UDL and OER

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." 

- Unknown

Definitions 

Universal Design for Learning or UDL is a framework that helps educators make their learning environments more accessible and effective for all students. It does so by providing various approaches to teaching. The main pillars of UDL are as follows:

1. Multiple means of engagement: utilizing different teaching styles to harness the learners' interests. This can be done by offering choices or connecting lessons to special interests. 

2. Multiple media types: Presenting information in various formats, such as text, audio, and video, in order to accommodate different learning styles.

3. Multiple means of expression: Allowing students to respond to assignments and lessons in a variety of ways. Giving the learners the freedom of choice goes along with keeping their interest.

Open Educational Resources, or OER are free and accessible teaching and learning materials available for anyone to use. These resources include textbooks, videos, courses, and assessments.

 

Utilization

UDL should be utilized for learners because its main goal is to keep learners engaged in the lesson by meeting them where they are already at, through interests and learning styles. Doing so helps provide equity and accessibility in the classroom. It strips away many hurdles learners have to go through to attain an education. Some possible classroom uses of UDL may include hands-on projects, multi media use, like watching a video that relates to the lesson, or listening to music.

The major benefit of OER is that they are free, high quality learning materials available to educators, making it cost-friendly. There are many benefits besides cost, however, such as flexibility, as educators are able modify and update the materials, as well as customize to better fit their lessons. Since these resources are free, it opens up access to more learners and broaden the reach to be accessible to more learners. Some classroom uses for OER could potentially be replacing traditional textbooks. Since digital content can be updated there is the potential to replace traditional textbooks with OER ones, so they can always be up to date. Supplementing course material is another classroom use of OER, adding videos, articles, and interactive resources to lesson plans.