ILTA Ed tech presentation UDL (Universal Design for Learning) toolkit research

1. Walking the UDL Walk:
Developing a toolkit to support Universal Design for
Learning from policy to practice
Teaching Enhancement Unit (TEU)

2. Presentation overview
● Introduction to UDL
● Overview of Toolkit
● Initial focus group data
● Next steps
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3. Universal Design for Learning is a framework to improve and
optimise teaching and learning by removing barriers in the
environment
Cast Symposium: UDL for Social Justice 2017
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4. UDL at DCU Strategic Plan
2017-2022
Development of
UDL Policy in DCU
Staff Development
& Support
UDL Procedural
Guidelines
“To enhance the
inclusivity of the
learning experience, we
will promote the
principles
of Universal Design in
the design and delivery
of all our programmes”
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5. UDL is considered best practice for inclusion by suggesting flexible
instructional materials, techniques, and strategies can empower
educators to meet the varied needs of their learners.
The principles of UDL can help us refine how we approach who we
teach, what we teach and how we teach.
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6. The Toolkit
Why? To translate policy into practice
What?
● Overview of UDL (text/video)
● UDL checklist/s
● Moodle page templates including Moodle
accessibility block
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7. Research: Phase 1
● Focus group x 2
● Present the concept of the Toolkit
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8. Research: Phase 1
Findings (General)
● UDL overlaps with good teaching and learning
● The idea of a toolkit was welcomed
● The toolkit needs to support staff where they are currently
in relation to VLE usage
● Toolkit to be developed in collaboration with users
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9. Research: Phase 1
Findings (Toolkit)
● Accessibility block
○ Positive response
○ Participants were not aware of accessibility block on
Moodle
○ Would need to be compatible with mobile app long
term
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10. Research: Phase 1
Findings (Toolkit)
● Templates:
○ Perceived as useful - consistency, starting point for
beginners
○ Good practice exemplars - developed from ‘real life’
examples
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11. Research: Phase 1
Findings (Toolkit)
● Checklist:
○ Offer choice of checklist styles
○ The purpose of the checklist needs to be
contextualised: Is it a self assessment tool? How
do I know I am engaging with UDL principles?
○ How does the user progress to UDL proficiency?
Supporting resources need to be incorporated into
/linked to checklists
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12. Next Steps
● Develop toolkit based on findings
● Explore possibility of re-engaging with focus group
participants to test the toolkit
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13. References:
Bray, B. and McClaskey, K. (2013) ‘A step-by-step guide to personalize learning’ Learning & Leading with
Technology, 40(7), 12-19.
Burgstahler, S. (2017) ‘Equal access: universal design of instruction’ DO-IT [online] Available from:
http://www.washington.edu/doit/equal-access-universal-design-instruction (Accessed 6th November 2018).
Moodle (2019)
Moodle and Accessibility accessed on April 2nd, 2019 @ https://docs.moodle.org/36/en/Accessibility
Teaching Enhancement Unit, DCU (2019) Academic Integrity Principles
https://teuintegrityproject.wordpress.com/principles/ Available from
https://teuintegrityproject.wordpress.com/principles/ (Accessed April 5th,2019).
University of Washington (n.d.) ‘Universal Design’ Access College: The Faculty Room [online] Available from:
http://www.washington.edu/doit/programs/accesscollege/faculty-room/universal-design
(Accessed 7th November 2018).
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14. Contact us
Teaching Enhancement Unit (TEU)
karen.buckley@dcu.ie
shadi.karazi@dcu.ie
suzanne.stone@dcu.ie