Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners: Incorporating Universal Design and Adult Learning Principles into our Teaching
Friday, April 24, 2015
For Faculty Development Day 2015 we have chosen to address two topics related to supporting our learners: adult learning principles and universal design in online/hybrid learning.
At SPS, we have a high percentage of adult learners. A greater awareness of adult learning principles can enable faculty to make teaching and learning more effective and stimulating for our students.
The goal of universal design in education is making learning spaces – rooms as well as online courses – foster learning for diverse learners of different capabilities, abilities, and preferences. This means that we not only try to eliminate barriers, but actually strive to find approaches that will make learning effective for all learners. For example, adding captions to a video may help a student who is blind, but it may also enhance the learning of a student who can read what is being said rather than simply watching. While accessibility issues may seem a specialized area, all faculty can benefit from knowing how universal design principles can be incorporated into course design and content preparation.
Our early morning session will focus on adult learning principles while our lunchtime panel of faculty, students and staff will introduce and then address issues of universal design in online/hybrid courses. We will again offer labs in morning and afternoon on two topics. One lab will provide a hands-on opportunity for faculty to learn how to apply universal design principles to both the design of their course sites as well as the format of course materials. The other lab will focus on the Content Collection in Blackboard, specifically on how to organize and manage your course content area folders, and how to collaborate and share content with other faculty.
Faculty Development Day will take place at 119 West 31st St., Friday April 24th from 9am – 3:30pm. This on-site event is open to and appropriate for all SPS faculty, whether teaching face-to-face, online or hybrid courses. Faculty are welcome to attend any or all sessions during the day, but we ask you to register and to indicate your preferred lab session and whether you are joining us for lunch, so that we are able to accommodate as many faculty as possible.
SCHEDULE
| 9 – 9.15 am | Coffee and check-in | Room 407, 4th floor |
| 9.15 – 9.30 am | Greetings | Room 407, 4th floor |
| 9.30 – 10.30 am | Plenary Session: “Adult Learning Principles” Discussion and hands-on activity |
Room 407, 4th floor |
| 10.30 – 10.45 am | Break | |
| 10.45 – 11.55 am Morning Labs |
(1) Designing an Accessible Online Course or (2) Introduction to the Content Collection in Blackboard |
Room 322, 3rd floorRoom 306, 3rd floor |
| 12 – 2 pm | Lunch & Lunch Panel (from 12.15 – 1.45pm) “Perspectives on Universal Design and Accessibility in Online /Hybrid Courses” |
Room 407, 4th floor |
| 2 – 3.30 pm Afternoon Labs |
(1) Designing an Accessible Online Course or (2) Introduction to the Content Collection in Blackboard |
Room 322, 3rd floorRoom 306, 3rd floor |
Questions, please contact Susan Ko: susan.ko@mail.cuny.edu
