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What is Universal Design for Learning?
According to the CAST website, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is “a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn.” Although UDL is not exclusive to digital accessibility, this framework prioritizes inclusivity and thus inherently lends itself to the creation of courses that are accessible to all students.
UDL is built on an understanding of the term learning as the interaction and layering of: 

Recognition, or the “what”
Skills and Strategies, or the “how”
Caring and Prioritizing, or the “why”

The ultimate goal of UDL is to design a course that is accessible to everyone from its very inception and is open to flexibility.  UDL can help instructors create accessible goals, methods, materials, and assessments.
UDL proposes the following three principles to upend barriers to learning:

Representation - present material in a variety of ways
Action and Expression - allow students to share what they know in their own
Engagement - provide students with choices 

Explore this topic further in CAST’s “UDL at a Glance”:
UDL GuidelinesLearn more about the Guildlines for UDL via the accessible and interactive table on the CAST website.

Instructional Technology and Development’s Incorporating Universal Design for Learning (UDL) into Your Course Design

Further Reading

Michigan Tech’s guide for UDL
Weaver Library’s Research Guide Universal Design for Learning (UDL) & Accessibility for Faculty
Introduction to Universal Learning Design (UDL) by Shannon Kelly

Sources

About universal design for learning. CAST. (2024, March 28). https://www.cast.org/impact/universal-design-for-learning-udl

This article is part of the Digital Accessibility Toolkit.

We are excited to announce the app for the MSU Spring Conference on Teaching and Learning, powered by Guidebook, is now available. With this resource, you have access to the most up-to-date information as well as networking tools. The Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation is excited to be piloting this platform to make engagement in this year’s Spring Conference on Teaching & Learning easy, interactive, and accessible. 
Conference Registration: Please note the two non-consecutive days of the Spring Conference on Teaching and Learning require two separate registrations.  
Day 1: April 19, 2024: Synchronous, Virtual via Guidebook App/Site
Register for Day 2: May 1, 2024: In-Person, Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center 
After you’ve registered, you’ll receive an email with instructions on accessing the Conference’s Guidebook app, where you can build a personalized schedule, connect with others, add linked materials to your session’s discussion board and more! 
If you have not yet downloaded the App, instructions are included here: 1) On your mobile device get guidebook here. Tap “Download the app” to access the guide on your iOS and Android device.AND /OR2) On your computer, access the conference schedule via guidebook online. 

In-Guide Navigation
Tap on the icon in the top-left corner of the screen to access the navigation menu.
Once the menu bar is open, there are three icons on the right-hand side. You can search for content within the guide using the magnifying glass. The share icon will allow you to share the cover page URL if this is enabled for the guide. Tapping on the arrow circles will download the latest available updates to the guide. 
Learn more about creating an account, signing in and managing your profile in Guidebook’s User Accounts support article.
Navigation
From the menu, you can access the various components of your guide. Guidebook provides a few different tools to help you get the most out of your event experience.
The guide builder may have named the menu items differently or used different icons for your guide than what you see in these examples. Tap on the menu items to explore everything in the guide.
Day 1 Info - Virtual
Here users will find information about accessing zoom and zoom best practices.
Day 2 Info - In Person
Here users will find information about parking at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center as well as the floorplan (map). Now that you know what’s happening and when you need to know where to go. You can tap on a location on the floor plan to see what sessions are happening there. 
Schedule and Speaker Info
You can find everything you need to know about sessions in the Schedule. Tap on the dates at the top of the screen to navigate through the schedule. Tap on a session name to get more details. NOTE: you'll need to swipe (on mobile) or advance through the calendar to see the two dates of MSU's Spring Conference-- April 19, 2024 and May 1, 2024.Accessing virtual zoom presentations for the April 19th, Day 1, of the conference, please use the Guidebook App. 

use the public Guidebook Link (shared via email) 
go to the conference schedule in the left menu
click on the session you're interested in attending
when the session opens, you'll see a Blue zoom logo box with a "play icon"
if you want to add a reminder to your outlook calendar you can click the download button and an .ics file will be added to your computer's downloads
at the time of your event, click the play icon - write your name and MSU email, and click log in 

you can choose to open zoom within Guidebook or "launch zoom"


zoom will open

You may see colorful dots on some sessions. These indicate schedule tracks, which are tags for sessions according to topic, intended audience, etc.
Below the session description text, you may see links to other items in the guide, surveys, PDFs, and/or website as additional resources.
If YouTube, Vimeo, or Twitch videos have been added to the session, you can play these in the header of the session details page.      My Schedule
When exploring the schedule, you will see plus sign symbols next to session titles when viewing a schedule overview. Tap on the plus sign (+) to add a session to your My Schedule.
If you tap on a schedule session name to learn more about it, you will have the option to Add to My Schedule at the bottom of the screen. Tap this button to add the session to your My Schedule.
If the guide-builder has set space limitations and enabled registration for sessions, you will be required to log in to your account before you can add sessions to your My Schedule.
You can also create your own schedule items by tapping on My Schedule feature in the app and tapping on the plus sign (+) near the top-right corner. Add your personal session details, and click Save.
Personal schedules can be created and shared with others via My Schedule, learn more in Guidebook’s article on meeting booking.  
My Notes
You can access Notes from the Notes menu item in a guide. You can also tap Create note or the note symbol from any schedule session or list item.
All notes are stored locally on your device. Tap on a note to edit, delete, or export/share it. 

The export/share button looks like on Apple devices.
The export/share button looks like on Android devices.

You can also export/share all of your notes from the Notes menu item screen.
To be able to export/share your notes, sharing must be enabled in your guide under Guide Details > Privacy. 
Share, Connect, Grow
The Interact feed is a great place to see what’s going on at your event. Read announcements, post pictures, find popular sessions, and have discussions with fellow attendees all in one place. 
If you choose to log in, your profile will be public and you will show in the Connect list. You’ll be given suggested connections based on the interests you filled in upon onboarding (if the guide creator has set any). You can add a picture and modify your profile (if you would like to share information) and chat with other attendees. When you are checked in to a guide you can be invited to meet other users using Meeting Booking.
Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation (CTLI)
This area links users to more information about the CTLI, hosting organization for the Spring Conference, and the basic web version of conference information.
Notifications
Any notifications that have been sent to this guide will show in the Notifications feature. If you have signed in to the guide, notifications can be sent directly to you by the guide builder. 

 
 

 
According to the Residential College of Arts and Humanities (RCAH), "India Plough joined the RCAH in 2012. She teaches Language and Culture and is the director of the RCAH Language Proficiency Program. Her research interests and publications are in the areas of second language acquisition, language instruction, and test development and validation. India returns to her alma mater after almost 15 years during which time she worked in a variety of contexts from secondary and post-secondary institutions to the non-profit, foundation sector. In addition to giving invited talks in Peru and Greece, India has worked with students, teachers, and administrators in Brazil, China, Greece, Japan, Peru, South Africa, and the U.S. on collaborative projects including learner assessment, teacher training, and program development."
 
Dr. Plough has made a great impacts on the MSU community as an educator. Here's what four Spartans had to say about her: 

"The mission statement of MSU's Residential College in the Arts and Humanities states that "Through interdisciplinary study, imagination, and community partnerships, RCAH inspires and prepares graduates to be collaborative learners and visionary change-makers." I am forever thankful to India because that's precisely what she has done for me and the other graduate students in the interdisciplinary program she oversees. She has inspired and prepared us because she doesn't just deliver content or give orders. Instead, she provokes curiosities, encourages, provides resources, and listens. The consistency between what she says, her teaching, her research and how she treats people is something I aspire to emulate as a future faculty. ¡Muchas gracias, India!"
"I am thankful to India for always thinking for our graduate student language fellows' interests, for going out of her way to ensure our wellness and growth professionally and personally, for modeling positive attitudes, work ethics, and how to treat others with kindness and dignity, and for encouraging and acknowledging our contributions to the CLAC program."
"Professor Plough has been running the ILO program in RCAH. As a graduate fellow, I have to admit that her commitment to leading, energizing, and promoting the program is impressive. She is the kind of professor who carefully listens to people who work with her. Her leadership and teaching approach is unique by which ILO has successfully been running for many year." 
"Dr. Plough hired me to work in her CLAC program as a French language fellow in RCAH. Because of this and her leadership in the program, I am part of a dynamic, passionate team where we share and learn about collaborative, engaged teaching practices, as well as many thoughts and opinions. I have been able to grow so much in my teaching and as an intellectual because of this experience and the atmosphere and ambience she instills in this space. I have met other graduate students she has also hired on the team whom I call friends and dear colleagues. I love being part of a collaborative team comprised of diverse races, nationalities, languages, and disciplines, and my life is very enriched because of it. Grateful is the word for what I feel for the opportunity she has given me."

This week, we are featuring Dr. Eleanor (Ellie) Louson, one of the Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation's educational developers! Ellie earned her bachelor’s degrees from Bishop’s University, her master’s degree in the History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Toronto, and her Ph.D. in Science & Technology Studies at York University. She has a joint-appointment as an educator in Lyman Briggs College, MSU, where she teaches courses in the History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Science. Her research interests include wildlife films’ representation of animal behavior and interdisciplinary, experiential teaching and learning. Her teaching, research, and learning design backgrounds have taught her the value of interdisciplinarity, storytelling, and engagement for higher education. Ellie is originally from the Montreal area and plays in a rock band. Ellie has also been a recipient of the #iteachmsu Educator Award!
Read more about Dr. Louson’s perspectives below. #iteachmsu's questions are bolded below, followed by her responses! 


In one word, what does being an educator mean to you?  
My one word is “care” but it’s more care-as-doing than the emotional dimension of caring. As a teacher, I want to support my students being able to thrive in our class and in their broader lives. I do many things before and during class to support them, including a pre-course survey to learn about their tech and accessibility needs, as well as anything relevant to their situation during the pandemic. I design my classes with lots of flexibility and many assignments are open format. I use an Annotated Syllabus activity so that students can ask questions and make suggestions before I finalize it.
What does this word/quality looks like in your practice? Have your ideas on this changed over time? If so how?
I check in with students in lots of ways. At certain points in the semester, I check in to make sure they understand their progress towards the learning goals and flag any missing assignments. I also start each class with a check-in to give them a mindful moment to reflect on how they’re doing in 3 words, and I turn those check-ins into a word cloud to visualize patterns and to help me be responsive to the class’ energy levels. [Here’s an example word cloud. I use www.wordclouds.com to generate them]
 

I don’t have late penalties, but weekly assignments are spread throughout the syllabus as a marker of the expected pace of work. Students have full lives beyond the course and sometimes it’s reasonable for them to focus on other things. But I also care about their learning. I build in tutorials and extra office hours leading up to major assignments to make sure they can get the help they need. Those assignments also have a draft stage where I give feedback on their in-progress work. And they can revise assignments to improve their grades. I hope this contributes to a climate where it’s ok to try things and fail.
Tell us more about your educational “setting.” This can include, but not limited to departmental affiliations, community connections, co-instructors, and students. (AKA, where do you work?)
I work as an educational developer in the Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation, MSU’s new teaching center, which launched this fall. My colleagues and I work to support and connect MSU’s educators. Before that, I was part of the Hub for Innovation in Learning and Technology. I’m also one of the teaching faculty in Lyman Briggs College, where I teach courses in the History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Science to mainly STEM undergrads. I’m also fortunate to be a director of the CTLI Grad Fellowship, alongside my colleague Makena Neal.
What is a challenge you experience in your educator role? Any particular “solutions” or “best practices” you’ve found that help you support student success at the university despite/in the face of this? 
One challenge for me is that I’m too eager to say “yes” to opportunities that improve academic communities. I like to help, and I know the value of academic service work, so I’m glad to be able to contribute my design or communications skills to a project. But if I take on too many commitments, I am less able to be useful to those efforts. Another downside is that I get overwhelmed! By having stronger boundaries around my downtime and waiting 24 hours before taking on any new commitments, I can better protect my time and energy and make more of a positive difference for the things I deliberately take on..
What are practices you utilize that help you feel successful as an educator?
I learned a lot during the pivot to online teaching about building effective and engaging online courses, and many of those things translate to hybrid and in-person courses as well. I try to give students clarity about expectations, assignments, and the cadence of the class. I think I feel most successful when I share practices that work for me and then fellow educators tell me that they tried them in their own courses and that it helped. I write (and co-author) pedagogy articles for my HPS disciplinary newsletter that I hope help people in my discipline improve their teaching or meet the challenge of online learning. My favorite so far is called “You Can Teach Online! Designing effective and engaging online courses.”
What topics or ideas about teaching and learning would you like to see discussed on the iteach.msu.edu platform? Why do you think this conversation is needed at MSU?
I love iteach.msu as a space for educators to connect and share our ideas and teaching practices. I like learning about new tools and teaching tips on the platform. And I’ve had great experiences sharing resources on iteach.msu. I’ve had MSU educators connect with me after they discovered our playlist for the Spartan Studios Playkit, which is a set of resources for interdisciplinary, experiential teaching based on a pilot project of courses. It’s also really useful that #iteachmsu articles can have audiences beyond MSU. For example, when I present the Spartan Studios project at external conferences, I can share links with the audience and the content is accessible.
I’m interested in learning more about ungrading, both because I think ungrading practices give students more ownership into their own learning and metacognitive reflection, and (probably more selfishly) because I want less grading to do.
What are you looking forward to (or excited to be a part of) this semester?
I’m teaching a Science and the Environment course for Lyman Briggs, and one of the major assignments has students researching conservation initiatives. They also vote (as well as decide on a voting process) to make a real donation to one of the initiatives. It can be a conservation charity, awareness campaign, research institute; any organization that is focused on conservation research or practice. In the past this activity really engaged the students because they end up advocating for the groups, they think are the most impactful or need our donation the most. Since it’s “real” in a way that many academic assignments aren’t, they seem to care about how we make the decision. They also learn about the economics of conservation, and last year a few students got really interested in ranked-choice voting processes. I’m looking forward to improving the assignment based on feedback from last year and learning more about how to teach students to build effective presentations, because communicating in a variety of formats is a key learning objective for the course.
 
Don't forget to celebrate individuals you see making a difference in teaching, learning, or student success at MSU with #iteachmsu's Thank an Educator initiative. Submitted educators recieve a message of gratitude from #iteachmsu and are recognized annually with the Provost's #iteachmsu Educator Award. Submissions are also used to select educators to appear in our Educator Stories features! 

Log into zoom by going to msu.zoom.us
Click on settings in the upper left corner 
Scroll down to polling to make sure it is active
Click on Webinar to schedule a new Webinar
Once it is Scheduled, you can scroll down to add a poll. Click on the Poll tab and then click add in the lower right corner. 
You can add up to 25 polls per scheduled webinar, with up to 10 answers per poll.
You can launch the poll from the zoom controls once the webinar has started
You can then launch a poll question you already created, or add a new poll question by clicking on edit.

 
Additional instructions are available at: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/213756303-Polling-for-Meetings

 

Click on the above image to access a PDF file of the Quick Guide. Remote Assessment
This quick guide provides an introduction to assessment as you move to remote teaching. It outlines key steps to Plan, Modify, and Implement when making this move to optimize student learning. As with any steps you take in moving to remote teaching, it’s important to anchor your decisions in course learning objectives and to be transparent, flexible, and generous with students.
Plan
When planning to assess for remote teaching, it’s important to reference the objectives in your syllabus and plan your assessments based on those objectives. Then, be realistic about how your objectives can now be met in a remote teaching environment. Consider how you will ask students to now demonstrate their learning and then realign and/or match your assessments to your remote-specific objectives.
Modify
Having thought about your objectives and aligning your assessments to them, the next step is to modify your assessments to best suit remote delivery.
Modify your paper exams - convert to D2L
The primary tool you should use to deliver assessments is D2L. If you normally give paper exams, you’ll need to type them into D2L’s quizzing tool. The tool will allow most question types.
Modify your assessment
Be aware that students may be managing online assessments for the first time, and that may affect their performance. Try to avoid letting external factors (e.g. the use of new technology) factor in to the final grade on the assessments.
Modify your submission strategies
If you have students do presentations, group projects, or other performance-based assessments, then you may need to consider how those will be demonstrated. They can use the same tools to do this as you – Zoom or MediaSpace – but they may need additional support to use these potentially new tools.
Consider adjustments to your posted assessment schedule
Modifying materials and assessments to meet the unique demands of a remote environment is important. Offer exams at the times and dates indicated in your syllabus. If you choose to modify the submission of your assessments, do so with attention toward why you’re doing this and communicate that to students.
Implement
In implementing assessments remotely, remember best practices for assessments should still apply. Consider offering both formative and summative assessments, be conscious of test security and academic integrity, and provide meaningful and timely feedback.
Formative Assessment
Formative assessments check for understanding or evaluation of course effectiveness, are often un-graded, and are low stakes and can be moved into the suggested remote spaces. The following are some digital alternatives to common formative assessment approaches:
 

Strategic questioning (use DL2 discussion forums)
Checks for understanding (use D2L surveys or low-stakes quizzes)
Peer feedback (use D2L discussion forums)
Pausing for reflection (use blogging or portfolio tools)
Formative use of summative assessments (spend time after a test or exam reviewing common errors and collective successes)
Acting upon student input (use D2L surveys to ask students how the course is going, and act upon their feedback)

Summative Assessment 
Summative assessments are used to quantify students’ understanding of course concepts and objectives. Using D2L for objective summative testing is the best option for offering remote assessments. 

Consider an open-note format.

Re-write your questions so they are rigorous even if students have access to their notes and texts.


Consider a timed test

Limiting the time students have can keep the rigor high and reduce over-reliance on notes and the Internet (if your test is open note). If setting a time limit, do so strategically. Test how long the exam should take, and set time from there.


Consider a large test pool

Writing a large pool of questions and having D2L randomly draw questions from them can help increase test integrity.


Consider randomizing answers

D2L can randomize the order of your multiple choice answers. This can help improve test integrity.


For written work, consider using rubrics

D2L’s rubric tool can make grading more efficient and can serve to help students prepare better written products



 
 
Provide Meaningful Feedback

Consider using D2L and MediaSpace to provide feedback.
For written work, use D2L’s rubric tool and/or the review features in MS Word to provide written commentary
Consider using D2L’s item analysis tool to review objective tests. Consider creating a screen capture video using MediaSpace to verbally review the test, discussing common errors and collective successes
Use the D2L discussion forum to generate student contributions and reply to comments. In large classes, replying to everyone is not feasible, but selective commenting or general comments that address multiple perspectives can solidify teacher presence.

Additional Help
For additional help and support, please check out the other remote teaching articles here, or contact the MSU IT Service Desk at local (517) 432-6200 or toll free (844) 678-6200.
 
  Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

This week, we are featuring Jennifer “Jeno” Rivera, who up until the start of 2023 has been an associate professor in the Department of Community Sustainability and the director of the Bailey Scholars Program. Starting Jan. 1, 2023, Jeno will serve as Michigan State University’s new director for the Institute for Agricultural Technology (IAT. Jeno was recognized via iteach.msu.edu's Thank and Educator Initiative! We encourage MSU community members to nominate high-impact Spartan educators (via our Thank an Educator initiative) regularly!
Read more about Jeno’s perspectives below. #iteachmsu's questions are bolded below, followed by their responses! 

You were recognized via the Thank an Educator Initiative. In one word, what does being an educator mean to you?  
Educate 
What does this word/quality looks like in your practice? Have your ideas on this changed over time? If so how?
I believe educators carry the responsibility to educate others. This could be done by teaching; providing interactive experiences, resources, stories; modeling; mentoring; etc. My ideas have not changed that much overtime. Many moons ago I would have just said “teach” without much thought to multiple ways of learning.
Tell us more about your educational “setting.” This can include, but not limited to departmental affiliations, community connections, co-instructors, and students. (AKA, where do you work?)
I have a unique role on campus that I created to foster my interests and develop my strengths. I am the director of the CANR Liberty Hyde Bailey Scholars Program where I get to explore self-directed integrated learning. I am faculty in the CANR department of Community Sustainability and an instructor in the RCAH where I educate others about community engagement. I like to play in the spaces where art and agriculture come together by focusing on the human and social dimensions of AFNR.I believe a lot of these problems can be solved by developing lifelong learners who are educated to create solutions.
What is a challenge you experience in your educator role? Any particular “solutions” or “best practices” you’ve found that help you support student success at the university despite/in the face of this?
A challenge I face is helping students take ownership of their learning and develop a purpose to guide their learning experiences. I have a lot of students who are the “tell me what to do so I can pass your class” students. I hope that by the end of the semester they have developed some of the skill set to determine what they need to do to be successful and to continue learning to align to their purpose (and not align to a job or degree). This is super challenging (but a fun challenge). 
What are practices you utilize that help you feel successful as an educator?
Checking in- I frequently check in with my learners to make sure that they learning experience is going well for all. I also check in with myself. If I feel that I have developed a lesson that is not meeting the learning goals in the way that I had envisions- I question this. I ask why? and how?  a lot. I also reflect on learning by learning with and from my colleagues. I am now shy to seek out guidance from my peers when something is not going well. I think we can all improve.
What topics or ideas about teaching and learning would you like to see discussed on the iteach.msu.edu platform? Why do you think this conversation is needed at MSU?
What faculty can do to enhance student success. This is a missed opportunity to meet the student success goals set established in goals such as the MSU 2030 Strategic Plan. If we think about who students interact with the most during the day, it is their professors. There is so much that we do (or don’t do) that can affect students’ success. However, we are provided little guidance on how to best do this (beyond making a more inclusive syllabus and learning goals). Think about whole student development- academic success is just one piece of a large picture and should not be the only focus.
What are you looking forward to (or excited to be a part of) next semester?
I am transitioning. I think we all need the opportunity to grow and develop so I am transitioning to a position that will let me do just that. I am hoping that I will develop better skills and abilities to be an effective administrator of educational experiences. Sometime when we stay in something too comfortable we miss opportunities to change and create something new.

Don't forget to celebrate individuals you see making a difference in teaching, learning, or student success at MSU with #iteachmsu's Thank an Educator initiative. You might just see them appear in the next feature!

Breakout rooms allow you to split your Zoom meeting in up to 50 separate sessions. The meeting host can choose to split the participants of the meeting into these separate sessions automatically or manually, and can switch between sessions at any time.
Create Breakout Rooms 

Log into msu.zoom.us
Click on settings
Scroll down to In Meeting Advance Settings and make sure that Breakout Room is activated and that Allow Host to Assign Participants to Breakout Rooms when Scheduling is selected. 
Then you can schedule a meeting by clicking on meeting and the Schedule a New Meeting.
When schedule your meeting you can choose to pre-assign participants to the break out rooms, by checking Breakout Room pre-assign in the meeting options, and then clicking on Create Rooms
You can then create and assign the rooms prior to the meeting 
You can also create Breakout Rooms during the meeting by clicking on Breakout Rooms in the zoom controls 
Then select  Automatically or Manually 
Automatically will randomly assign the participants in the meeting to a Breakout Room. Manual will allow you to create, rename and assign participants to Breakout Rooms

Additional instructions for breakout rooms: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206476313-Managing-breakout-rooms