Week 5 Blog Entry

Hi everyone! For this week's blog assignment I chose to look at Universal Design for Learning through Rogers and Gronseth's article, “Applying UDL to Online Active Learning”.

Part 1: 

    As an educator always striving to reach all learners, I found “Applying UDL to Online Active Learning” to be a timely and practical read. The authors, Rogers and Gronseth, explore how instructional designers integrate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) into online active learning environments and highlight the powerful intersection of flexibility, student agency, and community. Their study emphasizes that UDL isn't just about accessibility for students with disabilities, it's about designing for learner variability from the beginning.

       Some key takeaways for me included the importance of planning structured yet flexible learning paths, which offer multiple means of engagement and expression, and incorporate social learning spaces where students feel a sense of belonging. Designers in the study shared active learning techniques like polls, breakout groups, case studies, and student-created media, all framed within a UDL lens to support diverse learners. These strategies not only promote engagement, but also support executive functioning and metacognition, helping learners self-monitor and persist (Rogers & Gronseth, 2023).

    The authors identified four major themes emerging from their research: belongingness, social learning space, structuredness, and universality. These themes reflect a shared commitment to inclusivity and student-centered design. “Designing to the margins,” as one participant in the study put it, means considering every student’s needs upfront, not retrofitting accommodations later. Tools like discussion boards, collaborative design platforms, and formative self-assessments are used intentionally to support voice, choice, and community.

    I think this deeply resonated with the lesson I designed on rhetorical appeals for my Pre-AP 9th grade students. In this activity,  I'm having my students analyze multimedia ads, collaborate in groups, and create infographics to teach their peers. By using tools like YouTube, Canva, and Google Slides, I'm trying to provide multiple entry points into the content and give students voice and choice in how they demonstrate understanding which are core UDL principles in action (yay!). I also intentionally built in structured collaboration and peer feedback at the end of the lesson to create that “social learning space” the study identifies as crucial.

    Overall, the article reinforced that designing for inclusion isn’t an extra step, it’s the foundation. Whether in a digital classroom or face-to-face, the power of UDL and active learning lies in anticipating student needs, creating authentic engagement, and giving learners the tools to take ownership of their journey. As this study shows, when we combine UDL with active learning, we’re not just delivering content, we’re designing environments where every student has the opportunity to be sucessful.

Part 2:

    As I review and edit my lesson on rhetorical appeals through multimedia ad analysis and infographic creation, I looked at the UDL Guidelines for ways to make the experience more inclusive and accessible for, again, all learners. Two considerations that seemed relevant to me were Consideration 8.3: Foster collaboration, interdependence, and collective learning and Consideration 1.2: Support multiple ways to perceive information.

    For Consideration 8.3, I realize that collaboration isn’t just about dividing up group tasks, it’s about creating a true learning community. Before students begin their group work, I’ll lead the class in developing community agreements focused on respect, shared accountability, and valuing each other’s ideas and identities. Group work can sometimes become social time, (especially with freshmen!) so I like to reestablish our norms for working in pairs or groups before we start collaborative work. These agreements will emphasize interdependence, an idea I find especially powerful which reminds us that learning is stronger when we support one another. I’ll also clearly assign rotating roles in each group and offer prompts for how to ask for and offer help which reinforces the idea that no one learns in isolation.

    Equally important is making sure all students can fully access the multimedia content and visuals we’re using, which is where  I think Consideration 1.2 comes in. I’ll make sure each advertisement has captions and transcripts, and I’ll provide textual descriptions for visual elements in both the sample ads and student-created infographics. These supports not only help students with visual or auditory processing challenges, but they will also give everyone an opportunity to engage with the content in different ways, depending on their needs or preferences. By thoughtfully integrating both of these UDL principles, I’m hoping to create a lesson that’s not only more equitable, but also more dynamic and meaningful for every student in my classes.

Part 3:

    The 2024 National Education Technology Plan (NETP) provides valuable guidance on how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can be used to address the Digital Use Divide, the gap between students who use technology actively to create, collaborate, and explore ideas, and those who use it passively to consume information. The NETP stresses that closing this divide means going beyond providing devices; it requires thoughtful integration of technology that supports all learners through multiple means of engagement, representation, and expression. UDL offers a framework for designing these inclusive, flexible learning environments. By embedding UDL strategies into our lesson planning, we can ensure students aren’t just using technology, but using it in a way that empowers them as creative thinkers.

    The NETP also highlights a cautionary trend: despite widespread access to digital tools post-pandemic, many classrooms still rely on passive uses of technology. To counter this, the plan calls for intentional design that reflects both UDL principles and ongoing professional learning for educators. In my own practice, I’ve seen how lack of training or time can cause tech tools to go underused or be implemented without real impact. The NETP’s emphasis on professional development is crucial, teachers must be equipped to design tech-rich, UDL aligned learning experiences that promote student choice, meaningful collaboration, and deeper understanding. When UDL is applied thoughtfully, and with support, it becomes a powerful tool for equity, helping to bridge the Digital Use Divide and ensuring all students can engage fully in their learning.

References: 

CAST. (2024). The UDL guidelines. CAST UDL GUIDELINES. https://udlguidelines.cast.org/

Office of Educational Technology. (2024).  A Call to Action to Close the Technology Access, Design, and  Use Divides: National Educational Technology Plan. Department of Education

Rogers, S.A. and Gronseth, S.L. (2021). Applying UDL to online active learning. The Journal of Applied Instructional Design. Doi: 10.59668/223.3748. Retrieved from https://edtechbooks.org/jaid_10_1/applying_udl_to_onli?book_nav=true