The Secret “Step Zero” to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

We work with a wide variety of students, who vary in terms of their level of preparedness, socio-economic background, family status, work responsibilities—there is no such thing as a representative community-college student. Because we support so many kinds of learners, our goals, processes, and methods have to be open, welcoming, supportive, and flexible enough to reach out to and honor that diversity.

Our biggest collective goal is to help students to achieve to their potential. We want our learners to stay engaged, come back for more, and experience their time in our classrooms as a positive part of their lives. We can all agree that making our colleges open and welcoming spaces for everyone is the right thing to do (Gierdowski & Galanek, 2020).

But we can’t achieve true diversity, equity, or inclusion without students who feel that they are “a part of” and not “apart from” our campus communities (Fritzgerald, 2020). Too often, students have little time beyond our formal class meeting sessions for studying or interacting with us, each other, and with our subjects. If there were a way to give everyone just 20 minutes more for sustained thinking every day, that could be the difference between struggling and success (DO-IT, 2015).

There is a way to uncover those magical 20 minutes every day: adopting inclusive design ideas in the interactions that we have with learners across campus—in courses and in our service areas, too (Al-Azawei, Parslow, & Lundqvist, 2017). And it’s effort that pays us all back, by taking work off our plates: fewer students will be poorly prepared, less re-teaching because everyone got a concept wrong on a test, more students who are willing to stick with hard challenges instead of dropping out. The framework of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) powers this approach.

The magic behind finding those 20 minutes has to do with access (cf. Novak & Rodriguez, 2018). When we think about accessibility, most of us call to mind legal requirements, accommodation paperwork, lawsuits, and learners with disabilities. But “accessibility” means much more than just helping people with disabilities. It’s about finding time where and when our students actually have it (often on their mobile devices). It’s about designing interactions that allow learners to take agency in showing what they know. It’s about helping our students manage their calendars and their attention amid huge distractions.

In this interactive keynote webinar, you’ll learn attainable techniques for lowering access barriers that produce tangible results. You’ll also find out how to build on already-strong foundations in community with your colleagues in instructional and staff roles (Fovet, Mole, Jarrett, & Syncox, 2017). Specifically, by attending this keynote webinar, you will be able to

  • frame diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts within a “step zero” need for access to content, community, teaching, and the wider world (Tobin 2019a);

  • define areas in your own interactions with students that are good starting points for more-inclusive design efforts (Tobin, 2014);

  • draft the steps you can take in order to effect change within the boundaries of your available time, resources, and funds (Tobin 2018); and

  • speak to leadership colleagues about accessibility as a mission-critical imperative for all programs and services, in language that resonates with their priorities (Tobin & Behling, 2018).


References

Al-Azawei, A., Parslow, P., & Lundqvist, K. (2017). The effect of universal design for learning (UDL) application on e-learning acceptance: A structural equation model. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(6): 54-87. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v18i6.2880.

DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology). (2015). Applications of universal design in postsecondary education. Center for Universal Design in Education. University of Washington. http://www.washington.edu/doit/programs/center-universal-design-education/applications-universal-design-postsecondary-education.

Fovet, F., Mole, H., Jarrett, T., & Syncox, D. (2017). Like fire to water: building bridging collaborations between disability service providers and course instructors to create user friendly and resource efficient UDL implementation material. Collected Essays on Learning and Teaching, 7(1). https://ojs.uwindsor.ca/index.php/CELT/article/view/3999.

Fritzgerald, A. (2020). Antiracism and Universal Design for Learning: Building Expressways to Success. Boston, MA: CAST Publishing.

Gierdowski, D. C. & Galanek, J. (2020). Accommodations and the importance of UDL. ECAR Study of the Technology Needs of Students with Disabilities. https://www.educause.edu/ecar/research-publications/ecar-study-of-the-technology-needs-of-students-with-disabilities/2020/accommodations-and-the-importance-of-udl.

Novak, K. & Rodriguez, K. (2018). UDL Progression Rubric. Boston, MA: CAST Publishing. http://castpublishing.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/UDL_Progression_Rubric_FINAL_Web_REV1.pdf.

Tobin, T. J. & Behling, K. T. (2018). Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education. Morgantown, WV: West Virginia University Press. https://wvupressonline.com/node/757.

Tobin, T. J. (2014). Increase online student retention with universal design for learning. Quarterly Review of Distance Education 15(3): 13-24. http://www.engl.duq.edu/servus/cv/QRDE.UDL.Article.pdf.

Tobin, T. J. (2018). Re-framing UDL for broader adoption in higher education. AHEAD Higher Ground conference proceedings. https://www.uduc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/20181114-AHEAD-Higher-Ground-Tobin-UDL-Jedi-White-Paper.pdf.

Tobin, T. J. (2019a). Taking IT way beyond accessibility: 5 + 4 = 1 approach. EDUCAUSE Review. https://er.educause.edu/articles/2019/8/taking-it-way-beyond-accessibility-5-4-1-approach.