Definition Of Universal Design For Learning - 1570 Words

What do separate water fountains for African Americans, civil unions instead of marriage for gay couples, and special education classes have in common? The answer is segregation. In 21st century America, segregation in classrooms should be non-existent. Unfortunately that is not the case. All too often students who are considered to have lower cognitive abilities are removed from the classroom and placed in a separate facility. This is commonly called â€Å"Special Education† and it takes the â€Å"separate but equal† approach. Ignacio Estrada, director for grants administration at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, once said, â€Å"If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.† It is possible to include all†¦show more content†¦He was also a devoted advocate for the rights of people with disabilities which is reflected in his work† (Center for Universal Design 2008). It wasn’t until the 1980s that the concept of universal design was applied to learning. In 1984 five clinicians from North Shore Children’s Hospital in Salem, MA founded the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST). They met in a local pizza parlor and conceived the idea to â€Å"explore ways of using new technologies to provide better educational experiences to students with disabilities.† They were given an anonymous grant of $15,000 to get started and CAST began to focus on how technology could enhance the learning experiences for students with disabilities (CAST Timeline 2015). Today UDL is being applied in classrooms other learning environments to better accommodate the learning styles of all students. UDL is a powerful and flexible form of curricula, which is designed to embrace and enhance the natural variability of learners (Glass, Meyer, Rose 2013). Some of the leading researchers on UDL are Don Glass, Anne Meyer, and David Rose. According to Glass, Meyer, and Rose, â€Å"In the past two decades, neuroscience has demonstrated that learners are highly variable in the ways they learn and that this variability is the norm, not the exception.† They