Principle of Action and Expression - Guideline 2 - Criterion 2

Universal Design for Learning

Principle of Action and Expression - Guideline 2 - Criterion 2

When developing a course using the second principle of Universal Design for Learning, there are three specific guidelines to assist us.  The second, Expression and Communication, focuses on how learners effectively communicate and express their knowledge. 

Criterion 2 of this guideline advocates that we use multiple tools for construction and composition.

Avoid focusing too much on traditional tools while ignoring current tools.  Educational institutions tend to favor traditional forms to composition, such as writing research papers, while not staying current to contemporary trends in digital environments. Restricting learners to ‘old school’ techniques does not prepare them for the future, but instead restricts their learning and the range of teaching methods that you can adopt.  It also bars many students from succeeding. 

For example: Many educational institutions have policies baring cell phones, however their narrow conception of mobile devices does a disservice to students.  For the most part a standard smartphone has more computing power than the computers used to navigate the Apollo 8 mission to the moon.  The student’s device is more of a microcomputer that can receive phone calls than a telephone.  Moreover, smartphones are the primary means of access for a disproportionately higher number of non-whites and lower income Americans.  Many students have to choose between a smartphone or a laptop, and select the former for easier access, better safety, and affordability. To adopt policies that discriminate against mobile devices effectively targets these groups.  It also send the message that the school would rather be antiquated than adopt new technology.

Professionals have to stay current with the tools of their trade, and developing learning environments should prepare the learners instead of provide a skill in an archaic behavior.

When developing a learning environment, be sure to consider:

• Encourage mobile devices and non-traditional tools
• Provide spellcheckers and grammar checkers
• Encourage outline tools and concept mapping tools
• Use web applications
• Provide computer aided design and notation software

By following these suggestions, your course will assist students communicating and expressing their knowledge, as well as being in line with the Principle of Action and Expression in the Theory of Universal Design for Learning.

There's an App for that

Currently most all of our students hold in their hands a device that has more computing power than we the US used to send a man to the moon in 1969.  This is not that that our students are blessed with untold wealth and technology, but that smartphones are so prevalent.  Presently over 33% of the world own a smartphone and it accounts for over 50% of main access to the internet.

The United States, like the rest of the world, has gone mobile. Over 51% of digital media is accessed via a mobile device and the average smartphone owner in the US spends 87 hours per month viewing their mobile device.  Mobile devices are the primary means of internet access for Black and Hispanic populations as well as for most lower-income families.  After 5pm, mobile technology, including tablets such as the iPad, is the most common means for individuals to access the internet.

Given this information it seems odd that most colleges not only lag behind the adoption of this technology, but actively adopt policies that discourage their use.  Phones are thought of as distractions instead of tools.  However, each smartphone is effectively a Swiss-army everything tool that gives the user flexibility like no other educational tool in the past. Most phones today standardly offer students:

• Camera
• Sound recorder
• Video camera and editing
• GPS device
• PDA
• Scanner
• Compass

They also offer the means to distribute digital files to the internet.  This means that they can otherwise capture or collect information from almost anywhere and share it with their class through a LMS or social media site.

The question is not, “Can they do this?”

The question is, “How can we use this ability for effective pedagogical purposes?”