The recognition network is the part of the brain that helps someone to identify information like the shape of a triangle, the sound of a cow, or the smell of coffee. The strategic network is the part of the brain that allows learners to figure out how to plan and execute a task. If I'm trying to bake a cake, set up my classroom, or share the concepts of UDL with a friend, this network will help me to figure out the best way to do this. Finally, there is the affective network which is the part of the brain which regulate our motivations and emotions. If you've ever encountered a learner who seemed less than participatory in an aspect of your lesson or just didn't seem motivated to finish "the work", it might have been because of a lack of engagement. It doesn't mean this student wasn't capable of recognizing or executing the task, perhaps they just weren't motivated to do so.
Do you see the connections between the third column, social emotional learning and the affective network? The importance of this aspect of learning can't be emphasized enough. We know that student engagement and motivation are key to learning.
I think the basic concept that people grasp first about UDL is that it is about "choices". It's important to understand that the reason that we offer choices as a component in some UDL lessons is because learners need to be involved in making decisions for themselves and learning about what works best for them. Traditionally, the teacher has made most of the decisions for learning tasks and learners were asked to perform the task in the same way. By providing choices, we are able to allow more possibilities for student engagement.
This is just the first instructional video of the Respecting Diversity program.