Title: Principle II - Propose multiple means of action and expression
Course: UDL & online special education > Section: 2. Propose multiple means of action and expression

Curriculum planning

The curriculum

The curriculum is often designed without thinking about potential needs. In such cases, the adaptations necessary after the fact (such as curricular adaptations) are not very functional and attractive for the students, and cumbersome for them the teachers:

- They are unattractive, as students sometimes do not work in the same activities as their peers, which can make them feel displaced and demotivated.
- They are little functional, in the sense that sometimes they do not serve to achieve the goal originally set. Often these adaptations are limited to simple patches or simplifications of the tasks and objectives , instead of providing the supports ( scaffolding or scaffolding) that the student needs to access the same learning as his peers.
- It is expensive in relation due to the effort and time teachers have to spend on designing some adaptations: once the design has already been created, it is necessary to start making individual variants for some students (those who cannot read, those who do not know the language, those who do not hear well, those who show great skills…).

For this reason, dal CAST is committed to designing the curriculum, from the outset, in a universal way, which allows it to address < strong>the challenge of diversity in the classroom. As the researchers of this center state: «The curriculum that is created following the UDL framework is designed, from the beginning, to satisfy the needs of all students, making subsequent modifications unnecessary, thus avoiding the costs and times that further interventions entail. The UDL framework encourages the creation of flexible projects from the outset, presenting customizable options that allow all students to progress from where they are and not from where we imagine them to be» (CAST, 2011: 3).

UDL Curriculum Components

Four highly correlated elements make up the curriculum of the UDL: objectives, methods , materials and assessment. Here we explain the differences between traditional and UDL-based definitions in each component.

The goals are often described as the expectations of learning. They represent knowledge, concepts and skills that all students should master and are generally aligned to standards. In the UDL Framework, goals are defined in a way that recognizes learner variability and distinguishes goals from means. These qualities enable UDL curriculum teachers to offer more options and alternatives – various pathways, tools, strategies and frameworks for achieving proficiency. While traditional curricula focus on objectives related to content and achievement, a UDL-based curriculum focuses on training 'expert learners'. This sets higher expectations that every student can achieve.

Methods are generally defined as educational decisions, approaches, procedures, or routines that experienced teachers use to accelerate or enhance learning. Expert teachers apply evidence-based methods and differentiate these methods according to the educational goal. UDL curricula facilitate greater differentiation of methods based on student variability in task context, student social and emotional resources, and classroom environment. Flexible and variable, UDL methods adapt based on the continuous monitoring of the students' progress.

The materials are usually seen as the means used to present learning content and as what the learner uses to demonstrate their knowledge. Within the framework of the UDL, the characteristic element of materials is their variability and flexibility. To convey conceptual knowledge, UDL materials use multiple means, as well as integrated and instantaneous media such as hypertext glossaries, background information and on-screen advice. For strategic learning and knowledge expression, UDL materials offer tools and supports needed to access, analyse, organize, synthesise and demonstrate understanding in different ways. In regards to learning engagement, UDL materials offer alternative paths to success, including choice of content when appropriate, different levels of support and challenge, and options for stimulating and sustaining learning. interest and motivation.
Assessment is described as the process of gathering information about student achievement using a variety of methods and materials in order to determine the knowledge, skills and motivation of students, with a view to making informed instructional decisions. Within the UDL Framework, the aim is to improve the accuracy and punctuality of evaluation, and to ensure that it is comprehensive enough and articulate enough to guide the instruction of all students. This is achieved, in part, with a scrupulous focus on the goal, and not on the means, allowing the use of supports and structures to avoid the construction of irrelevant data. By expanding the means to accommodate for student variability, UDL assessment reduces or removes barriers to accurately measure student knowledge, skills, and engagement .

Activities to make use of multiple means of action and expression

- Use mentoring through peer support and/or shared teaching.
- Embed notices inviting you to review your learning process.
- Asking questions to guide self-control.
- Make goals explicit and visible, offering guidelines and checklists for those goals.
- Enable the use of social media and interactive web tools.
- Composing and/or writing through different media (text, voice, illustration, drawing, cinema, music, video, movement and body expression and other visual arts.. .).
- Provide alternatives for the user's physical interaction with educational materials (joysticks, touch screens, adapted keyboards, etc.).
- Include practice examples.
- Include different self-evaluation strategies: checklists, rubrics, evaluation objectives, learning diaries, etc.
- Offer several moments of response to validate what has been learned.
- Facilitate learning with digital and analog activities.
- Use concept maps and project planning templates.
- Provide spell checkers, grammar checkers, and word prediction software.
- Develop different intelligences or multiple talents.
- Retire supports gradually as endurance increases.

Multiple means of action and expression

We are used to preparing different tests for our students with disabilities, but true integration comes when the teacher contemplates the "diversity", the particularities, of each student and proposes the use of multiple means of action and expression, especially in rehearsals .

Orientation to apply this principle in the use of language teaching

Many students with disabilities struggle with writing, both in the physical process of writing and in expressing their ideas through this medium. These students may favor the use of portable text processors or writing tools  which include accessories such as a spell checker to help predict words that can be used and correct errors in written expression, an automatic correction and a speech recognition program that converts pages to text (formerly called a speech to text converter).

It is convenient to allow language learners to write questions in their native language and have them work together with other students whose command of the English language is higher to translate using monolingual or bilingual dictionaries (also with the support of tools such as Google Translate, Babel Fish, Wordreference, etc.). Provide models or examples of what students are asked and the outcome of goal setting.

Sometimes it is advisable to divide long-term goals into achievable short-term goals that are always visible to everyone. It is equally important to adapt the environment in which the lessons take place so that they can work with other students. It is also convenient to allow foreign language students to work together to develop and share support materials on the concepts explained in class: tables, charts, graphs, timelines, diagrams, etc. For students with significant physical disabilities that make it impossible for them to move easily, such as cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy, it is recommended to work with the specialist who is responsible for their follow-up to provide them with the technological means necessary to adapt to the requirements curricula to their abilities. These students often find great help through devices that help them point or type their answers using keyboards (there are numerous options for different operating systems: Click-N-Type, Camera Mouse, EyeWriter, StickyKeys, MouseKeys, FilterKeys or the options to choose the size and color of the cursor, change color contrasts, etc.), touch screens and tools that allow them to move around the classroom.

Must provide various options so that students can demonstrate their acquired knowledge and skills while maintaining the level required by the provisions of the learning standards . The use of of different types of media such as videos, PowerPoint presentations with voice, animations, visual support, photos, storyboards…, can be resources through which luminums with functional diversity can demonstrate their knowledge and whether, in reality , can achieve the objectives set in the curricula because, for example, many students who have problems with written expression turn out to have high skills in presenting their ideas orally. Therefore, it is simply a matter of providing the means and materials necessary for each student to express themselves.

Multiple means of action and expression (outline)