Linda Dale Bloomberg holds the positions of associate director of faculty support and development, and full professor of education in the School of Education, Northcentral University, San Diego. Dr. Bloomberg received her doctorate in 2006 from Teachers College, Columbia University, where she completed the AEGIS Program in Adult and Organizational Learning. Her new book is titled Designing and Delivering Effective Online Instruction: How to Engage Adult Learners.
Learners come to our classrooms with unique sets of needs and abilities, from physical and cognitive differences to diverse socioeconomic, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds. Committing to creating accessible teaching and learning environments ensures that diverse students have equal access to educational materials, teaching methods including technologies used for instruction, learning experiences, and assessments which provide opportunities to demonstrate their mastery of the materials. Having diverse students in our classrooms makes the learning environments and learning experiences more engaging, dynamic, and rich, and result in stronger learning outcomes. However, diversity does not necessarily engender inclusivity. Diversity initiatives speak to access and representation. Intentionally and thoughtfully making teaching and learning accessible to all students is a part of inclusive and equitable practice.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (2008) requires that universities make their programs accessible to students with disabilities, by making accommodations to policy, practice, or programs for individual students. But remember, all students, not just those who have a specific accommodation request, benefit from accessible content and opportunities to engage with course materials that will set them up for success. Designing your courses for accessibility means ensuring that everyone– regardless of their abilities–can utilize, navigate, and interact with the course materials and information. Accessibility in Teaching and Learning explores a range of accessible practices, underscoring an important point: “Making teaching and learning accessible to all students is a part of good ethical practice: No student should be excluded from the learning environment, and all students should be offered the support they need to succeed.”
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) ensures maximum broad accessibility and benefits for all students — not just for those requiring accommodations. Accessibility is achieved by applying this framework to guide the design of teaching and learning experiences so that a wide variety of students can access the course content, engage with course materials and learning experiences, and demonstrate their learning. UDL encompasses three key principles:
- Provide multiple means of representation of course content and materials. This is the “what” of learning: What are students expected to learn, engage with, and access in order to succeed in the course?
- Provide multiple means of action and expression. This is the “how” of learning: How will students engage in different learning experiences to be able to demonstrate what they know and what they are learning?
- Provide multiple means of engagement. This is the “why” of learning: Why is the course material relevant to students and to their personal interests, goals, and motivation?
As you can clearly see, the key phrase here is “multiple means”. UDL encompasses seven guiding features including equitable use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive use, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort, and size and space for approach and use (Center for Excellence in Universal Design, 1997). Implement the principles of UDL in your course to anticipate the diversity of students who may enroll, and plan accordingly. Remember, when applying UDL principles in the classroom there is not just one pedagogical approach that is optimal for all learners; options must be offered so that ALL learners have equal access.
With the past almost two years’ unprecedented move to remote instruction and online learning, inclusive teaching is a core foundational element. As I write in my latest book Designing and Delivering Effective Online Instruction: How to Engage Adult Learners, with teaching communities settling into a “new normal,” instructors are continually being tasked with the challenging job of navigating new teaching modalities while at the same time maintaining standards of excellence—and commitments to inclusion. Aside from doubling down on accessibility fundamentals, educators can enhance inclusivity, thereby partnering with your students to create a learning environment that is maximally equitable and supportive. Equity-minded teaching practices offers targeted support to students, thereby addressing and mitigating the specific barriers they may encounter by providing resources that meet their individual needs. So, how can YOU put equity into action?
Best Practice #1: Establish and support a class climate that fosters belonging for all students
How can you draw on principles of inclusive teaching to help your students feel a sense of belonging?
- Put supports in place to ensure that students can work toward meeting your expectations. This includes holding virtual office hours; being responsive to student emails and messages; and regularly checking-in early and often.
- Take time to understand students’ prior experiences, and their needs, concerns, and preferences by explicitly asking. Their needs will inform your approach going forward, allowing you to be mindful of their personal situations and potential barriers to learning.
- Offer opportunities whereby students play an active role in articulating their thinking through collaborative opportunities that include discussion and dialogue, thereby creating connections and community.
Best Practice #2: Select course content that respects diversity and acknowledges barriers to inclusion
How can you engage students with online content that offers diverse representation?
- With a wealth of online resources available, consider ways to integrate relevant course materials that integrate diverse perspectives and examples.
- Critically evaluate the presentation of digital material. If you assign text or media that is problematic or incorporates stereotypes, point out the shortcomings and consider supplementing with other course materials.
- In asynchronous and synchronous sessions use examples that speak across diverse populations and groups. Draw on resources, materials, and anecdotes that are relevant to the subject matter, and also sensitive to the social and cultural diversity of your students.
- Encourage students to think critically about course material and related external sources to develop their information literacy skills. Invite them to find and share resources that relate to course topics and that reflect a range of identities, perspectives, and backgrounds.
Best Practice #3: Engage in ongoing reflection on your beliefs about teaching (online) to maximize self-awareness and a commitment to inclusion
How can you ensure that your online interactions with students are inclusive, fair, and equitable?
- Taking time to reflect on your own background and experiences, assumptions about your students, and online learning in general is critical as this provides insights into necessary changes that can foster inclusive teaching and learning.
- Reflect on who your students are, and the contexts and conditions in which they may find themselves. Don’t assume that all students are in a space that provides them with an ideal or positive learning environment.
- After every class make notes about what worked well, what could be improved, and what you could do differently next time. Notice your interactions with students, your tone, the types of examples you use, and the clarity of your explanations. What trends or specific actions stand out? What impact might these have on your students?
- Ask your students for feedback regarding their learning experiences, and always be sure to use this feedback to inform your course design and instruction.
Lock in Your Learning: Now is the time to put equity into action!
Equity work requires thoughtful, intentional, and sustained efforts to identify and meet the specific needs of diverse groups or individuals. ALL students should have opportunities to benefit from accessible content and opportunities to engage with course materials in ways that will set them up for success. Within any learning environment, accessibility should always be at the forefront and not an afterthought!
- To achieve that “A” for accessibility, what can YOU do to make your classroom more accessible, and hence more inclusive and equitable?
- To ensure accessibility and inclusivity, what are the next steps in YOUR online and/or hybrid teaching playbook?
References
Bloomberg, L. D. (2021). Designing and delivering effective online instruction: How to engage adult learners. Teachers College Press, Columbia University.
https://www.tcpress.com/designing-and-delivering-effective-online-instruction-9780807765289
This publication was nominated for the 2021 Division of Distance Learning (DDL) for the Association of Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), one of the premier international organizations for instructional design and ed-tech.
CAST. “UDL on Campus.” CAST.org, 2018. http://udloncampus.cast.org/page/udl_gettingstarted#.XFB5Ys9KjBI
Center for Excellence in Universal Design (1997). The 7 principles. https://universaldesign.ie/what-is-universal-design/the-7-principles/
Rice University. (2020). Inclusion, Equity, and Access While Teaching Remotely. Reflections on Teaching and Learning. The CTE Blog.
UDL on Campus: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education
Photo via Pixabay