Is one UDL network most important? If so, which one?
The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a new concept to me. I don’t believe you can prioritize the “most” important aspect. The what, why and how of learning are interconnected and all important. That being said, I believe that the why of learning is the most neglected in classrooms. Teachers tend to focus on what the student is learning and we spend lots of time having students demonstrate the how of learning, but we rarely spend time on the why. This is disappointing and confusing because the why is when students come alive and really connect to the learning.
I work with a foundational reading curriculum company. While there are research-based approaches to what and how we teach foundational reading skills, my favorite thing about the curriculum is the ways in which it provides students with the why! I’m a reading and English nerd, so understanding why we pronounce and spell words the way that we do makes me happy. When students connect to the why they are able to apply their decoding skills to authentic text and it’s exciting! It makes sense! When they know WHY ‘kitten’ is spelled with a ‘k’ and ‘cat’ is spelled with a ‘c’ that knowledge is owned, and students want to know more.
PS-It’s because of the vowel that follows the /k/ sound: K takes i and e; C takes the other three a, o, and u.
Facilitation Innovation 
One response to “Universal Design for Learning”
[…] to the real-world application and having a strong belief in why I am working on the project. The Universal Design for Learning framework helped me to understand the various neural networks involved in learning. I posit that […]
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