Accommodating Diversity

       The Universal Design for Learning mirrors the Universal Design movement in architecture and product development(hhtp://cast.org/teachingeverystudent). Adjustment in curbs, close captions on television and speaker phones are just a few.  These same adjustments must be made in the classroom in order to accommodate diversity and high academic standards.
       UDL is a philosophy where teachers rethink student goals, materials, methods and assessments((hhtp://cast.org/teachingeverystudent) in order to accommodate this diversity.  It is no longer “one size fits all" learning  environment. It is basically "customized" learning, as the educator focuses on the what, how and why of each student's learning style.
       Within each classroom, there are students that are struggling readers, have limited English, have IEP's and a host of other situations which requires that  a teacher must be creative.  The use of technology is an effective way to reach each of these learning groups through the UDL framework.