This document discusses how the presenter applied Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles to improve an online adult education course over three years. In the 2017 version, the presenter fully integrated UDL, adult learning principles, and a community of practice model to provide more choice, increase engagement, and build students' digital literacies. While more challenging initially, this approach led to stronger social learning and professional connections among students. The presenter concluded that UDL helped unlock ongoing, adaptive learning when applied to designing inclusive educational experiences.

1. PRACTICE WHAT YOU TEACH:
UDL & COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE
IN ADULT EDUCATION
Bonnie Stewart
2nd Pan-Canadian Conference on UDL
June 1st, 2017

2. “It’s not important what we cover in
the class, it’s what you discover”
- Noam Chomsky

3. Adult Learning
LEARNING AS:
- self-directed
- goal-oriented
- relevant
- active
- applied

4. Key premises of adult learning:
ADULTS LEARN FROM:
• need to know
• self-concept
• experience
• readiness to learn
• orientation to
learning
• motivation

5. (kids too?)

6. + Social Learning
COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE:
- shared domain
- shared sense of belonging
- shared practices

7. #ed363, 2015

8. Online = people

9. Presence
http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/761/building-an-online-learning-community

10. …but how to bring it all together?

11. I knew I needed new tools
https://www.flickr.com/photos/zzpza/3269784239/

12. UDL = Multiple Means
1 video, 1 reading, & encouragement
to consider UDL in designing lesson assignment
http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/take_a_tour_udl

13. UDL = one tool among many

14. That year.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dafnecholet/5374200948

15. I wasn’t (yet)
taking my
own advice.

16. Outcomes for #ed363 2015:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rocket2722/33907761204/
LEARNERS WERE:
- engaged
- applying ideas
- happy about
participatory work
- still relying on me
- limited by text

17. Looking ahead, I saw
learners with low digital literacy
(& text literacy)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rooreynolds/7340911996/

18. Re/vision is HARD

19. But not all
change is
bad.

20. My 2016 version
of #ed363 =
- UDL backbone
- more inclusion
- more images &
video
https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidthepuffin

21. Engagement
tap into learners' interests, challenge them
appropriately, and motivate them to learn
https://assistivetechnologytidbits.wikispaces.com/About+UDL

22. Representation
offer learners a range of ways of acquiring
knowledge

23. Action & Expression
enable options for learners to show what they know
& are learning
https://www.mcgill.ca/osd/facultyinfo/universal-design-faculty-research

24. learners could try
sketchnoting
reflections &
assignments

25. Evaluation was more formative
& peer-based

27. …and each key concept had
visual or video representation as
well as readings for learners to
engage
with

28. The 2016 course was a success.
But it still wasn’t what I wanted it to
be.

29. ALL THE TIME!
http://giphy.com/gifs/40s-chattanooga-1941-W2S0SZbeFBZK
#ed363 2017: more UDL!

30. No more low-hanging fruit
https://www.flickr.com/photos/samsaunders/9509786007

32. I wanted to fully integrate UDL with
adult & social learning
principles with a community
of practice model, all
with students I’d NEVER meet f2f.
EASY-PEASY?

34. (ooh…she’s lying)

35. I tried to build a reflexive
scaffold within which
learners were asked to make
choices, identify problems &
responses, and apply all
ideas to their own work and
domains of interest.

36. Expanded visuals repertoire to
include timelines, infographics &
animations, & modeled them

37. Made video assignments (eep!)

38. Built in MORE
synchronous
sessions for
social
learning, but
encouraged
written peer
engagement
too…b/c
preferences

39. Reframed rubrics so learners could
produce artifacts that made sense
for their fields of work
(including a gang sign tattoo .ppt from an officer
training instructor)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevendepolo/4129400323

40. And encouraged learners to get
outside their comfort zones WITH me

41. These were the UDL
adaptations I tried to make in
my own practice and
approach.

42. But they ended up having an
unexpected consequence…

43. The increased choice in forms of
engagement and application –
in a course that centered
ON engagement and
application – made for far
stronger social learning.
We got closer to a community of
practice.

44. Learners also built digital
literacies, not just with platforms
but with participatory practice

45. While doing good adult learning,
as learners AND teachers.

46. Did it work for everyone?

47. The 2017 course was a
bigger learning curve
for me & for students
than 2015 or 2016.
Success required going
deep, & the option to
adjust or re-do work was
key for some.
But learners engaged in
thoughtful, inclusive
social & adult learning,
& built professional ties.https://www.flickr.com/photos/hinkelstone/2765597758/

48. Lifelong Learning
Learning can no longer be divided into a place &
time to acquire knowledge (school)
and a place & time to apply the knowledge
acquired (the workplace).
Learning is something that takes place on an
ongoing basis in our daily interactions with others
and with the world around us.

49. #UDL helped me open a
Pandora’s Box of powerful growth
& adaptive change

50. THANK YOU.
@bonstewart / bstewart@upei.ca