Understanding UDL Through the Lens of Mote
Consider the substantial challenges that have traditionally existed when educators are working towards making their classroom materials, experience and assessments accessible to all learners. In a paper based classroom environment, this becomes excessively time consuming as the materials need to be completely redesigned. Until recently, many challenges around creating accessible materials in a 1:1, technology rich classroom still created barriers for many educators. The tools and platforms are often simply not intuitive enough to be integrated efficiently. When approaching the work of designing classrooms to be universally accessible and designed for all learners, Mote and audio is an ideal fit that fulfills a number of accessibility design tenants while being seamlessly integrated into Google Workspace platforms educators are comfortable navigating.
How might we make the learning experience more accessible to all learners by leveraging technology to remove unnecessary barriers to student understanding, engagement, and demonstration? Mote and Universal Design For Learning.
Universal Design for Learning, a framework that is designed to improve teaching, learning, and assessment for all learners addresses three areas in which classroom content and experiences can be designed to create a more inclusive and accessible learning experience. Through the lenses of: engagement (why), representation (what), and expression (how), educators can examine the ways in which the structure of their classroom experience is designed for all learners. Audio in particular through the use of Mote is an ideal approach to redesign the classroom experience based on UDL principles. While traditionally there has been a significant barrier to the modification of materials, assessment and tasks with the use of audio, Mote removes the technical obstacles and allows educators to add a layer of audio across multiple digital environments. By blending the powerful framework of classroom design via UDL with the capacity of Mote, educators can begin the process of increasing accessibility for all learners.
Where Mote Supports UDL
UDL and Mote Audio – Detailed Connections
The team at Mote considers accessibility and universal access to educational experiences to be a critical role that audio can play in the classroom. Mote audio, when integrated through the targeted and precise framework of UDL, gives educators a specific vision for how audio can improve the student experience.
The UDL framework categorizes the classroom experience into three broad categories (engagement, representation, and action) that are then broken into three sub concepts. Within each of these UDL subcategories are specific considerations educators can take when making their classrooms accessible and designed for all learners. Mote is the ideal tool to help educators bridge the gap between the concepts presented in the UDL framework, and the practical applications of these ideas in the classroom.
6 Ways Mote Supports the UDL Framework
UDL Theme: Providing Multiple Means of Engagement – The Why of Learning
1. Vary demands and resources to optimize the challenge
How Mote Supports this UDL Concept: Educators can quickly vary the complexity of a challenge by adding supplementary audio into either Google Slides, Docs or Forms to support learners. Within a Google environment, the original version of an assignment or task can be quickly duplicated and audio can be added to support all learners.
Video Tutorial Support:
2. Develop Self Assessment and Reflection
How Mote Supports this UDL Concept: Mote allows educators to create an accessible digital environment where students can reflect on and monitor their own progress and learning. Additionally, educators can design the self assessment or reflection to support all learners by including audio prompts into the experience.
Vide Tutorial Support:
UDL Theme: Provide Multiple Means of Representations – The What of Learning
3. Clarify Vocabulary and Symbols
How Mote Supports this UDL Concept: Mote is an ideal tool to clarify key vocabulary and symbols as educators can use Mote in a Google document to embed a Mote audio card along with any work or concept. Further, Mote in slides allows educators to make any visual connect directly to playable audio. Also, the ability for Mote to translate teacher audio notes into text in a foreign language allows educators to talk through a concept and present the learner with both the audio support and the text support in multiple languages.
Video Tutorial Support:
Mote Minutes – Transcription & Translation
4. Offer Alternatives for Visual Information
How Mote Supports this UDL Concept: Whether the educators need to create complete translations, or simply add auditory cues into the student experience, both approaches are supported with Mote. In Google Slides or Docs, teacher audio can be added that students can actively click to receive alternate support. In an assessment environment, educators can add Mote audio into a Google Form to clarify, explain and provide an alternative to both text and images that appear in the form.
Video Tutorial Support:
UDL Theme: Provide Multiple Means of Expression – The How of Learning
5. Build Fluencies with Graduated Levels of Support
How Mote Supports this UDL Concept: Mote is an ideal fit for this UDL concept as educators can build audio scaffolds into digital experiences that can gradually be released or removed. Consider a passage or short text students will read that can be scaffolded, where needed, with short audio clips from the educator. As students progress through the year, these audio supports may be removed by the educator, or can become optional supports when needed by the student.
Video Tutorial Support:
6. Use multiple media for communication
How Mote Supports this UDL Concept: Educators often get stuck when designing tasks and assessments where the task is tied to only one means of expression. Students may be asked to demonstrate their understanding through text, yet their ability to write clearly is not being assessed, it is their ability to explain a concept. In this UDL concept, Mote is an ideal fit as students can express their understanding through audio in the same environment where an educator is also providing a space to express their understanding through text. In either a Google Document, Slides or Form, educators can allow students to reply to a question or prompt in text form, or students can record their voice response with Mote.
Video Tutorial Support:
Why Mote & UDL?
Increasing accessibility for all learners creates a classroom environment where the learner can achieve without unnecessary barriers to understanding and expression. With the inclusion of Mote and audio to digital classroom materials, educators can clear these barriers and create space for all students to flourish.
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[…] does Mote have to do with UDL? Universal Design for Learning (UDL) helps all students learn by giving multiple ways to access and engage with different […]