In The DMs: Navigating Educational Shifts with Decision Making, Digital Media and Decreasing Mismatch

• In Event: Disabled Youth’s Cultural Ways of Being, Knowing, and Doing in Education: Implications and Strategies

Abstract

Objectives/Purposes
In the past decade digital media usage has exploded. The purpose of this paper is to discuss digital media through the context of a universally designed learning environment and ways it can be utilized to promote and honor the multiple identities and repertoires of youth with disabilities. If the goal of education is learning, then it is imperative to ensure that all tools are geared toward removing barriers to learning. When there is a mismatch between the learner and the environment, learning is improbable and, in some cases, impossible. Digital media tools, even with the criticism of the newly emerging tools like Artificial Intelligence (AI), give access and affirmation to learners while providing opportunities for codesigning a match for learning. The future implications of digital media on educational strategies for disabled youth are multifaceted and depend on how designers of the learning experience view the barriers and eliminate them.

Perspective(s)/Framework
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that was inspired by Universal Design (UD) in architecture (Meyer, Rose, Gordon, 2014). It was created to improve and optimize teaching and learning while focusing on access, equity, and brain research. The framework can be used to create flexible learning goals, assessments, materials, and methods in a curriculum so more individuals can access, engage, and participate in the learning. UDL supports the creation of curricula that not only promote but honor the multiplicities of identities and repertoires that learners with disabilities bring to the educational context and beyond. This paper explores the implications of digital media as a tool to eliminate barriers to learning through the UDL lens.

Methods
The research paper utilizes content analysis (Stemler, 2015) by examining texts, media and other content to identify patterns and themes around digital media and UDL. Content analysis is used to not only understand students’ sense of motivation and agency (Young & Clerke, 2024), but also the potential mismatches between the individual and the culture, environment, and emotions.

Data sources
As experienced educators and activists, the presenters offer implementation road maps for the research reflected in the UDL Guidelines. The research utilizes observations, published research, review articles and digital online sources. The presenters draw from their experiences in supporting districts, institutions of higher learning and practitioners bridge the gap between theory and practice.

Findings
As digital media continues to evolve so must the definition and understanding of the potential mismatches between the individual and the culture, environment, and emotions. Designing an environment that matches with the needs of the learner requires that designers of learning experiences be continuously analyzing the learning environment and universally designing for success of students with disabilities.

Significance
Digital media in a universally designed environment gives way to an element of co-design that honors the learner to be an expert on what they need, want, and know. Digital media is a tool to help navigate the cultural, environmental and emotional mismatches that pose roadblocks to learning.

Authors

• Andratesha Fritzgerald, Building Blocks of Brilliance

• Allison Posey, CAST