Principles of Universal Design to Support Learners with Disabilities
Tuesday, September 8, 1:00-2:30
Online
Presenters: Emily Tarconish and Andy Jolly-Ballantine
Did you know that at least 19% of college students at postsecondary institutions in the United States register for disability services and accommodations? This number likely underestimates the actual population as many students with disabilities do not self-disclose nor seek academic accommodations. There are ways to adjust your class environment to make learning more accessible for all students, including those with disabilities. Universal Design for Instruction (UDI) is a set of simple principles for making classrooms accessible to all students. In this session we will present the principles of UDI and some easy-to-adopt techniques that you can use to make your class (whether live or online) accessible, and probably more engaging, to the greatest number of learners, including those with disabilities.
After this session you will be able to:
- Better characterize of the population of students with disabilities
- Consider how inclusive teaching methods may make learning more accessible to students with different types of disabilities
- Relate the principles of Universal Design for Instruction to your class
- Assess your course to identify ways in which aspects might not meet the needs of all students
- (Re)Develop your course to accommodate the learning needs of all students
- Identify resources that can further help you with supporting students with disabilities
Adjusting your class to the principles of UDI does not have to be a monumental task, but even small changes, such as free, automatic closed-captioning, can make a huge difference for many students, including those with disabilities or who are English language learners. This will be an interactive session and we will provide hands-on activities to help you identify ways in which you can adjust your course and syllabus. UDI is a framework that can be used to make your classroom more inclusive not only for students with disabilities, but students of all backgrounds.
Register - https://fins.uconn.edu/secure_inst/workshops/workshop_view.php?ser=1737
For more information, contact: Stacey Valliere at stacey.valliere@uconn.edu