MITS Speaker Very Inspirational

As I have been putting this blog together, I am compelled to write about my experience at the Michigan Integrated Technology Supports (MITS) Conference that was held the end of June 2007 in Traverse City. The first day was devoted to the speaker, Dr. Denise DeCoste, who was very eloquent in her delivery of the topic of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL). She spoke to us about how the UDL is our responsibility as educators to incorporate flexible curriculum into our daily teaching methods for the sake of all learners. UDL is the practice of embedding flexible strategies into the curriculum during the planning process so that ALL students can access a variety of learning solutions. She has discovered what this looks like in the educational setting for all persons involved in the educational process, which include general educators, special educators, and therapists of all kinds that need practical applications of how to engineer the curriculum to meet the needs of diverse learners. It is proven that "in-the-moment" accommodations and instructional retrofitting are inefficient; therefore, it is imperative to build more flexible materials from the onset of curriculum planning to benefit all learners. UDL harnesses the power and flexibility of modern technology and technology provides the flexibility needed to adjust to learner differences. Although this concept of UDL is still in its infancy, it is imperative that we, as educators, bring it to the forefront for our students' future in our highly technological society.