This conversation focuses on disability, diversity, inclusion, belonging, and how UDL can be used a blueprint to engage High Impact Teaching Strategies to include a wide variety of students. You’ll also hear of quite a few resources that are listed on our website for this episode, so feel free to follow up on this conversation for some great information and a free eLearning course.

In this episode I speak with Meredith Jackson, the Leading Vocational Teacher at TAFE (Technical and Further Education), Queensland, and Jen Cousins, a Teaching and Learning Specialist in Accessibility and Inclusive Education at TAFE, South Australia.

In this episode, I speak with two CAST members. And when I say CAST members, I don’t mean a theater play or a Disney employee, but rather CAST, the non-profit that created and introduced the Universal Design for Learning guidelines to the world several decades ago. Originally, the acronym CAST stood for the Center for Applied Specialized Technology, but now they are simply known as CAST. At CAST, Luis Perez is a Technical Assistance Specialist and a noted speaker, and Tracey Hall is a Senior Research Scientist and Instructional Designer. In today’s conversation we talk about how UDL has been and can be implemented in career and technical programs in the United States.

Today we will talk about her new project, Masterclasses, which are open to everyone worldwide. In today’s episode we will talk about what a UDL masterclass is and discuss three different topics that her UDL masterclasses cover. These topics include what it means to be a UDL-informed leader, what UDL-informed Course Design is, and the difference between UDL, Accessibility, and Academic Accommodations. Even if you cannot take a masterclass, this discussion is a fruitful one that helps us all understand the importance of UDL in leadership, course design, and its place in the university. 

In this episode, Professor Temple Grandin talks about the different ways people think, how to teach a variety of learners, what advice she gives college professors, what advice she gives college students, and why she thinks we don’t need algebra (for some things at least) among other things!