UDL Community of Practice

The Universal Design for Learning Community of Practice is an opportunity for STCC faculty and staff to share ideas and practical teaching strategies. We will use individual teaching practices, web resources, and the CAST UDL guidelines as foundations for our discussion. Each meeting focuses on one topic currently being implemented in an STCC course. In participating in the Universal Design for Learning Community of Practice, you will:

• Identify UDL practices being implemented in STCC courses

• List resources for researching applications of UDL practices

• Explain how a UDL practice could be applied to your course

• Develop an individualized plan of implementing a UDL practice to any of your teaching and work with students

In our shared goal of helping students succeed in STCC courses, we will looked at the overlap between Transparency in Learning and Teaching practices and Universal Design for Learning guidelines. 

Presentation slides and recording:

• TILT and UDL, the overlap, presentation slides

• TITL and UDL, the overlap, discussion recording

On April 5, 2024 the UDL Community of Practice took a field trip to the STCC labs that have been refurbished for accessibility. Notice the wheel-chair accessible sink and fume hood. Improvements also included higher lab benches with taller chairs on wheels. Interestingly, students of all abilities consistently prefer these seats. 

Kat Good-Schiff from the STCC library provides an overview of generative AI and ways to write prompts that can help lower the barrier for student learning and faculty teaching.

Presentation slides and recording:

• Introduction to Generative AI presentation slides (Kat Good-Schiff)

• Artificial Intelligence: chat prompts to help students and faculty discussion recording

Additional Resource:

• Turnitin AI misuse rubric: a rubric that guides the design of assignments that are less likely to be prone to AI misuse by students. 

Early College, Dual Enrollment, and recent graduates are a student population that may need additional support in taking a college level course. Adrienne Mantegna, Dean of Early College at Veritas Prep Charter School, was a guest speaker to describe the learning leap that younger students need to take in order to succeed. 

Presentation slides and recording:

• The New College Classroom presentation slides (Adrienne Mantegna)

• Early College and working with younger learners discussion recording

Additional Resource:

• Feeling Seen, discussion with author Julie Hasson

Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT can be an asset for student learning. AI can be used to provide options for Language & Symbols by clarifying vocabulary, syntax, and decoding of text and math notation. It can also be used to support executive functions through goal-setting, planning, and strategy development. 

Presentation slides and recording:

• UDL and Artificial Intelligence presentation slides (Eileen Cusick)

• AI presentation and discussion recording

Neurodiversity is addressed throughout the UDL guidelines, from options for self-regulation, to information processing, to options for Executive function.

Presentation slides and recording:

• ODS and neurodiversity presentation slides (Hira Byrne Paulin)

• ODS and neurodiversity presentation and discussion recording

Additional resources:

• How making my teaching accessible made it better is an article that highlighting UDL principles like collective note-taking.

• Ally Alternative Formats for students are available within the Blackboard course and on the Assist page. Alternative formats allow for students to easily convert text to speech, follow along with written text, and translate text into world languages. You can share the Ally in Blackboard for STCC students video or direct students to use Ally File Transformer on the Assist page.

• ReadSpeaker is available within Blackboard courses. ReadSpeaker is a text to speech tool with additional learning aids like highlighting and translation. You can share the ReadSpeaker in Blackboard for STCC students video. 

Hypothesis is a social annotation tool that creates a more dynamic and interactive discussions centered around a text-based document such as an article or presentation slides. Social annotation provides students with multiple means for Action & Expression through the use of multiple tools for constructions and composition.

Presentation slides and recording:

• Hypothesis presentation slides (Kelson Ettienne-Modeste)

• Hypothesis presentation slides (Daisy Flaim)

• Hypothesis presentation and discussion recording

Additional resources:

• How can Hypothesis support our UDL practices presentation slides

• Annotation student reactions summary

Journaling is an excellent way to help students explore their "Why" of learning. It helps to provide multiple means of engagement and specifically gives students a way to develop self-assessment and reflection. 

• • Journaling presentation slides (Ann Simao)

  • Journaling presentation and discussion recording

By providing multiple formats for assignments submission you give your students multiple means of Action & Expression. Students are able to use multiple media for communication to demonstrate that they have met your learning outcomes. 

• • Assignments presentation slides (Jennifer Wallace-Johnson) (the presentation has many links to examples and assignment instructions)

Exit (and Entrance) tickets are another excellent way to help students explore their "Why" of learning. Entrance tickets help with recruiting interest and exit tickets are a great way to provide options for self regulation. 

• • Exit and Entrance Tickets presentation slides (Elizabeth Swain)

  • Exit and Entrance Tickets presentation recording

STCC has 5 instructional methods. A course that incorporates both independent learning through Blackboard and synchronous components (whether in person or via Zoom) provides options for physical action as well as optimizing individual choice and autonomy. 

• • Article: HBCU’s Augment HyFlex Format Using Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

  • Hypothes.is social annotation at STCC

Teaching for mastery helps with Sustaining Effort & Persistence through mastery-oriented feedback. Students also build Executive Function skills through enhanced capacity for monitoring progress. 

• Teaching for Mastery presentation (Diane Sabato) recording

Tools that can help with teaching for mastery:

• Lumen Learning (grant funding available for Fall 2023 courses)

• DIGI[cation] ePortfolio

By providing multiple formats for assignments submission you give your students multiple means of Action & Expression. Students are able to use multiple media for communication to demonstrate that they have met your learning outcomes. There are a variety of tools for assignment submission. 

Below are links to resources from our discussion and additional information on the tools presented. 

• Universally Designed Assignments presentation slides

• Universally Designed Assignments presentation recording

• To request IT approval for software, locate the Software Request Form on the Information Technology page on the STCC Net portal. 

Flip

Flip is a tool for having a video-based discussion or for students to create short recordings. 

Flip for faculty:

• • Sign up for faculty account video

  • Sign up for faculty account slides

Flip for students:

• Sign up for student account video

• Sign up for student account slides

Jamboard

Jamboard is a Google tool that can be used for individual or collaborative note-taking and graphics. Students and faculty can use Jamboard with their STCC Google accounts. 

• Get started with Jamboard

Google Docs and Google Slides

Google Docs and Google Slides are great places to work either individually or collaboratively for word processing and display of graphics. Docs and Slides are easy to share and view on multiple devices. Students and faculty can use Docs and Slides with their STCC Google accounts. 

• Get started with Google Docs

• Get started with Google Slides

Hypothes.is

Hypothes.is is a social annotation tool that creates a more dynamic and interactive discussions centered around a text-based document such as an article or presentation slides. 

By incorporating video lessons into your teaching you give your students multiple means of Perception. Videos that verbally describe visual content offer alternatives for visual information and closed captions offer alternatives for auditory information. 

• Videos presentation slides (Ann Simao)

• Videos presentation and discussion recording