Universal Design

For Learning

A2I offers a variety of UDL services, including introductory keynotes, facilitated workshops, UDL faculty groups, UDL course audits and the development of UDL courses specific to your campus.

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Introduction to and Application of Universal Design for Learning

No two student learners learn the same way. Students today are navigating neurodiversity, differences in technological experience, may be first generation, have different post-school goals, are not all college ready and may have disabilities, particularly mental health disabilities.

Faculty have been challenged to educate students and meet student needs in their courses. Many faculty are meeting this demand through creative course design, thoughtful instruction strategies and by varying the ways in which they access learning. These efforts can take considerable time and energy and are often done without pedological guidance.

The services offered by A2I will introduce the concept of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a tool to support that effort with just one more approach to what faculty may already be doing. It will celebrate and build upon those unintended UDL practices with an institution’s educational community.

UDL Consultation Options

Each option can be customized to meet the needs of a specific institution, department within the institution or even an individual faculty member.

UDL Keynote

The keynote will provide an interactive foundation of UDL for faculty. Topics that may be covered (depending on time) covered include but are not limited to:

Understand the importance of access for all.
Learn about the UDL framework in detail.
Celebrate what faculty are already doing, make plans to build on that.
Share best practices for UDL implementation through presented examples and as audience illustrations.
Leave with a concrete immediate and long-term next step that are not time consuming

(between 60 and 180 minutes – depending on need/ preference)

UDL Workshops

Implementing UDL Strategies through a Facilitated Community of Practice workshops. Each workshop will focus on adding UDL strategies to an aspect of a course or program. Faculty will be asked to bring their courses with them with the goal of making at least once change. A secondary goal is to create a community of UDL learners.

UDL and course design (course logistics, syllabi, course documents)
UDL inside the classroom (instructional design)
UDL and assessment (strategically evaluating assessment options)
Customized UDL workshop to fit the needs of the institution

(between 45 and 180 minutes – depending on need/ preference)

Facilitated Conversations and Follow-Up Engagements

Some institutions may be interested in establishing a working UDL group. Facilitated conversations are regularly scheduled meetings where faculty can both learn about UDL ad be guided to implement it.

Facilitated Conversation: This one-time event combines some high level UDL learning with a facilitated conversation as to how to implement UDL into individual courses. The goal is to begin to create a community of UDL learners.
Facilitated UDL Group: This is a small group process of learning and implementing UDL work into courses. It should include a group of no more than 10 faculty that can commit to making each of the meetings. This program should run over the course of one semester, with a kickoff in-person meeting and 3 to 4 monthly meetings.
Additional Workshop: These workshops build upon the work started previously and to proactively plan for future semesters.
Administrative Meetings: When trying to explain the importance of UDL to administrative partners on campus, it can be helpful to have a targeted conversation as to how the needs of the institution can be met through UDL.
An Asynchronous UDL Course: Purchase this customized UDL course for your institution. Institutions may run this course as often as they like.