What is the UDL course and badge?
The digital badge is a free 10-week introductory course on Universal Design for Learning organised by AHEAD and UCD Access & Lifelong Learning and facilitated by UL staff.
As our classrooms and lecture theatres become increasingly diverse, our practices must also adapt to reflect the changing landscape of higher education. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an educational framework based on research in the learning sciences, including cognitive neuroscience, which guides the development of flexible learning environments that can accommodate individual learning differences and cater for the wide range of diversity in our lecture rooms. This CPD course will give you an introduction to the concept of Universal Design for Learning and invite you to review and update your own Teaching and Learning practice.
You’ll learn to:
· Reflect on the diversity of your students.
· Gain a good understanding of the Universal Design for Learning framework and how it can support diverse learners.
· Redesign some elements of your teaching and learning practice based on your knowledge of UDL principles.
· Consider how you will change your practice more broadly in line with a UDL approach.
How is the course structured? For the digital badge for Universal Design in Teaching & Learning course, there are three key elements you'll have to undertake to achieve the badge. Depending on the mode of delivery and the preference of your facilitator, you may undertake these elements concurrently or consecutively.
1. 5 short online modules building UDL knowledge and encouraging self reflection
· Introducing Universal Design for Learning
· Examining Multiple Means of Engagement - the 'why' of learning
· Examining Multiple Means of Representation - the 'what' of learning
· Examining Multiple Means of Action and Expression - the 'how' of learning
· Reflecting On Your Practice
2. Group interactions with your peers (either through a workshop format or via ongoing groups of three known as Peer Triads - Depends on mode of delivery)
· Exploring the diversity on your campus
· Looking at how UDL can help to reduce barriers to learning
· Discussion and brainstorming on how you can change your practice with UDL
3. UDL Redesign Activity
· Select a teaching activity you will deliver during the course (module/lecture/workshop/training event/assignment)
· Redesign at least one aspect of the module using UDL principles (e.g. assessment, teaching materials, classroom resources, student activities etc.)
· Implement and deliver the redesigned activity
· Produce a short report (written or video) on the process on the redesign and implementation - both your experiences and your students
Who can take this course?
February – April 2024 UL will rollout the badge locally for UL staff only. If you are interested in completing the badge and you do not currently work at UL, please refer to the AHEAD website for details of upcoming national rollouts.
Participants should have some teaching activity or activity to support learning planned in the coming academic year to provide the basis for the UDL Redesign Activity which is a key aspect of the course.
Approximately 25 hours over 10 weeks, roughly 2.5 hours per week. There is an optional 5-hour add-on for participants interested in acting as a facilitator of the course for colleagues in the future. Webinars are recorded and meetings are scheduled around your timetable to offer you flexibility to engage with the course.
How can I sign up to participate?
The badge will be rolled out twice in 2023/2024. The first iteration began on October 2nd 2023, the second iteration begins in February 2024. Register your interest in participating in the February course and badge.
I’d like to learn more about the badge before committing to participate…
Information sessions on the badge are scheduled for November 2023. Please keep an eye on UL Connect for further details. In the meantime, if you have a query about the course and digital badge, please contact Suzanne Stone at Suzanne.stone@ul.ie if you would like to discuss the course in more detail.
"Undertaking the Digital Badge in UDL course was highly useful to understand the education process in more detail, to understand education more from a student perspective, and to improve the content that I create."
"I soon realised that the course did not only apply to teaching staff but also to anyone interacting with an audience. It deals with motivation, engagement and communication styles which can be applied to many different contexts."
"Universal Design for Learning was something I had a vague sense of prior to undertaking the badge, but as I went through the course, what struck me time and again were memories of the students I had come across who did not ‘fit’ with either
1) how I was taught and learn myself or
2) how most teaching was delivered in my programme.Their experiences were re-imagined for me through the UDL badge, helping me to realise the many ways in which considering lots of different approaches to learning could be factored into my teaching upfront, rather than making ‘accommodations’ when various specific situations for different students were communicated to me during semesters.
The UDL badge has led to me feeling a lot more confident about taking different approaches to how material is conveyed, engaged with and how learning is assessed, in particular, without loosing academic rigour or accountability."
This course broadened my horizons by challenging my teaching practice and encouraged more experimentation. It inspired me with the confidence and ability to develop additional creative techniques for engaging students deeper. One such example involves using coloured Lego bricks to explain a “Literature Review” in 3D form, making an abstract concept become more concrete for learners.
Another enjoyable aspect was the small group collaboration with UL colleagues from other faculties and divisions. This encouraged more divergent thinking, and opportunities to discuss and reflect on course content. We were also required to peer review each other’s module redesign assignment and assess it through a UDL lens.
I became more culturally aware about the diversity of student groups and the importance of using images, which universally appeal to everyone. I also learned to ensure that all online documents are produced in word rather than pdf format. This small adjustment facilitates students' ease in adapting content for their own individual study needs, by making it more accessible if using screen reader technology.