Post by: Jess Beeley, UDL Learning Technologist
Reading time: 7 minutes
Featured Image Source: Photo adapted by post author from Canva
In this post:
Introduction
As we move into a new academic year, now is your chance to make your teaching more accessible and inclusive using the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
UDL is a framework we can use to intentionally design inclusive practices to break down barriers for our students and provide them with more flexibility and meaningful learning experiences. Doing this can make our modules more accessible and engaging for all our students.
Visit our Getting started with Universal Design for Learning guide to find out how you can start to incrementally implement UDL using the UDL "Plus One” approach (Behling and Tobin, 2018). Learn more about Universal Design for Learning at our UDL at UL website.
Why not make a New Academic Year Resolution to add new inclusive practice(s) to your teaching? In this blog post I’ve put together a few suggestions you can try this semester.
UDL ideas to try out this semester
Make sure your learning materials are accessible for everyone
-
Use accessibility checkers, which are built into many of the products we use, such as PowerPoint and Word. These checkers are easy to use and will show you the most common issues which can be easily rectified to help all our students. Read how the use of Accessibility Checkers helped a lecturer in UL.
-
If you regularly provide videos and podcasts for students, make sure you provide captions for videos, and transcripts of videos or podcasts. Many students need an alternative to auditory information, and rely on captions and transcripts, including learners with low hearing or auditory processing disorders, international students, and students who are in a busy space and cannot listen to video content. Tools like Panopto and Stream will create captions for you which you can edit to make sure they are correct.
-
Always offer alternatives for visual information by providing descriptions (text or spoken) for all images, graphics, video, or animations. This will help students with low vision who cannot see the image. In a lecture you can describe an image or graph, and you should always provide alternative text to describe an image when using images in documents or social media, to make sure the image is accessible for everyone.
Resource: Find out more about creating accessible materials on the LTF website.
Provide some choice in assessment
- Provide assessments where the knowledge, skills, or abilities students are asked to display are relevant to the learning outcomes. For example, does a student need to write an essay to demonstrate their knowledge? Could they create a video or record a presentation instead? Try adding one more choice to your assessments this semester.
- Use a broad range of assessment types such as reflective journals, e-portfolios, short untimed quizzes, to help your students to demonstrate their knowledge.
- Break larger assessments up into smaller chunks across the semester and give constructive, formative feedback to help students improve on their work.
- Allow students to learn from their mistakes (eg. give students 2-3 attempts on a quiz and keep their best score, or allow students to revise and resubmit a specific assignment).
Resource: Learn more about how to make your assessments more inclusive.
Involve and listen to your students
- Ask students to collaborate with you and each other on class etiquette rules, a module glossary or grading rubrics.
- Make it easier for students to communicate any issues they have with the content or materials by offering a short anonymous online survey each week, and make sure to address their concerns.
- Change your "office hours" to "drop-in hours" and explicitly tell students what these hours are for, and how they can help them. Make sure you offer alternatives for students who are unable to attend on campus.
- Add a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document to your module site on the Virtual Learning Environment collating all the common queries students have asked.
Resource: Find out more UDL ideas on our UDL at UL website.
Sign up for the UDL Digital Badge this Autumn!
Finally, I recommend you sign up for the free UDL Digital Badge course this Autumn, run by AHEAD and UCD, and facilitated by UL staff. Join the growing UDL community at UL and 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
The course runs from October-December 2022 and you will spend approximately 25 hours learning about UDL and redesigning an aspect of your own module. This course can be done in your own time, and all live webinars are recorded for your convenience.
Find out more at our UDL digital badge website.
Summary
The UL campus community is becoming increasingly diverse, and the need for more inclusive practices is clear. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework we can use to intentionally design inclusive practices to break down barriers for our students and provide them with more successful and meaningful learning experiences. By adding in more inclusive practices for your students you will find yourself making fewer individual accommodations throughout the semester.
References and Resources
Behling, K.T. and Tobin, T.J., 2018. Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education. West Virginia University Press.
CAST (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.2 [graphic organizer]. Wakefield, MA: Author. Online: udlguidelines.cast.org
About the Author
Jess Beeley has worked at the University of Limerick since 2003 and joined the Educational Assistive Technology Centre in 2021 as a Learning Technologist in Universal Design for Learning (UDL), where she is currently working on a project in the development of an inclusive Universal Design for Learning (UDL) module and CPD in UL. She graduated from UL with a Master’s in Technical Communication and E-Learning and is one of the founding members of the University of Limerick UDL Community of Practice.