Graphic of a laptop on a desk showing the UDL principles, with the text UDL Theory Into Practice

Post by: Jess Beeley, UDL Learning Technologist
Reading time: 6 minutes
Featured Image Source: Photo adapted by post author from Canva

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Introduction

The UL campus community is becoming increasingly diverse with many of our learners finding a variety of barriers to learning, many of which were especially exposed during the pandemic pivot to online learning (Shankar et al 2021).

The benefits for a diverse range of learners in providing more choice and flexible options have been widely evidenced by the incorporation of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) practices (Fovet 2020; Boothe et al., 2018; Kieran & Anderson, 2019). 

The UDL at UL Community of Practice (CoP) was established in 2021 to enable the University of Limerick community to come together to share UDL practices and strategies on how to turn UDL theory into practice.

In a series of blog posts, UDL Learning Technologist Jess Beeley will explore each UDL principle in detail, and share some of the practical strategies suggested by our Community of Practice members.

Our diverse learners and their barriers to learning

Universal Design for Learning is generally known as a way to provide accessible learning materials for learners with disabilities, but UDL is also a way to design the learning experience to make it more inclusive and equitable, and ultimately help everyone to become expert learners.

Our learners face a number of different barriers to learning including (and not limited to) disabilities, language and cultural differences, social and economic barriers, caring responsibilities, and mental health and emotional barriers.

This year, for example, the accommodation crisis has seen many of our learners struggle to find housing: having to travel long distances to get to class, staying on friends’ sofas, and not having suitable space to study. 

The Irish Universities Association (IUA) held focus groups in June 2021 with staff and learners to capture the “lived experience” of the pandemic. One of the outcomes from this was that learners appreciated the greater flexibility and improved accessibility of recorded lectures, in particular the ability to revisit recordings. (Flynn and MacNeill 2021). 

In the Your Education, Your Voice, Your Vision campaign by the IUA Enhancing Digital Teaching and Learning in Irish Universities project, 44% of learners surveyed said that, in an ideal world, their lectures would be online, live or recorded (EDTL 2021). The need for important in-person interactions and socialisation is still clear, with 61% of learners surveyed saying they would like their lectures online and their tutorials on campus.

In this same survey, 81% of learners said they would prefer continuous or open-book assessments, with 19% saying they would prefer mostly end-of-term exams.

It is clear that our learners want greater flexibility in how they learn, and Universal Design for Learning practices can offer the flexibility that our learners need to succeed. We have the technology now to have a more blended approach to teaching, by moving some of the less interactive teaching online and providing more engaging sessions in person, and we also have experience with creating more flexible assessment options.

What is Universal Design for Learning and how can it help to reduce barriers to learning?

How can UDL help reduce barriers to learning?

By providing access to a variety of accessible materials online for learners to access at a time that suits them, by providing flexible assessment options to allow them to demonstrate what they have learned, and by assisting them with the motivation and skills they need to engage with, and comprehend, content.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework created by the US organisation CAST, with three principles based on scientific insights into how humans learn:

  • Multiple Means of Engagement
  • Multiple Means of Representation
  • Multiple Means of Action and Expression  

Each UDL principle has a set of detailed guidelines which provide an evidence-based approach to help educators improve how we engage and motivate learners, present information, and create inclusive assessments. 

The UDL Guidelines graphic organiser by CAST, an accessible version is available at available at udlguidelines.cast.org/
The UDL Guidelines graphic organiser by CAST, an accessible version is available at available at udlguidelines.cast.org/

About the UDL at UL Community of Practice

The UDL at UL Community of Practice was established in 2021 by a group of UL staff who facilitated the Digital Badge in Universal Design for Learning, developed by AHEAD and UCD. A number of UL staff had successfully completed the UDL digital badge course in prior years, and 2021 was the first year UL facilitators came together to coordinate the UL staff undertaking the badge. 

These UL facilitators quickly recognised the amount of people interested in UDL, and many excellent UDL initiatives taking place in UL and formed the UDL at UL Community of Practice, with the facilitators becoming the Steering Committee for the Community.

The aim of the UDL at UL Community of Practice is to bring together UL staff and learners to explore how inclusive teaching practices can lower barriers to learning. The Community of Practice explores each principle in detail to discuss strategies and practical ways to implement the UDL principles. UDL should ideally be implemented at the curriculum design stage, but it’s also possible to introduce it to modules already running using the UDL ‘Plus One’ approach (Behling and Tobin, 2018). By gradually adding in UDL strategies, you can see what works for you and your learners and build up more inclusive practices as you go. 

In this series of UDL blog posts, I will explain each UDL principle in detail and explore some of the practical ways our staff in UL have successfully implemented UDL.

The UDL at UL Community of Practice is open to all at UL and is a safe space to share practices and ask questions. More information can be found on how to join the UDL at UL Community of Practice.

Getting started with UDL

Visit our Getting started with Universal Design for Learning guide to find out how you can start to implement UDL using the  UDL "Plus One” approach (Behling and Tobin, 2018).

Summary

In this UDL Theory into Practice blog series, I will start exploring the UDL principles in detail, outlining a few ways you can start implementing these principles into your teaching, using examples from the UDL at UL Community of Practice, and providing resources, further readings, and discussion points. UDL is always evolving and expanding so these posts can be seen as a starting point for those new to UDL, or to give ideas for those who already use inclusive teaching practices.

Many thanks to all our UDL at UL Community of practice members who have contributed to our UDL Theory to Practice series.

 

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. 

References/Further Reading

Behling, K.T. and Tobin, T.J., 2018. Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education. West Virginia University Press. 

Boothe, K., Lohmann, M., Donnell, K., & Hall, D. (2018). Applying the Principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in the College Classroom. The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship, 7(3). Online: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1201588

CAST (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.2 [graphic organizer]. Wakefield, MA: Author. Online: https://udlguidelines.cast.org/  

EDTL (2021). Your Education, Your Voice, Your Vision: Results of the Student Campaign run by the Enhancing Digital Teaching and Learning project, April – May 2021. Online: https://edtl.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IUA-EDTL-Your-Education-Your-Voice-Your-Vision-Full-Report.pdf 

Flynn, S. and MacNeill, S. (2021) Insights from Students and Core Services on the impact of Covid-19 and key lessons for moving forward, Irish Universities Association, https://www.teachingandlearning.ie/wp-content/uploads/IUA-D2.pdf

Fovet, F. (2020) Universal Design for Learning as a Tool for Inclusion in the Higher Education Classroom: Tips for the Next Decade of Implementation. Education Journal, 9(6), 163-172

Kieran, L., & Anderson, C. (2019). Connecting Universal Design for Learning with Culturally Responsive Teaching. Education and Urban Society, 51(9), 1202−1216. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124518785012   

National Forum, (2021) Next Steps for Teaching and Learning: Moving Forward Together, National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, available: https://www.teachingandlearning.ie/wp-content/uploads/Next-Steps.pdf

Shankar, K., Phelan, D., Suri, V.R., Watermeyer, R., Knight, C. and Crick, T., 2021. ‘The COVID-19 crisis is not the core problem’: experiences, challenges, and concerns of Irish academia during the pandemic. Irish Educational Studies, 40(2), pp.169-175.