Reaching Every Student in the Digital Age:
A Showcase of Universal Design for Learning
Oct 24, 2008
Harvard educator Dr. David Rose delivered an inspiring keynote address for a Showcase of Universal Design for Learning on the provincial non-instructional day, October 24.
View the recorded presentation
The conference, presented by the Learning Assistance Teachers Association (LATA), Burnaby School District, and SET-BC, took place at Marlborough School in Burnaby. With the help of the Ministry of Education, the keynote address was also broadcast to seven remote sites in Kelowna, Prince George, Williams Lake, Prince Rupert, Fort Nelson, Cranbrook, and Campbell River. The afternoon conference sessions featured presentations by teachers using UDL in their classrooms, a SMARTBoard demonstration, and an overview of the new features in Kurzweil 11. Publishers and vendors were also on hand to showcase educational materials which address the needs of diverse learners.
Dr. Rose’s address will be archived and made available on both the BC UDL website and LATA’s website in a few weeks. In the meantime, here’s what you’ll learn by viewing the presentation:
- What is meant by each of the words “universal”, “design”, and “learning”
- How Dr. Rose uses the incredible diversity of student note-taking styles in his own classes to enhance understanding for everyone
- What teachers can learn about universal design and feedback from Hertz’s Neverlost GPS system
- How brain research informs us about learning and teaching
- Why it is often the curriculum that is disabled and not the student
Now, imagine that you’re a B.C. teacher presenting an afternoon session at the conference and your former instructor, who just happens to be David Rose, attends your session. That’s definitely performance-based assessment! And suppose that you had only begun learning about UDL this time last year and a year later you found yourself presenting about UDL at a conference with David Rose in the audience. Great job under pressure, Coquitlam team!