Media & UDL

Media & Universal Design for Learning

Welcome to Media & Universal Design for Learning! The goal of this course is to support educators in developing inclusive learning environments and experiences. Now more than ever, it is important for teachers to understand how the educational content they create can either facilitate learning or prevent learners from accessing critical information.

What You Will Learn

Topics

Creating accessible media (PDFs, Word documents, and image & video-based content)
Universal Design for Learning
Assistive technology

Course Outline

Course Level Objectives

Learners will be able to:

Apply a systematic and informed approach to the creation of accessible content
Appreciate the role of UDL as it applies to the creation of educational materials
Consider the variety of ways that learners access digital information
Access additional information on accessibility best practices as needed

Unit 1: Universal Design for Learning

The objective of this unit is for learners to explore the philosophical underpinnings of UDL and how this approach relates to the current discourse on accessibility.
In this unit, you will:

Start adding to a list of accessibility resources and online communities in the course knowledge base
Discuss whether advocates are taking a "accommodation" or "inclusion" approach
Determine which type of assistive technology would most likely be used to access digital information

Unit 2: Videos & UDL

The objective of this unit is for learners to explore accessibility issues surrounding video content and how video usage fits in to the UDL approach.
In this unit, you will:

Add to your growing list of resources and online communities with video-related items
Identify three instances of missing or inappropriate captions on popular videos
Discuss the ways in which the use of video content aligns with a UDL strategy
Link relevant terms (subtitles, captions, etc.) with their definitions

Unit 3: Images & UDL

The objective of this unit is for learners to explore accessibility issues surrounding image-based content and how the use of visuals fits in to the UDL approach.
In this unit, you will:

Add to your growing list of resources and online communities with image-related items
Identify three instances of missing or inappropriate alternative text on popular websites
Discuss the ways in which the use of visuals aligns with a UDL strategy
Link relevant terms with their definitions

Unit 4: Docs & UDL

The objective of this unit is for learners to explore accessibility issues surrounding PDFs and Word documents and how the use of .pdf & .doc files fits in to the UDL approach.
In this unit, you will:

Add to your growing list of resources and online communities with PDF and document-related items
Identify inaccessible PDFs in collection of files
Discuss the ways in which the use of Word documents and PDFs aligns with a UDL strategy
Link relevant terms with their definitions