Beyond the Badge: Reflecting on Universal Design for Learning - Beyond the Classroom Digital Course

Introduction

I was fortunate enough to join the Universal Design Beyond the Classroom – Digital Badge during the inaugural national rollout in the Autumn of 2024. The Digital Badge was designed by AHEAD with the UCD Access and Lifelong Learning team.

As a user-facing Library Assistant at Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin), Ireland's second-largest higher education institution, I encounter numerous opportunities for engagement in teaching and learning throughout my work day. TU Dublin serves a diverse community, with approximately 25 percent of new students entering through access programmes such as the HEAR scheme, Access TU Dublin, QQI Access, and the Access Foundation Programme (AFP) with an additional 20 percent of applicants coming from Further Education institutions. (At A Glance, n.d) The university also boasts a notable international staff cohort, comprising 20 percent of its workforce. (Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion, n.d)

My primary duties can include delivering orientation tours, helping library users navigate the physical library space and our digital resources (for example: online library collections, research databases, group study room booking forms, study guides and exam papers). 

As such, to adapt to the dynamic nature of the educational landscape and to meet the needs of a diverse student and staff population, it is essential for library staff, such as myself who are involved in teaching and learning activities, to engage in ongoing professional development and maintain their skills.

I had limited knowledge of Universal Design for Learning before enrolling on the Digital Badge course. Therefore, the desire to expand my knowledge base and professional skills set in this area, served as my primary reason for doing so. This badge is specifically targeted at support staff, whose teaching and learning activities do not necessarily take place in a traditional classroom setting.

I aim to reflect on my learning experience through two distinct lenses:

• the importance of continuous professional development for support service staff at all levels within higher education institutions

and

• the significance of integrating Universal Design for Learning (UDL) practices into academic curricula.

In doing so, I will evaluate the course itself using the three core principles of UDL as a framework for analysis: Engagement, Representation and Action and Expression, highlighting that curricula must be designed to motivate and sustain a high level of interaction and effort for learners. The Digital Badge course takes place over a ten-week period, and includes a mix of self-paced learning modules, live webinars, and peer group discussion sessions.

Given that the course is undertaken by working professionals over a busy academic semester, it is important that it promotes a supportive and considerate environment.

1 Multiple Means of Engagement

Webinar Series:

The course offered a series of three webinars that served as a critical means of engagement and communication: Introduction and Orientation; Introduction to the Redesign Activity, Getting Over the Line and Receiving your Badge.

The webinars offered a flexible, informal structure, creating a space for participants to interact with both their peers and facilitators.

Engagement through Polls:

The inclusion of polls helped to stimulate class-wide discussions. This feature also helped maintain active involvement and kept everyone engaged. For example, in the first webinar, there was a poll to investigate if learners had ‘embedded Universal Design in your own practice already’, which afforded me the opportunity to gain insight into how UDL can be successfully applied into university services.

Q&A Section(s):

The opportunity to ask questions in real time enabled participants to clarify concepts and receive immediate feedback. This was especially helpful during the redesign activity period and the approach to the report deadline, where participants needed support to stay on track while finishing their final report and addressing any issues they encountered.

Peer-to-Peer Learning

One of the key strengths of the UD: Beyond the Classroom Course was its strong emphasis on peer-to-peer learning, which aligns effectively with the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principle of fostering a collaborative learning environment.

The role of the peer group was instrumental in successfully earning the Digital Badge. Each member was responsible for verifying that their peers had met the badge criteria, serving as a critical component of the evidence required for course completion. This collaborative approach fostered a sense of accountability and community among participants.

Four online peer group meetings were held, with a time and date organised by the members to facilitate each other's working patterns. These meetings provided opportunities to discuss course modules and, later in the programme, delve into our individual and collective thoughts on the redesign project.

I valued the opportunity to engage in active listening and module led discussions within my group. My peer group was composed of support staff with diverse teaching and learning expertise, who provided many perspectives that enriched the learning experience. Whilst each of our redesign projects varied in subject matter and specific practices, it was evident that we all had a shared understanding of the brief and the challenges faced by teachers and learners in higher education institutions in Ireland today.

Additional Support from Facilitators

Each peer group was assigned a peer group facilitator who acted as a mentor and point of contact for any issues that may arise during the course in a smaller group setting than the webinars. There are over 70 facilitators assigned to various groupings, all employed in Full Time Education (FTE) or Higher Education sectors.

In addition to peer group meetings, optional virtual drop-in sessions with the facilitator were available during the planning and implementation phases of the redesign activity. These sessions provided further opportunities for guidance. I found that these drop-in sessions, and the discussions that took place during them, allowed me to discover and fully focus my re-design project in an area that I am passionate about.

The peer facilitator, along with my group members, played a pivotal role in maintaining my motivation and engagement with the course content. Their encouragement and shared expertise boosted my understanding and interest in UDL. I was motivated to not only complete the course, but also to take on board their advice, feedback, and thoughts on their own practices that had not been as familiar for me.

2 Multiple Means of Representation

The Digital Badge and Digital Courses incorporated a range of accessible materials to support engagement and represent a variety of learning styles to suit a diverse learning population.

There are four modules introducing UDL and each of the principles, allowing each one to be explored in-depth (see Appendix 1). It was important for learners to understand the terms and concepts used when discussing UDL, as this would help with the redesign process and completing the final report.

The teaching materials provided in each module could be arranged in a digital flash card format, instructional videos, or interactive slide show presentation style.

Accessible Navigation Tools

Additionally, the modules offered students the ability to navigate the content in a way that suited their specific learning preferences. The following options were offered as part of the self-paced online modules:

• video transcripts 
• on screen zoom to fit 
• accessible text  
• keyboard shortcuts

The video transcripts proved to be a helpful tool when reading over the case studies as they allowed me to pause, reread, and reflect on the material in greater detail. This feature helped me to better understand the various approaches presented, which I could then apply directly to my own decision-making processes.

Library Services Representation

As I had limited prior knowledge of the subject, I was pleased to find case studies focused on teaching and learning resources from university libraries. This allowed me to gain a better understanding of the theoretical concepts introduced in each module, as I could apply the knowledge I have gained throughout my career as a library professional.

These case studies demonstrated how academic libraries embedded UDL principles into practices such as social media and assignment help toolkits. Following on from learning about their initiatives, I was able to formulate my own redesign activity report, in the hopes of informing senior management of redesign opportunities that would allow our own teaching and learning practices to become more inclusive and accessible.

It was important for my practice to be represented in the course, for my own learning opportunities and for awareness that library staff engage in a variety of teaching activities.

3  Multiple Means of Action & Expression

The most helpful and optimum example for accessible design of university courses is through the means of assessment. Within each of the weekly online modules, there were optional quizzes at the end of each which gave learners the opportunity to discover their retention rate.

Assessment: Re-Design Activity

The UD Beyond badge is not graded; however, it includes a culminating Redesign Activity that serves as a meaningful form of assessment. For this, you are expected to redesign at least one aspect of the module using UDL principles and then produce a report which discusses both your experiences and the impact of these changes on those affected.

In alignment with UDL principles, the course provides two format options for this activity: Written Report: 800–1200 words or Video Presentation: 5–10 minutes.

Plus-One Approach: The inclusion of a video or audio style assessment is a plus one approach to assessing a student's learning outcomes. The course allows its learners to choose the format that best showcases their work and suits their own preferred communication and presentation style. This gives students flexibility and the opportunity to individually express themselves.

My Re-Design Project and Report

I chose to complete the written report, as it better suited the evaluative format of my work compared to a video. My report focused on evaluating recent design changes introduced by senior management that impacted my teaching practices as an early career library assistant. I examined the integration of library orientation worksheets into student orientation tours led by library staff such as myself.

The main goal for my report was to offer feedback for management moving forward through monitoring the adaptations that I made as a guide, to cater for each specific group's needs. By completing the report and receiving peer group feedback, I was able to fully understand not only UDL as a principle for accessible teaching and learning practice, but also the critical role library services play in providing users with diverse pathways to success.

Final Reflections

The UD Beyond Digital Badge is the first long-form professional development course I have taken since joining TU Dublin that focuses specifically on teaching and learning. The course has not only allowed me to further develop my teaching and learning skills but also enhanced my research abilities.

There is also the option to pursue a Peer Facilitator Badge  This allows Badge holders to deliver the course themselves upon completion of this next stage. I did not pursue this element of the badge on this occasion. However, I would be open to doing so in the future. My peer group meetings proved to be a successful tool for engaging in discussions about the working relationship between library services and academic services to form an inclusive and accessible learning environment.

I have a renewed sense of commitment to ensuring library users' services are adhering to inclusive and accessible teaching and learning practices. It prompted deep reflection regarding where I would like to see my role evolve as I advance in my career.