Practice what you Teach: UDL & Communities of Practice in Adult Education
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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.
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Practice what you Teach: UDL & Communities of Practice in Adult Education
- 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
- 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
- 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/
- 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?
- 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