Documenting and analyzing the relevance of Universal Design for Learning in developing inclusive provisions for culturally diverse learners in online pedagogy

Abstract

Recent profound societal transformations have led to a broad reframing of the collective understanding and use of the term ‘diversity’.  In the tertiary sector, in particular, this widening and deepening of the reflection on learner diversity has meant a move away from a simple focus on impairment; this term now also encompasses all intersectional dimensions of culture, race, Indigeneity, socioeconomics, gender and sexual orientation, and age.  The tertiary sector is urgently seeking tools to embed this emerging lens into teaching and learning practices.  The online facets of post-secondary teaching have lagged behind in this reflection, and the COVID pandemic pivot has highlighted how challenging management of change could be in online pedagogy.  Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has offered powerful promises in supplying instructors with hands-on resources to navigate this rapid transformation of online pedagogy and guarantee that online learning spaces are fully inclusive.  This paper explores and analyzes auto-ethnographic data collected by the author along the last four years, while he provided support and professional development around UDL as a consultant through the sector.  The paper presents key findings from this analysis in relation to the usefulness of UDL in the diverse online class, and invites a reflection related to their strategic implications for higher education.