ICE UDL Playground

A free online spell checker that will spell check your text or website. Fast and accurate results are then emailed to you. This site can spell check in 27 languages. No software required. Why UDL? Spell checkers are a great example of a tool to support composition.

Online calculators that can handle a range of mathematic and financial equations. Very easy to use and navigate. Why UDL? Calculators are one way of providing options in the tools available to students for problem solving.

Glogster allows you to create "interactive posters" to communicate ideas. Students can embedded media links, sound, and video, and then share their posters with friends. Why UDL? Glogster is a unique tool that allows students to communicate their learning as well as their creativity!

Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Why UDL? Wikipedia offers its content in 41 different languages to reach a broad audience. Use the site for a multilingual audience or compare entries in different languages to develop vocabulary and syntax in a foreign language.

Strategy Tutor is a web-based tool designed to support students and teachers doing reading and research on the internet. Why UDL? There are an array of scaffolds built into Strategy Tutor that support strategy development: support for evaluating information on the internet, support for evaluating search results, and more!

Use this site to create, share, publish, and read digital books that engage and support diverse learners according to their individual needs, interests, and skills. Why UDL? Book Builder books can include text, images, and audio, providing options for authors and multiple points of access for readers.

Math Open Reference represents geometry concepts visually as a way to complement text definitions and descriptions. Why UDL? Math Open Reference is organized into pages that highlight the critical features of geometry concepts. Topics are separated to clarify distinct features. Critical terms are linked directly to a glossary so as not to hinder the viewer based on lack of vocabulary knowledge.

Starfall is a free learn-to-read website. It contains various interactive activities and games related to the essential components of early reading. Primarily designed for first grade, Starfall is also useful for pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and second grade. Why UDL? Designed for early readers, Starfall features activities and games that build decoding skills such as the pairing of sounds with letters and letter combinations.

Students can choose from a variety of "text types" such as persuasive, narrative, information report, response, or poetry. They are then provided with prompts and a text organizer to support them in their writing. Why UDL? Writing Fun is an excellent example of providing options that clarify syntax and structure. The prompts and text organizers highlight the different structures of different forms of writing.

The AutoSummarize feature in MS Word allows you to summarize a document and add visual structure. Why UDL? The AutoSummarize tool highlights the structural features of a document and is a great way to clarify structure to students.

Shahi is a visual dictionary that combines Wiktionary content that includes a definition and examples of word use in a sentence as well as images from flickr, google, and yahoo that correlate with the specified word. Why UDL? Shahi offers image cues as well as a text based definition to increase depth of vocabulary knowledge.

This interactive, educational website about our universe and planetary systems was created by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and is supported by NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF) among others. Why UDL? The glossary in "Windows to the Universe" is an excellent example of providing options that define vocabulary. Embedded links to the glossary give students immediate access to definitions of unfamiliar terms.

Visuwords is an online graphic dictionary and thesaurus that helps develop word knowledge. Word relationships are illustrated by the color and pattern of the link between words. Why UDL? Flexibility of color and contrast is a great example of customizing the display of information so that it is accessible to a broader range of users.

Scratch is designed to help young people (ages 8 and up) develop 21st century learning skills. As they create and share Scratch projects, young people learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively. Why UDL? Scratch provides students with an array of ways to demonstrate learning - through creating interactive stories, animations, games, art.

Advanced high school students serve as mentors, teaching younger students the fundamentals of game design as part of McKinley School's STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math program). Why UDL? Encouraging students to act as mentors to their peers has multiple advantages. Mentors gain confidence and reinforce their skills by teaching others, and peers benefit from individualized coaching.