UDL Principle: Provide Multiple Means of Representation (The What of Learning)

 

Students need to be able to perceive instructional materials and curriculum content in a way they can understand before they can fully engage in an instructional activity. The recognition network of the brain is a primary area where we make sense of what we are seeing, hearing, feeling, etc. Since all students are different, some may struggle with printed text, languages, or audio. Other students may simply prefer one type of media over another. Because of this diversity, students need options or choices in order to find a path to recognizing and comprehending instructional materials.

 

Ways to provide flexibility in representation include:

• Options for perception.
• Options for language and symbols.
• Options for comprehension.

 

Examples of flexibility in engagement include:

• Providing tools so students can change the appearance of text (e.g. change the font size, change the background color).
• Use tools to change the format of text (e.g. from text to audio, or text to braille).
• Provide online glossaries or dictionaries to support vocabulary.
• Use translation tools to support multiple languages.
• Use advance graphic organizers to help students highlight big ideas, concepts, and relationships in a text passage.

 

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Exploration

• Natural Reader (Win) – http://www.naturalreaders.com . a free Win text-to-speech utility. add to Adobe Reader and your computer can read PDF files aloud . use with a web browser and the Internet "talks"
• Microsoft Learning Tools - https://www.onenote.com/learningtools . several Microsoft programs, such as Word 365 online and OneNote, include tools for adjusting the appearance of text, reading text aloud, highlighting parts of speech, and other tools to support understanding.
• Vocabulary.com - https://www.vocabulary.com/ - paste up to 100 pages of text and this tool will create a vocabulary list with definitions.
• TeacherTube - http://teachertube.com/ . extensive learning video library
• Newsela - https://newsela.com/ . leveled text news service where students can pick a reading level in a variety of topics