Week 6  

According to Statistics Canada, more than half a million adults in this country live with a learning disability, making it more challenging for them to learn in universities and colleges, and on the job. Learning disabilities increased considerably between 2001 and 2006 among Canadians aged 15 and over by almost 40 percent to 631,000 people, making it one of the fastest growing types of disabilities in Canada that isn’t related to again (Learning Disabilities Association of Canada, n.d.). Our learners can have visible and invisible disabilities.  We never know.  However, we know that our learners have different skills, experience, readiness, cultural backgrounds, and ability levels. We must dedicate ourselves to providing an inclusive learning environment that is accessible to all learners.  Universal Design for Learning (UDL), ethics, and accessibility contribute to creating an inclusive learning environment for all learners. They are one of the strategies for improving educational equity.

Ontario has been working for years to create an accessible and inclusive province where everyone can fully participate in everyday life in our communities and economy.  The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) is a law that sets out a process for developing and enforcing accessibility standards (Ontario, 2015).  Thus, my organization which is in Toronto makes a public commitment to accessibility by providing inclusive environments that are accessible and welcoming places for all learners, employees, and visitors.  My organization provides a wealth of information on our website about how the organization supports its learners, employees, and community.  There is an accessibility committee to ensure compliance with the AODA through communication and training. 

The UDL principles are included in my organization’s learning frameworks or design guidelines because we believe that UDL benefits all our learners including learners who have visible and invisible disabilities. My organization created an Inclusive Teaching as a guideline for our instructors in creating an inclusive learning environment. 

Multiple means of ENGAGEMENT mean tapping into learners’ interests, challenging them appropriately, and motivating them to learn.  It focuses on the “why” of learning. I would establish an inclusive learning environment by including course orientation modules and instructor introductions; sharing learning outcomes and schedules in multiple ways and throughout the course; and providing opportunities for learners to ask questions and interact with the instructor and classmates e.g. virtual office hours, discussion board, surveys, etc.   

Multiple means of REPRESENTATION mean to give learners various ways to access and understand information and knowledge. It focuses on the “what” of learning. Based on the guidelines and checkpoint from CAST (2018), I would design the learning content that learners can interact with and receive in multiple ways e.g. reading, video, podcast, etc.; provide videos with closed captioning or transcripts and describe images/charts; and offer note-taking support by providing guided notes, a summary of lectures, or space where learners can share their notes. 

Multiple means of ACTION and EXPRESSION mean that we provide our learners with various ways to demonstrate their learning.  It focuses on the “how" of learning. Based on the guidelines and checkpoint from CAST (2018), I think I can employ this means by using technologies consistently across the course and providing information on how to use them, providing the choice of assessment methods e.g. quiz, written paper, individual/group presentation, multi-media project) for each assignment, and use checklists, rubrics, and samples to clearly communicate expectations for class activities and assessments. 

What do you think about my planned actions for each mean in the UDL framework above? Do you have any other recommendations? I have implemented most of the actions above in my online classes for the last few years to accommodate my diverse learners' needs. I am still learning, therefore, I found that it took a lot of time to plan and implement the UDL framework and of course, I am still using the checklist to guide me.