[Editor’s note: This article is reprinted with permission of the author and the publisher. “Universal Design for Learning: Three Aces Up Our IT Sleeves” was originally published in EDUCAUSE Review on February 4, 2019.]
A very short digression about cards
To become top-ranked poker players, aspiring superstars need to develop a core group of card-playing skills that go way beyond “know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em.” Experts learn the various combinations of cards that rank higher or lower, as well as how rarely such combinations occur in the game. They understand how various factors influence their confidence in the cards they have been dealt—the number of players at the table, the number of cards that have already been played, how other players are betting, checking, raising, and calling. They can bluff and indicate that they have great cards when really they don’t. All of these ideas and tactics are part of playing the game at an expert level.
Another strategy that you’ve probably seen in movies about the Old West is to hide aces—the best cards—up your sleeve and hope that no one else sees you employ them to put together winning hands. Of course, that’s cheating, and it could get you beat up (or worse).…Read More