Key Considerations

Beyond context and situational factors, there are also a range of other topics that can positively inform our teaching and help to support our students’ learning. As you develop or redesign your course, you may also want to consider how you engage with:

• Diversity
• Inclusivity
• Equity
• Accessibility
• Anti-racism
• Indigenous teaching and learning

Using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and inclusive teaching and learning practices will help you meet the needs of a variety of diverse students.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

It is important that each stage of the course design process encourages learning and removes potential barriers. At each step you will need to think about how you can motivate and engage your different learners, provide a number of avenues through which they can access content and information, and give varying opportunities to respond to and demonstrate their learning.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a helpful framework that is designed to build a course that meets the diverse needs of different learners. It employs the idea of designing courses around flexibility with the goal of having everyone achieve the best possible outcome of their learning.

UDL is centered on the three principles to support learning:

1. Multiple means of engagement: Stimulate interest and motivation for learning in different ways.
2. Multiple means of representation: Present information and content in a variety of ways.
3. Multiple means of expression: Differentiate the ways that students can express what they know.

In practice this may mean that if one of the objectives is to apply non-verbal communication techniques in personal communication and presentations, you will consider what types of content you can provide that will enable students to understand what this looks like. You can include links to narrated or closed-captioned videos of people interacting or presenting. Or perhaps you can ask your students to demonstrate the use of visual cues with a partner through video and allow feedback from other learners.

As you move through the development process, think about all the different learners in your class. Can they meet the objective through your content and method of teaching? Visit the CAST website to learn more about UDL and what to consider as you develop your course.

Inclusive Teaching and Learning Practices

Scroll through the interactive booklet below to read about inclusive teaching and learning practices.

References

Antoine, A., Mason, R., Mason, R., Palahicky, S. & Rodriguez de France, C. (2018). Pulling Together: A Guide for Curriculum Developers. Victoria, BC: BCcampus. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/indigenization

Attribution Statement

This chapter is includes sections from the Design, Develop and Deliver: A Guide for Effective Online Teaching by Centre for Academic Excellence, Niagara College and is used under a CC BY 4.0 International License. Changes include rewriting some of the passages and adding original material.