Universal Design For Learning

Universal Design for Learning

After reading and researching about the concept of universal design, it has been a struggle for me to find a picture that exemplifies the true, ever complex meaning and multitude of variables that have an impact on it.  I searched for examples through various websites focusing on universal design for learning but I could not settle on just one; so I created one myself.  My example isn't a technical drawing or a real life picture of universal design in action, however my example is a visual representation of the meaning of universal design.


The small picture of crayons in the center of my image represents the various students in my classroom who come to me with such a wide range of abilities, strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, preferences, and backgrounds.  From the center of the picture I've spiraled the text with the smallest text closest to the picture and the largest text away from the picture.  I did this because with universal design the individual differences, or varying abilities in the classroom should not even been seen in the classroom, so that text is the smallest.  As the words spiral out, the larger the words the more the text moves towards universal design concepts such as accessibility, functionality, clarity, and everyone benefiting.  These words are the largest, and within the classroom, should take precedence over the smaller individual words.  (Lohr, 2008) states that "the goals of universal design focus on making information and learning accessible in the broader sphere of life for all people". (p. 8)

 Lohr, L. (2008). Creating graphics for learning and performance: lessons in visual literacy (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall.