Contributions of the Universal Design for Learning to Distance Education

Abstract

Sensitive and welcoming human variation practices are necessary in education. This study was designed to identify if students in the course recognize the contribution of the resources made available and organized through the Universal Design for Learning framework in their agency participation, permanence and engagement processes in a distance education course. The theoretical-methodological perspective was based on the Disability Studies and the data was collected from three techniques: Personal Diaries, Behavioral Mapping and Environmental Traces, with subsequent content analysis. The results showed that when a course plan is based on the DUA framework, many of the needs of students with disabilities are covered and the remaining barriers are common to most of the learners.