**9. Learning for all: the example of the UDL (Universal Design for Learning)**

The purpose of education is not just to master content or technology. This is why the UDL [49] is needed.

The expression Universal Design for Learning (UDL) indicates a method of planning and managing educational practice aimed at meeting the different learning methods and the different conditions that may arise in different contexts [50]. The term Universal Design for Learning was coined by the architect Ronald Mace to define an innovative design method intended to create inclusive contexts for the various human activities (from the home, to objects of use, to study contexts, leisure, urban planning and urban furniture and the structuring of places of culture, etc.).

The criteria of Universal Design Learning foresee seven general principles:


The most important principles of the UDL are summarized as follows:


restructure the field of knowledge. The key word of the UDL is flexibility, a word dear to school autonomy, understood as a tool for adapting, supporting, and modifying the information presented to students, in order to guarantee everyone the same opportunities for educational success.

The principles of the UDL are therefore all comparable to an inclusive itinerary and it would be a good activity to experiment the principles of the UDL within curricular planning [51].

Every student in fact learns differently based on multiple factors. The purpose of the UDL is to improve the learning experience of students, introducing more flexible teaching methods and having students learn in ways they are most comfortable with. This is important because the learning process happens differently from one person to another. In fact, each student has specific ways of being involved, specific methods of acquiring information, different methods of expression.

The UDL allows to reduce learning barriers, present information in ways that suit the students, increase involvement of all students, and make students more aware and confident.

Various studies highlight the close connection between motivation and learning. Motivated students should know what they are learning and recognize its importance. However, one method of engagement is not suitable for everyone. Therefore, students should be given the opportunity to make choices, create a climate of acceptance and support among students, allow for active participation and experimentation, and give continuous feedback.

To personalize it would be necessary to offer alternatives of audio materials, of visual materials, to divide the information into smaller ones, and to provide supports for memorization [52].

The UDL allows the implementation of the principle of personalization in curriculum planning and tends to respect the different individualities and to eliminate the labeling of students (H, DSA, ADHD, BES, etc.), still strongly rooted in the current school and university language which, in fact, mortifies the very concept of inclusion and of every person's educational right.

According to this approach, which envisages an inclusive structuring of the educational contents from the outset, the need to resort to subsequent compensatory measures is greatly reduced – almost to the point of eliminating it.

In distance teaching in web-based learning mode, it is very important that the different individual modulations of intelligence and cognitive styles are respected and that the structuring of online materials is respectful of these needs.

It would also be good to provide different ways of verifying (written test, oral presentation, group work, etc.), so that students can express what they have learned in the most congenial ways.

UDL does not conflict with other methods and practices, since it incorporates and supports many modern teaching approaches, such as cooperative learning, projectbased learning, multi-sensory learning, performance-based assessment, theory-based teaching of multiple intelligences, etc.

Surely teachers could use the principles in various contents of their program: doing it with the UDL would often mean using universal languages and as widely understood as possible (e.g. case studies, music, role playing). It is also desirable, when using the UDL, to use a variety of materials (online resources, videos, podcasts, PowerPoint, e-books) and provide cognitive supports (e.g. final synthesis of the lesson, tutoring via scaffolding, etc.).

### **10. Case analysis**

The following case relates to a second-year class of an agricultural technical institute for the teaching of Italian Literature, History, and Geography. It was a class of thirty pupils, nine of whom had a DSA certificate. They were almost all male tending toward distraction.

For the first time of the year, the teacher tried to teach them in the traditional way. However, they continued to be distracted and their assessments were not satisfactory. This despite the fact that the teacher customized the written texts for them. In fact, they had no confidence in their own possibilities and, if on the one hand they required more and more attention and increasingly simplified tasks, on the other they placed a barrier to any type of interaction.

At one point the teacher decided to contact the referent for inclusion of the school. She suggested to use cooperative learning to make collaboration between students more active. So the teacher divided the main topic she intended to cover at the time into six different subtopics, then she also divided the whole class into six subgroups of five people, and she assigned each group a different topic to develop and to present to the rest of the class with a PowerPoint presentation.

The teacher assigned to each group very detailed information, very specific tasks to carry out, and notes to take. Thus, one student had to deal with the biography of the author, two with presenting the work and analyzing it, according to the guidelines provided by the teacher, another had to deal with the graphic aspect of the presentation, and another, weaker, had to supervise the entire process and make sure that the tasks were carried out within the foreseen limits.

The rest of the class, during the presentation, had to take notes by filling in a question form that the teacher set up. Students engaged in the presentation, on the other hand, had to write questions based on their presentation, which were then submitted to the rest of the class as a verification of the acquisition of the contents. At the end of the entire learning process the teacher submitted the students to a written test. The test consisted of various types of questions: semi-structured open questions, multiple-choice questions, etc.

This type of lesson was very successful because all students felt to be part of the educational process for the first time, and even those who were in the most difficulty gained confidence and self-esteem, because they no longer felt left out, but for the first time they felt put on the same level as the others and they felt they were an integral part of a team. The students were so satisfied that asked to approach all the other topics in the same way.
