“Moving from Accessibility to Universal Design for Learning: A Paradigm Shift from Fear to Hope.” 12/02/2016

Over the last year, the Faculty Learning Community (FLC) on Accessibility Through Creative Innovation has been working with MSU IT Services to create a self-enrolled course on accessibility and curriculum development.  To prepare for this task the FLC read and discussed literature on Universal Design for Learning (UDL).  Even though the concepts of accessibility and UDL do not overlap entirely, the philosophies overlap significantly and offer a chance to reframe accessibility from an “unfunded mandate” impacting a small number of learners to an equitable educational opportunity improving learning for all students.  This lunchtime brownbag will cover how the self-enrolled course on Accessibility & Universal Design for Learning was developed and the possible reframing of accessibility using UDL.  We will end the session with a discussion about challenges and opportunities for training faculty members in accessibility and UDL.Everyone is invited to attend.