2021-2022
Universal Design for Learning and Serving ALL Students
Since 2005, when Universal Design (UD) principles were defined in the Disability Act, and particularly in response to the increasing diversity of college and university students, UD has been applied beyond disability contexts to education in a variety of ways, beginning with course design and access to course materials and expanding to an overarching teaching philosophy called Universal Design for Learning (UDL). UDL enhances the experience of all students and provides adaptability in modes of use as well as consideration for individual circumstances and needs. In this time of COVID, UDL principles are particularly invaluable in the higher education classroom.
Universal Design for Learning in the Asynchronous Online Classroom
A Two Day Workshop on Universal Design for Learning in the context of Asynchronous Learning.
The first session would model and discuss essential concepts within the Universal Design for Learning framework including but not limited to: instructor and student relationship building, Identifying the unique needs of different segments of online learners, producing student-centered assignments, special attention to software tools that are accessible to all students, and the explicit use of multiple modes of communication in student-centered assignments. The first session would model and discuss the essential elements in asynchronous online course design including but not limited to: diagnostic tools for learning students' foundational knowledge, achieving strong instructor presence, choosing software tools that allow student collaboration in pair, group and whole classwork, and assessment techniques specifically for asynchronous environments.
The first comprehensive hands-on activity would be for small groups of instructors and instructional designers to create a sample collaborative UDL-based asynchronous assignment that achieves the learning objectives of one of their courses.
The second session would model and discuss effective formative and summative assessment practices for UDL-based asynchronous collaborative activities. We would discuss 1) how to create model collaborative activities for students, 2) how to produce rubrics to assess those collaborative activities and 3) how to give effective feedback specifically for UDL-based collaborative asynchronous activities.
The second comprehensive hands-on activity would be for small groups of instructional designers and instructional designers to produce a rubric that fits with the collaborative assignment that they created in the first session and model some effective student feedback that could help students to improve their competencies in a specific academic area of focus.
Design for Your Most Vulnerable Student
When we design digital content and online/hybrid learning experiences for our most vulnerable student, we create better experiences for all students. Explore practical, equity-minded learning design strategies (with lots of follow-up resources!) you can implement now. Topics covered include First Impressions; Teacher Presence; Transparency; Universal Design for Learning and Accessibility; and Leading with Empathy. All are welcome; designed for faculty and staff seeking to infuse equity into all - and especially online/hybrid - learning experiences.
Hyflex Pedagogy & Educational Access
Hyflex courses offer technological solutions to improving educational access. In targeting this outcomes it is also important to consider pedagogical design. Much more than simply making a course available remotely, the hyflex model challenges us to rethink our pedagogies in ways that center on access—to examine anew in the digital age what it means to design courses that all students can more easily enroll in, persist through, and successfully complete. This webinar addresses some of the pedagogical considerations important to maximizing access in hyflex courses using as an example the presenter’s hyflex U.S. history survey.