ThinkUDL is a podcast about Universal Design for Learning where we hear from the people who are designing and implementing strategies in post-secondary settings with learner variability in mind.
Join host, Lillian Nave, as she discovers not just WHAT her guests are teaching, learning, guiding and facilitating, but HOW they design and implement it, and WHY it even matters!
In this episode, Susan and I explore the connections between “Ungrading” and Universal Design for Learning principles, especially focussing on how “Ungrading” engages students, reduces threats and distractions (yes, grades are distractions to learning) and fosters community. Ungrading can also provide multiple options for action and expression, so we will be covering quite a number of the UDL guidelines today.
In today’s episode, we talk about the content of her Minding Bodies book as it relates to perception, specifically the UDL guideline to provide multiple options for student perception which often include alternatives for auditory and visual information. We also talk a little neuroscience and brain efficiency, multi-sensory learning, how emotions influence learning, how important really noticing is, and questioning or interrogating our own perceptions.
In today’s conversation, we talk about accessibility on social media and in educational settings, and I really appreciate that she gets into both the “how” and the “why” of these things. In fact, she has provided a ton of great resources about Alt-Text, and making your own accessible documents that you can find on our resources page for Episode 62 on ThinkUDL.org. So listen in now and check out the resources to find out how, why and what it truly means to be accessible.
Jen Wallace is an Assistant Professor in Nursing at Lawrence Memorial Regis College in Medford, Massachusetts. She has brought us some really great resources that she mentions during our conversation today and all of these are on our ThinkUDL.org website, so please be sure to check those out on Episode 61’s page.
In today’s podcast, Kirsten and I discuss the research project she has undertaken since the pandemic began when university classes switched to a predominantly online format. Kirsten has been looking for and has found many examples of instructors implementing Universal Design for Learning principles in their rapid switch to online, and she has asked instructors to reflect on their teaching during this time.