Universal Design in Education: Teaching Nontraditional Students

Teachers at all levels, from K-12 through college and university settings to adult and continuing education, now deal with a remarkably diverse student body. Universal design, an approach previously adopted in architecture and engineering, offers cost-effective ways to respond to the special needs of these diverse students. In universal design, teachers provide appropriate media (e.g., disks, materials posted on Web pages) that are readable by people with learning disabilities or blindness and are also accessible to distance-learning students.

By offering participatory exercises and collaborative learning opportunities, teachers respond to the preferences of many students of Hispanic origin as well as many who have different learning styles. Teachers can also adjust the layout of a classroom, the ways in which students communicate with each other and with the instructor, and the language(s) in which information is presented. Bowe explains these techniques and supplies resources with additional information. This book is an invaluable resource for teachers, student teachers, and support personnel who help teachers meet special needs at all levels.