Tom's Sandbox

Image credit: Freepik.com

Instructor Porsha Monroe   |  Length  Two Weeks   |  Contact  monroe.p@northeastern.edu 

 

About This Course

Educational spaces today are comprised of highly diverse learners and curriculum needs to be designed to meet this diversity.

UDL minimizes barriers and maximizes learning for all students through the use of a proactive, goal-driven design that supports the needs of all learners by providing multimodal learning environments and experiences.

This course provides you with an introduction to the frameworks, guidelines, and recommended practices of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

 

---

Course Syllabus

 

Who Is This Course For? 

Educators (general, special education, curriculum coordinators, administrators, instructional technology specialists, paraprofessionals, college and university faculty, adult education faculty and presenters, etc.) and teams of educators at all levels who are interested in learning about:

• The foundation of Universal Design for Learning
• How to support students by building optimal learning experiences 
• Implementing UDL strategies into their practice. 

 

Course Outcomes 

The goal of this short course is to provide you with the foundational, practical knowledge you'll need to optimize teaching and learning for all learners based on scientific insights into effective learning techniques.

By the end of the course, you’ll be able to: 

Describe the benefits and drawbacks of UDL Principles

Define the guidelines that UDL principles are organized by.

Identify categories of each neurological network that UDL principles are based upon.

 

Course Structure

This course is designed to take place over a two week period, with two  modules for personal exploration and learning. The following structure is recommended to optimize your learning experience:

As you can see, after starting the course, you will complete the course modules in order—Module 1 Defining UDL, followed by Module 2—UDL Principles in Practice. After completing both modules, you will have completed the course. Upon the completion of this feedback, you will receive a course completion confirmation via email. 

 

Course Legend & Navigation 

• All of the icons below indicate an action you should take:  
  • • • = Case example to evaluate.
      • = Discussion to join.
      • = Audio file to listen to.
      • = Context to consider. 
      • = Text to read. 
      • = Reflection point. 
      • = Video to watch. 
      • = Assignment to complete. 
      • = Knowledge check to complete. 

 

• When you see blue text highlighted by a bright blue background, that indicates that this is a link to click on.

Example: 

LINK: Click Here to Access Link

These links lead to important course elements such as discussion boards, external modules, articles, quizzes and assignments. Please be sure to complete these elements in order, as listed, in each module before moving forward in the course. 

 

Timing

It is estimated that it will take approximately 2-3 hours to complete all of the activities in each Module. However, it is completely up to you to decide how much time you would like to commit, and you can work through the course at your own pace.

 

Required Materials & Grading 

This course draws from current and relevant articles that are readily available online, as well as various forms of multimedia that investigate foundational research in the field of Universal Design for Learning. Materials are of no cost to you and are provided within each module. 

As this is intended to be a course driven by self-learning, all assignments are ungraded. 

 

Sources & Citations

All credits for image and reference resources used are listed in full on the Sources & Citations page found after Module 2.