Stellenbosch University Language Centre

Tag: decolonisation

Universal design for learning: Creating accessible and effective learning for all

Are there any hacks to ensure that the courses we design really speak to participants? It turns out there are! Ever heard of universal design for learning (UDL)?

When we use UDL, the primary objective is to design courses that can be customised to suit the highest possible number of learners. This blog post will delve into the principles of UDL and the practical ways to apply UDL: the what, why and how of learning, in order to help activate the corresponding parts of the brain of our learners (see Image 1).

Image 1: The different parts of the brain activated during learning
(Source: CAST (2018). UDL and the learning brain. Wakefield, MA. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/products-services/resources/2018/udl-learning-brain-neuroscience)

As higher education institutions strive to create more equitable and inclusive learning environments for students, UDL is being harnessed as an innovative approach to create learning experiences that are accessible, engaging, flexible, and effective for students of all abilities. While UDL is commonly associated with ensuring accessibility for students with disabilities, its application is so much wider. UDL recognises that all students have diverse needs, interests, preferences, and learning styles, and aims to provide equal opportunities for all learners. UDL is a framework that is underpinned by the assumption that all learners are different and have specific requirements. Providing various modalities of representation, expression and engagement in the learning process would thus make the learning environment more inclusive and effective.

The UDL method encourages educators to prepare their curriculum to anticipate a wide range of student learning needs and preferences. When using UDL, the primary objective is to design courses that can be customised to suit the highest possible number of learners. Let’s delve into the principles of UDL and the practical ways of applying UDL to improve accessibility for making inclusive and interactive courses.

Image 2: A screenshot of a course welcome message

Principle 1: Multiple means of representation (the ‘what’ of learning)

[us_cta title=”” color=”light” btn_label=””]The first principle of UDL focuses on providing multiple ways for students to access information and content. This means providing different formats of content to ensure that all students can access and understand the material. For example, providing text content in both visual and auditory formats can help students who struggle with reading and those who have visual impairments. For students who are deaf or hard of hearing, captions on a video may be essential, but they can also benefit all learners, for instance, when the speaker has an unfamiliar accent or the video is not in the viewer’s first language, or when the vocabulary is unfamiliar, captions aid in processing the content. UDL encourages educators to offer information and content in a multitude of formats from text, audio, video, and images to interactive media. This allows students to access and understand information through multiple channels. Furthermore, we can use this principle to make our content more inclusive and relatable by including diverse perspectives and experiences.[/us_cta]

Image 3: A screenshot of a lesson with video, audio, and transcript files

Principle 2: Multiple means of action and expression (the ‘how’ of learning)

[us_cta title=”” btn_label=””]The second principle of UDL focuses on providing multiple ways for students to demonstrate their understanding and knowledge. This means offering students a variety of options for completing assignments and assessments, for example, allowing students to demonstrate their understanding through oral responses, written assignments or digital media can accommodate diverse students’ needs. Multiple means of expression allow students to select the method that works best for their ability and aptitude. All students have their own strengths and preferences regarding how they connect to and communicate their learning. For instance, while certain students perform better on written assessments, others would rather convey their knowledge via presentations and practical activities such as creating a video or a podcast. This approach provides students with the freedom to choose how they demonstrate their understanding of a particular concept, and thus it enhances their sense of autonomy and inclusion.[/us_cta]

Principle 3: Multiple means of engagement (the ‘why’ of learning)

[us_cta title=”” color=”light” btn_label=””]The third principle of UDL focuses on promoting student engagement and motivation. This can be achieved by providing activities and opportunities that stimulate students’ interests and challenge them at an appropriate level, for example, providing group projects, hands-on activities, case studies, and real-world applications can help students connect more deeply with the content and make it more meaningful. Similarly, incorporating multimedia content and interactive exercises can make learning more dynamic and interactive. By providing multiple means of engagement, we can promote student motivation, foster their curiosity and creativity, and cultivate a positive learning experience.[/us_cta]

Let’s apply the three principles in practice!

[us_cta title=”” btn_label=””]The principles of UDL may seem simple in theory, but their application requires careful consideration of the diverse needs of learners. We’ve listed some examples below of how these principles can be applied in practice for inspiration:[/us_cta]
  • Provide options for audio-visual content (transcripts and captions with punctuation) to support learners who are deaf or hard of hearing as well as audio-visual and auditory options for written content.
  • Use diagrams, infographics, and tables with descriptions – for example, header for rows and columns for cells to imagine what the table represents.
  • Describe images via captions and alt text so that students interpret the information accurately in the way it was meant to be interpreted. Be culturally aware by representing different populations when using images.
  • Use a range of assessment methods, including formative assessments, project-based assessments, self-assessments, written essays, digital portfolios, blogs, poster presentations and research reports, to enable students to demonstrate their understanding in ways that work for them. Timely and constructive feedback guides students’ progress and supports their learning.
  • Provide tasks that allow for active participation, exploration and self-reflection.
  • Offer a range of activities that promote student engagement, such as debates, simulations, and role-play scenarios, to make learning more interactive. For online learning, Moodle forums or Wikis can be used.
  • Give students two or more prompts and ask them to respond to one.
  • Provide more than one reading option and allow students to choose which option they will engage with.
  • Provide clear and detailed instructions. State clearly and explicitly what is expected of students.
  • Provide examples of annotated student work or performance samples.
  • Use the Rich-Text Editor (Text boxes) in the learning management system you are using for online course content. Stick to the built-in formatting styles (e.g. headings, ordered lists).
  • Ensure every element on the course page is navigable by keyboard for students with motor difficulties who can’t use a mouse. Sequence the reading order logically.
  • Use instructional text to facilitate students through the change. It connects the various materials and activities.
  • Use meaningful, descriptive hyperlink text (instead of pasting the URL).
  • Provide enough contrast between text and background colours for low-vision users or those with colour blindness. Use a contrast checker such as WebAim.

UDL is a critical framework for creating accessible and effective learning that benefits all learners. UDL encourages instructors to provide multiple ways for students to gain knowledge in terms of how information is presented, as well as different paths they can take to demonstrate what they have learned.

By applying the three principles of UDL, educators can create learning environments that are flexible, engaging and inclusive. This way, the diverse needs and learning styles of all students can be accommodated, and, in doing so, we as instructors and educators are actively promoting our students’ engagement and success.

Inspired? For more information about UDL and to access the full framework, you can visit: www.cast.org

– by Fatima Halday

References:

CAST. 2018. UDL and the learning brain. Wakefield, MA. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/products-services/resources/2018/udl-learning-brain-neuroscience

Howard, J. B. 2003. Universal design for learning: An essential concept for teacher education. Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 19(4), 113-118.

Kurtts, S. A. 2006. Universal design for learning in inclusive classrooms, Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education, 1 (10).

McKenzie, J. A., & Dalton, E. M. 2020. Universal design for learning in inclusive education policy in South Africa. African Journal of Disability, 9, 776. Available: doi.org/10.4102/ajod.v9i0.776

Meyer, A., Rose, D.H. & Gordon, D. 2014. Universal design for learning: Theory and practice, CAST Professional Publishing, Wakefield, MA.

Rose, D.H., Gravel, J.W. and Gordon, D.T. 2014. Universal design for learning, The SAGE Handbook of Special Education: Two Volume Set, pp. 475–489. Available: doi:10.4135/9781446282236.n30.

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Writing centres as decolonising spaces

On 4 October, the head of the SU Writing Lab, Rose Richards, attended an online colloquium about decolonisation in South African writing centres. She shares her thoughts about the colloquium with us.

 

As a writing centre practitioner, I am very glad to see that other writing centre practitioners across the country share my views about the potential of writing centres to change the educational landscape.

The colloquium I attended was hosted by Durban University of Technology, Cape Peninsula University of Technology and Mangosuthu University of Technology. It was the first writing centre event hosted by universities of technology and I was excited to see what the presenters would discuss. The topic promised to elicit robust discussion and I was not disappointed.

Decolonisation is a provocative topic for many and because of this, people don’t explore what it really means. It’s not an ‘either … or’ proposition where European values and traditions are discarded in favour of African ones. It is a ‘both … and’ proposition, rooted in social justice and democratisation. If you want to see good breakdowns of the meaning and potentials of decolonisation, consider reading this paper by Prof Gift Mheta, one of the speakers, and this one by Savo Heleta (see full details at the end of this piece).

Language, flattened hierarchies and ubuntu were the themes that infused all of the talks. Studying in a country that has multiple languages is one issue that many South African students face. Because of this, writing centre practitioners tend to use code-switching and even shuttle between languages in consultation with students. This is one way of giving back some power to the students and creating space in which they can express themselves.

The peer tutoring approach and the writing centre ethos of being welcoming and nonjudgemental goes a long way to create a more democratic space in which students can rehearse academic identities and make mistakes without censure. We don’t give students their voice – they already have voices, but we help them to develop their voices and work out ways of being heard.

These and other writing centre approaches are part of what in South Africa is known as ubuntu. Baken Lefa, a science education researcher, describes ubuntu as the soul force that “expresses compassion, reciprocity, dignity, harmony and humanity in the interests of building and maintaining a community with justice and mutual caring”. For me, that force is strong in writing centres.

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Who were the speakers?

[us_cta title=”” btn_label=””]Prof Mheta (Durban University of Technology) spoke on the topic ‘Towards decolonised writing centre spaces: The reflections-for-action of a DUT Writing Centre practitioner’. Prof Mheta heads the DUT writing centre. His research interests are broad, with a focus on corpus development and maintenance, computational lexicography and language technology applications for the development of African languages. [/us_cta][/us_hwrapper]
[us_cta title=”” btn_label=””]Ms Puleng Sefalane-Nkohla (Cape Peninsula University of Technology) addressed the topic of ‘Being and becoming: Decolonising the writing centre space. How do we decolonise students’ academic support at CPUT?’ Ms Sefalane-Nkohla is acting head of department of the Student Learning Unit at CPUT’s Fundani Centre for Higher Education and Development. She has worked in writing centres for 22 years and has a 20-year association with the SU Writing Lab. She specialises in academic literacies, and language and technology.[/us_cta]
[us_cta title=”” btn_label=””]The final speaker, Mr Ntuthuko Mhlongo (Mangosuthu University of Technology), discussed ‘Location and Power: Appraising the opportunities and challenges for writing centres as spaces for transformation and decolonisation in the South African university context’. Mr Mhlongo started his writing centre journey at DUT. He is working on his PhD, which is about the challenges rural youth face in South Africa. His research interest lies in developing youth for the changing global environment and his interest in writing centres is about one way of achieving that.[/us_cta]

– by Rose Richards

Articles mentioned

Heleta, Savo. 2016. Decolonisation: academics must change what they teach, and how. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/decolonisation-academics-must-change-what-they-teach-and-how-68080

Lefa, Baken. 2015. The African Philosophy of Ubuntu in South African Education. Studies in Philosophy and Education 1(1):15.

Mheta, Gift, Lungu, Bwalya Nyangu & Govender, Thaiurie. 2018. Decolonisation of the curriculum: A case study of the Durban University of Technology in South Africa. South African Journal of Education, 38(4), 1-7. https://dx.doi.org/10.15700/saje.v38n4a1635

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