Abstract

The story of Kolt, a discouraged reader, illustrates how the lifeworlds of students outside of school reflect their multiliteracy agency and strength. Kolt’s digital literacy and multiliteracies practices also provide a context for expanding and examining definitions of texts in digital formats and ways of being literate. His story demonstrates the need for assets-based, equitable, and inclusive practices heralded by the New London Group and more recently operationalized by Universal Design for Learning (UDL). In the twenty-first century, digital tools and multiforms provide opportunities for Universal Access for Learning (UAL) in which Kolt’s multiliteracies and strengths are acknowledged and promoted and from which all students benefit.