Abstract
A six-hour online workshop on universal design for learning (UDL) was conducted for teacher educators from Nigeria, Tanzania, Bhutan, and India as part of a project undertaken by Tata Institute of Social Sciences. The one-group pre- and post-test study aimed at understanding whether the teacher educators, after the training, understand the principles of UDL and use that learning to evaluate the accessibility of open educational resources (OERs) with the lens of UDL. The chapter describes and discusses the research findings.
TopUdl: Training And Application
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) offers a functional framework to understand and address variability in classrooms. The Centre for Applied Special Technology (CAST, 2018) outlines three principles that when systematically applied in the classroom help support diverse learners. The goal of UDL is building in flexibility that can be adjusted for every student’s strength and needs and provide different ways learners can access information and demonstrate their knowledge.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Inclusive Education: Inclusive education means that all students irrespective of their background and ability learn in the same class.
OERs: OERs are online material and resources in the public domain that can be modified and reused according to the learning-teaching needs.
Developing Countries: Countries that are seeking to be economically and socially more advanced e.g., India, Bhutan, Tanzania, Nigeria.
Inclusive Education Pedagogy: Pedagogy that ensures accessibility of learning opportunities for all learners in the classroom.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL): Universal Design for Learning is a framework that helps teachers to provide information, opportunities for engagement, and opportunities for demonstrating learning to the learners that matches their learning styles and abilities.
Accessible OERs: Accessible OERs refer to online resources that allow all people including those who may have learning challenges, to access content, regardless of its difficulty.
Teacher Educators: Teachers involved in preparing/educating pre-service teachers.
Teacher Education Programs: Programs that are conducted for pre-service and in-service teachers to develop their knowledge and skills for teaching. The term teacher training program is used synonymously with teacher education program in the chapter.