Join the UDLHE Network’s co-chairs Eric Moore and Jennifer Pusateri for a discussion around UDL in higher education.

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Legislation and policy are shaping the development of all facets of Irish education. Underlining many of these developments are issues embedded in inclusive practice and rights-based approaches to education. This presentation discusses the implications of these approaches with an emphasis on the impact for higher education. Furthermore, the presentation explores accessible practice and current trends around creating accessible educational material as part of an overarching Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approach in one higher education institution in Ireland. The presentation additionally focuses on an accessibility practitioner’s involvement in the development of a Community of Practice (CoP) on campus that would influence and drive more inclusive educational practice. The presentation also discusses the close relationship between UDL, accessibility and technology and the impact that can have on higher education institutions. The presentation concludes with practical tips on developing accessible practice and discuss the inherent benefits of utilizing communities of practice.

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The mechanisms of engaging with TED content are not unique, and the content itself is often not new, but the manner in which TED connects content to its viewers draws many similarities to Universal Design for Learning.

How might we use what TED has accomplished, as metaphor and inspiration, to:

• Create content that is consumable by ALL learners, prompting students to ask for more.
• Create content that is easier to translate to many different access points, making differentiated engagement easier and more wide-spread
• Create content that is memorable… enhancing retainment and making learning FUN!

How can we create a learning experience that – using the TED approach as a metaphor – provides UDL outcomes, while also providing a streamlined path to multiple entry points?

Session Video Recording

Session Resources:

• Create “TED like” experiences:
  • TED Masterclass
  • How to Write a TED Talk

• Gould Evans Education Practice links:
  • Gould Evans Education Practice
  • Education meet the World of Work
  • Creating spaces for UDL

Crowdsourcing class notes was a UDL based tool used in the Harvard Graduate School of Education, T-560 course: Meeting the Challenge of Individual Differences, taught by David Rose and colleagues. This session presents findings from a mixed-methods research study that utilized an expanded version of crowdsourcing class notes in fourteen higher education courses with over 700 undergraduate and graduate students. In addition to class notes, students crowdsourced executive summaries and visual representations of class sessions with peers through the learning management system. This research study sought to understand how students use crowdsourced materials, and about using the materials. Participants will leave the session understanding benefits of crowdsourcing student materials and recommendations for future implementation of the tool in higher education courses. 

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The good news: most people in higher education have now heard about UDL. The bad news: many think it’s just another facet of general accessibility efforts. The opportunity: now we can build on foundational knowledge to create UDL experts at our colleges and universities. This session will share three expert-level messages to bring back to your campus leaders and colleagues. You will learn how to go beyond the principles of UDL as they apply to individual course interactions and start designing curricula, services, and support structures in a universal and inclusive way. Not an expert yet? Come by and learn!

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Handout/Planned Transcript

Providing a fully inclusive learning environment is complex and creating a culture of engagement and inclusion that works for all students requires a shift in thinking and a change of behavior at an institutional level. In this ever changing and increasingly diverse further and higher education landscape, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) provides an effective framework to improve the learning experience of all students within the mainstream teaching environment.

This UDL Overview page on the AHEAD web site provides an overview of UDL from the Higher Education perspective.

This video provides an introduction to UDL from a higher education perspective. Universal Design for Learning, or UDL, is a set of learning design principles that increase access and reduce barriers for all types of learners. This video offers strategies for engagement, one of the three UDL principles promoted by CAST. Engagement considers how students are motivated to learn the content by connecting course concepts to their academic, professional and personal lives.