Leveraging Technology in Universal Design for Learning in the Music Classroom

The application of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles in music education curricula presents opportunities to maintain rigorous academic standards and accountability while concurrently dismantling systemic barriers to access inherent in course design. Technology, especially online tools, serves as a significant facilitator in the realization of UDL. For instructors interested in implementing online components in their classes, I provide concrete strategies and illustrative examples derived from my undergraduate courses in music history, music theory, musicianship, and keyboard skills. This is not intended to be a comprehensive guide for developing online courses, but rather a concise set of strategies and implementation ideas. Fellow instructors are invited to borrow from any sample syllabi language they find useful.

The evolution of my pedagogical approach was significantly influenced by the difficulties of teaching skill-based courses—including theory, musicianship, ear training, and piano—during the remote instruction period of the COVID-19 pandemic via synchronous platforms such as Zoom. This mode of instruction was not only challenging for me as the instructor but also contributed to student fatigue, with students reporting excessive daily engagement with synchronous online sessions for all or most of their classes. Consequently, I produced over four hundred prerecorded lecture videos and guided practice sessions within one academic year and restructured all my courses into either fully asynchronous or hybrid formats. This transitional process revealed that the strategies developed to reduce synchronous online time also effectively addressed accessibility concerns. These solutions benefit not solely students with documented disabilities but also those encountering other access impediments, such as caregiving responsibilities, inflexible employment schedules, housing instability, and challenges related to English-language acquisition.

Now that the world has resumed gathering together in person, I am delighted to be back in the classroom with my students. For naysayers of online education, let me be clear: I do not believe that online instruction should completely replace in-person teaching, but I do argue that offering classes in multiple modalities throughout the course of a year gives students the option to choose the modality that will facilitate their learning best and increases educational accessibility. For those classes that will have online components, we have the opportunity to thoughtfully and intentionally design them in a way that supports all learners, especially those who have faced barriers in the traditional classroom.

The following section outlines key strategies implemented in various course contexts—ranging from smaller hybrid piano classes to large-enrollment (up to 350 students) fully asynchronous online lecture courses—and provides sample language that can be included in syllabi or in learning-management systems (LMSs) such as Canvas. For hybrid courses that include both asynchronous and in-person components, the foundational approach involves adopting a flipped-classroom design, where new concepts are introduced asynchronously outside of synchronous class time. This model offers several advantages:

1. Students who cannot attend synchronous sessions due to illness, disability, or other factors do not miss the instruction of new material.
2. Synchronous class time is optimized for focused review, practice, and hands-on engagement with the instructor, enabling more targeted feedback and coaching.
3. Instructors can deliver foundational content (e.g., how to play the G-major scale on piano or how to resolve a V7 chord) once via a video recording, which can be reused each course offering and potentially in other classes, thereby increasing instructor capacity for more meaningful student interaction and feedback.

Before we proceed, it is critical to acknowledge that UDL functions as an aspirational ideal, an objective toward which educators strive. The complete elimination of all barriers within a single course design is unattainable in actual practice. Although our aim is to minimize obstacles to the greatest extent possible, instructors will invariably need to address and resolve emergent impediments to access.

Strategy No. 1: Asynchronous Video Content Delivery

The utilization of prerecorded lecture videos and guided practice sessions featuring embedded interactive questions allows students to meaningfully engage with the course material and learn at their own pace while at the same time holding students accountable for their work. The production of a higher quantity of concise videos (typically five to fifteen minutes) and related assignments offers myriad benefits to students. This structure is particularly advantageous for neurodiverse students and those with chronic health conditions, permitting them to interact with course content during periods of optimal focus and to take frequent breaks. Students who are caregivers or reside in shared accommodations can utilize headphones to facilitate engagement. While recording lecture videos, it is important to verbally describe the visual components of accompanying slide shows to maintain access for students with visual impairments. All students can pause videos for note taking, rewind segments to hear them again, or review entire videos as needed. The inclusion of closed captioning supports not only students with auditory disabilities, but also English-language learners by enabling them to follow the transcript while listening.

Additional benefits of lecture videos with embedded questions include enhanced individual engagement and accountability compared to traditional in-person lectures. Rather than disengaging during synchronous lectures or relying on peers to answer questions, each student is required to respond to every embedded question and receives immediate feedback. Students may earn credit by revisiting the video content and revising their responses based on feedback, which encourages them to learn from their mistakes.

In prerecorded guided practice sessions, students are introduced to a step-by-step strategy for acquiring a particular skill (e.g., how to play a scale on the keyboard with standardized fingering, how to sing a melody with solfège, or how to clap a rhythm) and directed to play, sing, or clap along with the instructor in each step. These guided practice sessions support learners of various styles by enabling individualized pacing and repetition of skills. For example, videos demonstrating keyboard skills where the students can clearly see the instructor’s hands at the keyboard are valuable for students with auditory impairments, visual learners, and those working toward staff notation literacy. These sessions are structured to present skills incrementally and to incorporate pauses, where students are directed to practice that particular skill segment at their own pace before proceeding. Incorporating pauses allows students to dedicate the necessary time to each skill before resuming the video and building upon it.

Effective implementation of this strategy necessitates explicit guidance for students on optimal engagement with asynchronous video content, especially in the initial stages. Where appropriate, presenting questions or learning objectives prior to the video can assist students with mentally organizing information, maintaining focus, and identifying key takeaways. Specific technical guidance regarding the use of video platforms (such as YuJa) and proper quiz submission procedures should be communicated to students. The following syllabus language helps students engage with lecture videos with embedded questions using YuJa, linked to Canvas, but can be adapted to other video software and LMSs.

Sample Syllabus Language: How to Engage with Lecture Videos

I have designed our lecture videos and guided practice sessions to mimic how we would interact in a synchronous class. I will ask you questions, direct you to sing, clap, count rhythms, and/or play along with me; break down skills into multiple steps; and give you pauses to practice each step at your own pace.

The following tips will help you get the most out of our lecture videos:

1. Treat each lecture video as you would an in-person lecture—take notes! 
2. When you answer an embedded question, click the “Am I Right?” button to receive feedback on your answer. YuJa enables us to work together asynchronously in amazing ways, but it does have its limitations. If you were to raise your hand and answer a question in a synchronous class, I would immediately give you feedback on your answer. In these asynchronous lecture videos, in order for you to receive feedback on each answer and to learn from your mistakes, you must click “Am I Right?” Otherwise, you will be notified of your overall score at the end of the video, but you will not know which questions you answered incorrectly or why. You are responsible for seeking feedback on your answers by clicking the “Am I Right?” button.
3. Be sure to click “Submit” at the end of the video quiz. If you navigate away from the video quiz without clicking “Submit,” your score will not be reported to Canvas and you will have to start over again.
4. After you submit a YuJa quiz, refresh the Canvas Grades tab and double check that it submitted to Canvas correctly. If there are any problems, report it to your instructor in a Canvas message, specifying the assignment exactly as it is titled in Canvas.
5. Plan more time to engage with each video than the listed length of the video. For example, a lecture video may only be five minutes long, but when you add the time it takes to answer questions and practice during the pauses, your time with the video could take a total of ten minutes (or longer). Please plan and use your time wisely!
6. If there is a YuJa quiz question at the end of the video, be sure to let it play to the end, even if it appears to have skipped the last question. The question icon located just above the playhead serves as a general guideline rather than an exact marker of the question’s position. This is because the icon has a fixed size and cannot extend beyond the bounds of the video player for questions that appear at the end of the video. As a result, even though it may appear that the playhead has moved past the question, the icon’s proximity to the end of the video simply means it’s close, not passed. If you continue to play the video, the last question should pop up. You can also click on the question after it has passed to return to it.¹ 
7. After you submit the YuJa quiz embedded in a lecture video, you can revisit that lecture with the link I have included just above the video. When engaging with the YuJa quiz, you can rewind the video, but you cannot fast-forward. After you have submitted the video quiz, you may use the link above the video to access the raw lecture video without the pauses and questions embedded and with the ability to fast-forward to the content you wish to revisit.
8. You can resubmit YuJa video quizzes but be aware that if you resubmit them after the deadline, Canvas with automatically take out the 5 percent per day late penalty (so you may end up with a worse score).

Strategy No. 2: Provision of Accessible Text Formats

The manner in which written materials are presented can significantly improve such materials’ accessibility. Providing guiding questions or reading guides before readings aids all students in organizing information and focusing on salient points. Utilizing accessible PDFs and placing written materials within the LMS enables computer read-aloud functionality and searchability. Be sure to embed links in text (e.g., “find help using your Canvas Inbox here”) rather than copying and pasting a link as text (e.g., “find help on using your Canvas Inbox here: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-Basics-Guide/How-do-I-use-the-Inbox/ta-p/616671”). The latter example would require students having their computer read the text aloud to hear every word, letter, or punctuation mark read aloud, which wastes their time and distracts from the content. Maintaining all course materials within the LMS also facilitates streamlined sharing with a university’s Disability Resource Center (DRC) for potential format remediation when necessary.

Strategy No. 3: Establishment of Clear Expectations and Professional Boundaries

For the first couple years of implementing asynchronous instruction, I often felt obligated to respond to student inquiries around the clock and burdened by managing overly flexible deadlines, particularly during the pandemic lockdown. This created an environment prone to burnout, characterized by a constant influx of extension requests, persistent late submissions, and instances of students cramming work at the end of the academic term, which both compromised learning quality and increased grading complexity for the instructional team (last-minute work of low quality is more time intensive to grade than higher-quality work). The following strategies provide students with flexibility and enhanced accessibility without compromising instructor wellbeing. Syllabi that delineate generous policies within clearly defined boundaries empower educators to support students effectively while safeguarding against overextension and mitigating the building of resentment born of working beyond personal and professional limits.

The asynchronous modality can create a perception of instructors being perpetually available to address student questions. It is thus crucial to establish transparent expectations regarding communication methods and response timelines, most especially in large lecture classes with hundreds of students. I set aside a block of hours each weekday when I respond to students’ messages. This practice helps me feel pulled in fewer directions at other times when focused on other tasks and able to mentally check out of work at the end of the day. Additionally, a well-structured syllabus with clear headings and bullet-point numbering allows instructors to efficiently direct students to answers that have already been provided.

Sample Syllabus Language: How to Communicate with Your Instructor/Teaching Team

1. Please communicate with our teaching team directly by sending a message through Canvas rather than emailing. (Find help using your Canvas Inbox here.) Using the Canvas Inbox reduces the chance of your message getting lost among other emails in our inboxes and shortens our response time.
2. Any communications with your Teaching Assistant (TA) should include your instructor. If you forget to include me, your TA will forward your message to me and/or include me in their reply. This policy enables us to be consistent and transparent across our teaching team.
3. My goal is to reply to Canvas messages within twenty-four hours, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Thursday is my long in-person teaching day when I am generally not available to respond to messages. Read: If you send me a message outside of business hours or right before an assignment is due, you will not get an immediate response. Please plan ahead.)
4. If you message me with a question that is answered in the syllabus, you will receive a short reply: “Syllabus, bullet point #.#.” (This reply is not me being rude—it is me efficiently fielding messages from 350 students.)

Establishing clear expectations for assignment submission methods and locations is essential. Late submissions may be permitted, but limitations can still be imposed. Assignment deadlines presented as mechanisms for pacing students throughout the term promote thoughtful engagement with material and skill development and eliminate the need to adjudicate students’ requests for extensions. Moreover, setting the LMS to deduct automatic daily late penalties discourages students from submitting their work past deadlines. Generous but firm submission policies provide built-in flexibility while establishing healthy and consistent boundaries. Students are encouraged to meet deadlines and utilize the grace period between an assignment’s due date and close date only when extenuating circumstances require.

Sample Syllabus Language: Assignment Submission

1. All assignments must be submitted in the submission field of the appropriate assignment in Canvas. Emailed submissions will NOT be accepted. Files submitted as a comment on an assignment rather than in the submission field will not be accepted.
2. The deadlines in this course function to pace you throughout the quarter, allowing you the time to take in the material, digest it, and build skills around it. Adhering to deadlines sets you up for success in the long term. You will not do yourself any favors by delaying work and cramming.
3. The assignment submission policies for this class are generous but firm. I understand personal circumstances occasionally affect students’ ability to turn in work on time, and the flexibility that I have built into the course is intended for such situations. I encourage you to aim to turn in work by the deadlines and only use the grace period between the assignment deadline and assignment close date when you really need it.
4. Late Assignments:
   1. Throughout the entire course, you may turn in work that requires manual grading up to ONE WEEK late with a late penalty of 5 percent per day. Those assignments (including journal entries and lab video submissions) will close one week after their due date and you will no longer be able to submit them.
   2. Auto-graded assignments (multiple choice, multiple answer, and true/false YuJa video quizzes and Canvas quizzes) can be turned in late at any point throughout the quarter with a late penalty of 5 percent per day.
   3. Unless you have Disability Resource Center (DRC) accommodations for extensions on assignments, please do not ask for additional extensions—they will not be granted. The policy above is the flexibility that is automatically offered to everyone.
   4. No late submissions will be accepted after the end of instruction. I cannot reopen closed assignments, extend assignment close dates, or grant grades of Incomplete. According to my own union’s labor contract, my work for the quarter must end at the end of the quarter. The same is true for my TAs according to their union contract, and they have further protections against working over an allotted number of hours per week. Reopening closed assignments would increase the work that we must do in a limited amount of time, and neither I nor my TAs can work over our contractual hours and dates. The due dates throughout the course function not only to pace you but also ensure that we on the teaching team can complete our work within our contractual limits.

Directly addressing students with DRC accommodations, my syllabi include a paragraph explaining that the course design is centered on UDL and a link to a page where students can find more information about how their specific accommodations are incorporated into the course. When I am notified of students’ affiliation with the DRC, I send them each a message directly and point them to a page with more information.

Sample Syllabus Language: DRC Accommodations

Students with DRC accommodations, please take the time NOW to double check that your DRC accommodation letter has been sent to me by the DRC. I cannot accept accommodation letters sent directly to me by students; they must be sent to me in the DRC system. If necessary, please reach out to the DRC to request that it be sent to me. (If you added or swapped into the course after the start of instruction, please be aware that your letter may not be automatically sent to me.)

I developed this course with the principles of Universal Design for Learning at the forefront, meaning that accessibility was a priority in the way I constructed the course from the very beginning. Please carefully read this page [link to LMS page] to see how your DRC accommodations are incorporated into the course and how to use them. If you have any questions, you are very welcome to send me a Canvas message or schedule time with me in office hours.

Sample LMS Page with More Information: UDL Course Design and Accommodations

I developed this course with the principles of Universal Design for Learning at the forefront, meaning that accessibility was a priority in the way I constructed the course from the very beginning. Please see the information below on how your accommodations are incorporated into our class. If you have any questions, you are very welcome to send me a message or speak with me in office hours.

Extensions on Assignment Due Dates

If you need extensions on assignments, please send me a Canvas message and remind me that you have DRC accommodations for extensions. Important: Manually graded assignments will still close on the assignment close date listed in Canvas, at which point you will no longer be able to submit them. All late assignments must be turned in by the end of instruction.

Exams: Alternative Format/Distraction Reduced Environment/Additional Time

All exams are in the form of Canvas quizzes, which students will complete asynchronously in a location of their choosing. You may use your reading/video notes and scratch paper. No quizzes or exams in this course are timed.

Lectures: Lecture Recording, Provision of Slide Shows

All lectures are prerecorded, closed captioned, and available for you to view as many times as you like. All PowerPoints are available in the lecture recordings.

Print Materials in Alternate Formats

All print materials are in the form of PDFs. I have coordinated with the Teaching and Learning Center and the Disability Resource Center to ensure all PDFs are accessible.

Advance Copies of Course Material

All course materials are available asynchronously in Canvas.

Attendance Requirement

All the course requirements are asynchronous. 

Short Breaks

All the course requirements are asynchronous. Modules are broken into short pages and assignments to facilitate breaks as often as you need them.

Written Instructions and Information

All directions and information are communicated in written form in the syllabus, announcements, and pages within the modules.

Spelling/Grammar Errors

Written submissions are minimal. We do not take off points for writing style or language skills. We just need to be able to understand what you are saying.

Sample Message Sent to Individual Students with Accommodations

Hello, [student].

I have read your DRC Accommodation letter, and I wanted to be sure that you have read how your accommodations are incorporated into our course here [link to LMS page: UDL Course Design and Accommodations].

If you have any questions, please feel free to reply here or talk to me during my office hours.

Strategy No. 4: Students’ Confirmation of Course Policy Understanding

To proactively address potential misunderstandings (or lack of reading the syllabus) and to reinforce key policies, students take an autograded “syllabus quiz” within the orientation module of the course. This quiz highlights common areas of confusion and requires students to demonstrate understanding of course policies. For each answer, students receive automatic feedback, which is taken directly from the syllabus. Requiring students’ active engagement with the syllabus reduces student confusion and the number of messages the instructor will have to answer throughout the term. Having the students retake the syllabus quiz halfway through the quarter refreshes their understanding of course procedures and confirms their adherence to policies.

Conclusion

These technological applications and strategic approaches collectively contribute to the creation of a learning environment where accommodations are substantially integrated into the course design rather than applied as retroactive modifications. The four key strategies—Asynchronous Video Content Delivery, Provision of Accessible Text Formats, Establishment of Clear Expectations and Professional Boundaries, and Students’ Confirmation of Course Policy Understanding—support all students, the instructor, and the teaching team. This pedagogical approach benefits students with disabilities and enhances inclusion for students facing other access barriers while simultaneously enabling instructors to operate within sustainable professional boundaries.

1. Thanks to Dana Conard for this explanation.↗