure and expectations for group work. Educators can better align cooperative learning with UDL by:
- Creating an accepting and supportive classroom culture
- Establishing explicit roles and responsibilities for each group member (e.g., facilitator, recorder, timekeeper, reporter)
- Using flexible groupings that change often based on considerations, such as student interest or activity type
- Developing clear expectations for group work using rubrics or checklists
- Encouraging reflection on both group and individual performance
Project-based learning is a student-centered instructional method in which students learn by actively engaging in projects that address complex, real-world, and personally meaningful questions or problems over an extended period of time. This strategy can be highly motivating and allows for the integration of authentic content, but barriers may exist if educators do not address requirements, such as those related to executive function and generalization skills. Educators can better align their project-based learning with UDL by:
generalization
The transfer of learned information from a particular instance to other environments, people, times, and events.
- Designing projects that address relevant and timely situations
- Integrating opportunities for students to communicate to real audiences
- Making explicit cross-curricular connections among concepts and skills
- Chunking the project into smaller component parts or steps
- Supplying checklists or templates to support project planning, prioritizing, and sequencing
- Providing varied tools for communication, collaboration, and composition of the project
Educators often enhance their instructional methods by incorporating assistive or educational technology. Assistive technology tools help students with disabilities to perform tasks and activities more easily and efficiently. Such tools can include hearing aids, voice recognition software, and screen reader software. Educational technology, on the other hand, refers to tools used to enhance teaching and learning. Educators may use technologies such as online learning platforms, educational software, and interactive whiteboards to improve the quality of education and increase access to learning experiences. Although UDL does not always require technology, new technologies continue to introduce novel ways for learners to access content, engage in learning, and show what they know.
screen reader software
Any of a variety of computer programs or applications that enable a computer to convey information through non-visual means (e.g., text-to-speech, braille); a type of assistive technology commonly used by individuals who are blind, but also by those with low vision and learning disabilities.
High-Leverage Practices
Identifying and implementing educational and assistive technologies to support the learning of students with disabilities is a high-leverage practice (HLP) in special education—a foundational practice shown to improve outcomes of students with disabilities. This aligns with:
HLP19: Use assistive and instructional technologies.
Moreover, this HLP notes that, “Teachers use the universal design for learning (UDL) framework to select, design, implement, and evaluate important student outcomes.”
McLeskey, et al. (2017)
For more information about HLPs, visit High-Leverage Practices in Special Education.
Luis Pérez addresses the importance of technology in UDL and discusses the difference between educational technology and assistive technology. Next, Cynthia Curry expands on this difference. Finally, Kelli Suding provides examples of how technology can enhance various instructional methods.
Luis Pérez, PhD, CPWA
Disability and Digital Inclusion Lead
Technical Assistance Specialist
CAST | National Center on AEM
Cynthia Curry, MSEd
Director of Technical Assistance
CAST | National Center on AEM
(time: 2:15)
Kelli Suding, MEd
Technical Assistance Specialist
CAST | National Center on AEM
(time: 2:30)
Transcript: Luis Pérez, PhD
When it comes to the role of technology in UDL, or Universal Design for Learning, I’d really see it as a multiplier of inclusive learning practices. There’s a lot of Universal Design for Learning that you can implement without using technology. For example, you can be clear about the goals of any learning activity, and you can make sure that those goals are communicated to learners in a variety of different ways. But for some learners, when it comes to interacting with a learning environment, when it comes to perceiving the information that they then need to turn into useable knowledge, or when it comes to navigating the content or responding in a way that demonstrates their learning, technology can be key. Without that technology, without the access that it provides, then learners don’t have the opportunity to take that information, make sense of it, and then be able to express what they know in a variety of different ways without barriers getting in the way of them demonstrating their complete and accurate understanding of the information.
There are a number of different ways that we can think about technology when it’s used in inclusive learning settings. The broadest category would be educational technology, and that’s technology that’s provided to all learners. Then we have the more limited set of technologies, which are assistive technologies, and those are technologies that are designed to meet specific needs that students might have, more specialized needs. And these are the technologies that are often mentioned on a student’s individual education program or IEP. But there is some overlap because as time has gone on a lot of educational technologies have accessibility features built into them. And so, whenever possible, we should look at those educational technologies that are already available and some of the accessibility features that they have because those features may already meet the needs of a wide range of learners without the need for specialized technologies. An example of an educational technology that has accessibility features built in is a tablet that many students now have available to them or the smartphone they have in their pockets, where you can go into the settings and you can customize the experience that the student has with the content on that device by changing the font sizes, by changing the background color so that there’s additional contrast. Or maybe they use text-to-speech so that they can get the information in a couple of different modalities. They can read along with the text, but at the same time they can get the information read out loud using text-to-speech. And then there’s some students where they need even more support. And so they may go beyond just text-to-speech. They may use a full screen reader, which is technology that describes everything that’s on the screen of a mobile phone or a tablet or even a computer, so that if you are not able to see where the content is on the screen, you can still have it be described to you, provided that the content has been designed with accessibility in mind. If a student has a specific need, then we have a responsibility to find the assistive technologies that best match that need so that they can continue to make progress in the curriculum.
Transcript: Cynthia Curry, MSEd
There’s educational technology and then there’s assistive technology, and they really need to be working together so that students with disabilities have the same options as students who don’t use AT to meet those goals. Educational technology is really what’s used by every student. It’s typically either selected by a district, or sometimes a state will deploy specific types of educational technology to use by school districts. Sometimes teachers will select their own educational technology to be used within a curriculum. And that’s something that is matched to the curriculum and to the goals of the curriculum. An example of an educational technology would be a digital textbook. Under the federal definition of assistive technology, AT is designed specifically for individuals with disabilities in order to give them access to the environment or to a curriculum or to an experience. What we sometimes find is that the term assistive technology is used more universally and sometimes the perception that assistive technology can be for everyone. For example, there have been a lot of built-in accessibility features added to ed tech products. Text-to-speech is a really common example. And we will open that up and call it assistive technology for everyone. But assistive technology really meets the definition when it is matched and required by a specific student. So if I have a reading disability and I need text-to-speech, that’s really assistive technology for me. And it’s so important that that be recognized as my need for AT and that it be documented either in an IEP or a 504 Plan. That’s to be distinguished from, say, I’m a student who may like to use text-to-speech once in a while because I may want to close my eyes while I’m listening or maybe I want to take advantage of listening while I’m riding on the bus. But it’s not essential. It’s not a functional access need that I have due to a disability.
Transcript: Kelli Suding, MEd
Educational technology can certainly enhance the various instructional methods just by providing different tools and resources that will support our learners’ needs and also support the objectives of what we’re teaching. So when we think about cooperative learning, everyone in those groups are working toward those common goals, but how they’re going to reach those goals are going to look different. And that’s where assistive technology can support reaching those goals. That’s why it’s so essential that we’re setting up our classroom culture in a way that supports all of our learners and in a safe place for students to use those technologies that they need to get to that common goal. So that could be different technology like real-time communication and collaboration where all of our students are working on projects and assignments together. And then we think about the instructional method of being teacher-directed. That could be using presentation software, interactive displays, or educational videos. Students can watch those videos as slow as they need, as fast as they need, have the transcripts. And then when we think about independent practice, that could be whatever learning management system we’re using, ensuring that it’s accessible so students can work on that independently and having access to all those materials. That could be different learning software that’s being used for students to be able to independently access that instruction instead of just sitting and getting when they oftentimes lose attention and focus. So that could be online quizzes that have those self-assessment tools in there where they can get that immediate feedback. We think about using a method of questioning, we have to consider the processing time. Some of our students’ processing time may be longer than others, and we have to think, what are we measuring? Are we measuring their ability to respond to the question fast, or do we really want them to be able to show what they know in a way and in the time that they learn best? So we can do that with videos, and students can watch them as many times as they need and respond a different way on a back channel that that they’re using. Maybe they’re contributing to a discussion board. Maybe we’re using a flipped classroom where students can go access the videos, the lectures as many times as they want. They’re on the learning management system and then they can go into class and really spend that time on work. So when we think about technology and UDL, it’s not just about our students, but is also about our educators, and those cohesively together can really create that meaningful and effective learning experiences for both our learners and our educators.
Keep in Mind
As educators plan instructional methods using a UDL lens, they should ask themselves the following questions:
- How will I offer flexible options for learners to work toward the goal?
- Are all of the options I provide accessible to all learners, or do they create barriers for some?
- How do my instructional methods foster collaboration and community?
- How will I optimize the available choices to avoid overwhelming students with too many options?
These questions have been adapted from the following handout.
Activity
After learning about UDL, Mr. Hughes, Ms. Tong, and Mrs. Rios now understand that their instructional methods should be flexible, providing multiple ways for students to engage and reach the learning goal. Below, consider how you would address the barriers in their methods and then discover how the educators intend to do so.
Mr. Hughes
Elementary mathematics lesson goal:
Students will represent numerical data on a bar graph and use the graph to answer questions.
In previous years, Mr. Hughes has used the following instructional methods:
- Teacher-directed instruction focused on modeling simple bar graphs on an interactive whiteboard
- Cooperative learning to practice graphing a fictional data set in small groups
- Independent practice answering questions on a worksheet
Reflect on the following:
- What potential barriers do you recognize in these methods?
- How can Mr. Hughes revise his methods to be more universally designed?
You may choose to reflect on these questions in a variety of ways, such as jotting down some notes, drawing a picture, or discussing with your colleagues. The fields below are available as options to record your thoughts.
Note: These fields are provided for reflection purposes only; your answers will not be available for downloading or printing.
Enter text here
Draw here using your cursor or finger
After you have generated your own ideas, learn how Mr. Hughes intends to address the barriers in his methods (time: 0:47).
Transcript: Mr. Hughes
I’ve definitely got some barriers to engagement and action and expression happening here. The things that I model and have the students graph really aren’t very interesting or connected to their lives at all. I bet they would be a lot more engaged if they chose what to graph—I could even let them poll each other and graph that data. The small groups are always a challenge because I inevitably have at least one or two groups where one student does all the work. I should set those groups up with more structure and group roles. The social part of group work is a barrier for some of my students who have social anxiety or autism, so I could assign them a role that plays to their strengths. That worksheet becomes a barrier for a lot of the students, too. It’s only one way to show what they’ve learned, and I could make that activity more interactive or authentic.
Ms. Tong
Middle school language arts unit goal:
Students will be able to identify a theme in a grade-level piece of fiction and locate supporting details in the text.
In previous years, Ms. Tong has used the following methods:
- Independent practice identifying themes as homework
- Unstructured discussion among the whole class
Reflect on the following:
- What potential barriers do you recognize in these methods?
- How can Ms. Tong revise her methods to be more universally designed?
You may choose to reflect on these questions in a variety of ways, such as jotting down some notes, drawing a picture, or discussing with your colleagues. The fields below are available as options to record your thoughts.
Note: These fields are provided for reflection purposes only; your answers will not be available for downloading or printing.
Enter text here
Draw here using your cursor or finger
After you have generated your own ideas, learn how Ms. Tong intends to address the barriers in her methods (time: 1:03).
Transcript: Ms. Tong
There’s not much variety in my methods, is there? The discussion seems like the easiest thing to address. Instead of always having everyone discuss together, I could switch it up by having small groups focus on a particular theme and share out, and I could use some think-pair-share activities. I’m sure that would increase engagement and keep it from always being the same few students who speak up. I think the independent practice is important for middle schoolers, but I probably tend to assume that they have the background knowledge and executive functioning skills they need to do that. I could start the unit with a KWL chart on theme and then do a mini-lecture to highlight the key elements they need to understand. Also, it would probably be helpful to provide a scaffold, like some guiding questions to refer to while they’re reading at home. Those could help them figure out the themes, and we could use them to guide class discussion the next day, too.
Mrs. Rios
High school biology lesson goal:
Students will be able to model and explain the process of mitosis.
In previous years, Mrs. Rios has used the following methods:
- Teacher-directed instruction involving lecture and slides while students take two-column notes
- Questioning students about vocabulary and discrete steps in the process with individual students responding when called on
- Independent practice, which consists of reading the textbook and drawing the cell cycle
Reflect on the following:
- What potential barriers do you recognize in these assessments?
- How can Mrs. Rios revise her methods to be more universally designed?
You may choose to reflect on these questions in a variety of ways, such as jotting down some notes, drawing a picture, or discussing with your colleagues. The fields below are available as options to record your thoughts.
Note: These fields are provided for reflection purposes only; your answers will not be available for downloading or printing.
Enter text here
Draw here using your cursor or finger
After you have generated your own ideas, learn how Mrs. Rios intends to address the barriers in her assessments (time: 1:06).
Transcript: Ms. Rios
I’ve known for a while that I lecture too much, but UDL has made it even more clear that I need to change that. Instead of talking for half of the class, I could break the content up into a few mini-lectures on key points and even embed more hands-on activities and discussion. Also, I’ve noticed that the two-column notes don’t work for everyone either. There are other note-taking strategies that I don’t think my students even know about. I could take some time to introduce those in class, and students can figure out what works best for their own learning. And the questioning would be much more engaging if everyone could be involved, not just those who always raise their hands to answer. We could maybe use response cards or even an online trivia game. And I like that the independent activity helps my students practice with the concepts on their own. But I really do have a bad habit of just sitting at my desk while they do that part. I need to make sure I’m really giving constructive feedback while they’re doing independent practice, to help them make connections and correct any misconceptions right on the spot.
