Teaching as Coevolving: An Approach to Online Course Design

Breakout Room E

The growth of online learning in higher education, over the last decade and its exponential development due to COVID-19, has opened up exciting possibilities for instructors by providing access to new modes of course design not possible within the constraints of a traditional classroom. One approach to enhancing the student online learning experience is Universal Design for Learning (UDL), in which students are able to engage with the material in a manner appropriate to their current situation. By using this approach, courses can be designed in ways that allow students to take personalized paths to achieve the course outcomes. The purpose of this presentation is to outline the lessons learned for designing online courses using UDL. The courses used courses provided multiple entry points for learning, so that students, with all their diversities, can adapt activities to fit their needs, emergent abilities, and interests. UDL can be expressed in four sub-principles: 1) providing multiple means of representation, with spaces for unanticipated possibilities to emerge; 2) providing multiple means for students to express what they know and what they have learned; 3) offering ways into, and explorations beyond, planned experiences; 4) permitting and nurturing specialized interests of individuals, while enhancing possibilities for the collective.