UDL United!

Find out about UDL: Universal Design for Learning with podcast guest, Elizabeth Weatherford.  She shares some resources:

Microsoft Team on UDL. There are general resources, research about UDL, and then I have some discipline-specific pages in the “Resources” channel. Her podcast is also linked there. 

This is Elizabeth's UDL…page that has some presentations listed there ( as well as my contact information, podcasts, etc. 

 And finally, this is the link to the “Myth of Average” video

Theme music composed, performed and produced by James Husni.

Adjunct Nation is a collaborative podcast under the auspices of The Lucas Center for Faculty Development at FGCU. You can learn more by clicking on this link:

https://www.fgcu.edu/lucascenter/

Transcript

Welcome Adjunct Nation.
We are a growing diverse community who face challenging work in an ever-changing higher education landscape.
Your co-hosts for this podcast are with you in this.
I'm Maggie Han. I've been an Adjunct at Florida Gulf Coast since 2022.
And I'm John Roth, coordinator for Adjunct Faculty.
Together we hope to have conversations to empower, support, and elevate Adjunct faculty.
This conversation today is one to do just that.
Welcome back Adjunct Nation. John, how are you?
Doing well. Ready for the weekend.
Me too. It is Friday. Thank heaven. And it's beautiful outside.
It is gorgeous.
Sunny in 75.
Yeah. And talk about gorgeous. We've got a gorgeous guest today.
We do. I'm very excited for today and for our guest. Please introduce yourself.
My name is Elizabeth Weatherford. I'm not really sure about the gorgeous part, but you are gorgeous.
Inside and out, girl.
Thank you. I'm an instructor in the Department of Language and Literature,
but I got a second master's degree in curriculum instruction, educational technology,
where I took Dr. Michelle Stork's UDL class and it just radically changed my teaching and my interest,
especially my research and presentation interests.
Awesome, Elizabeth. Well, you used the word already or the, what do you call it? An acronym? UDL? What is that?
An acronym? Yeah. Okay. What is UDL and why is it important?
So UDL is universal design for learning and it takes the principal applied to architecture of universal design
with like ramps and Braille and things like that that are meant to help people access spaces and applies that concept to learning.
The idea being that we are going to try to remove barriers that students face in the learning and in the classroom
so that they can better learn and express what they've been able to learn.
So it's really a matter of looking at the diversity of students and how they learn so that everyone has an opportunity to be successful.
And if you're interested in student success, I think the why it's important then becomes pretty clear.
Yeah. We had talked just before this podcast how we have structured most of our whole philosophy of teaching for years,
decades around quote the average student and is there an average? Yeah.
And actually Todd Rose has a great TED talk. It's about 15, 20 minutes called The Myth of Average
and he has a whole book on it and stuff as well. He was high school. We'll put that in our notes.
He was a high school dropout who is now a professor at Harvard.
There you go. Right. And so one of the things that he talks about is that right there is no such thing as an average learner.
Everyone is going to have strengths and weaknesses and in his TED talk he shows this staggered diagram where you can put a mythical person on it
and you could do this with not just education and skills but even like body size.
He uses this great example of the Air Force was trying to design new jets and they decided they were going to design a cockpit for the quote unquote average pilot
and in doing so designed it for no one because no one was meeting this average mold.
And it was actually the reason that they started using adjustable seats so that they could actually have people who were short.
Do you mean they didn't have adjustable seats in these jets? Correct.
From what I understand anyway I don't want everybody to be like 5'8".
Right. I mean that was not just like ballerinas everybody is the same size but not even just like height but also like leg length right because you have a shorter upper body
with the shoulders what can fit into the cockpit and so when they were able to do this it actually increased their pool of pilots
and allowed more women to be pilots because they could fit into the cockpit.
And so it's it's realized there is no such thing as average both as a physical standpoint but then also as an educational or learning standpoint
there is no such thing as an average because we are so vastly different in so many different ways.
You know it just reminds me of something I think it's in Malcolm Gladwell's book David and Goliath.
He talked to a group of entrepreneurs and others who were like inventors and people who had done some really amazing things that were successful.
He got in that group and and asked the question how many of you were diagnosed at one point in time and still today then
with some type of a learning disability and 75% of them raised their hands.
And the reason is they had to figure it out they had to figure out a new way to do something because they were struggling in some way with the quote normal way
and that's where most of our invention and most of our entrepreneurship happens it was fascinating.
They have to think outside the box. They have that creative thinking element because they've had to.
So thinking outside of the box with I guess course design I've never really considered the fact that my students none of them are average.
What are some examples how have you designed a course with UDL in mind?
So it's hard because there is so much and actually the first time I encountered UDL was in a webinar way back when and it made it sound like it was individualized instruction that you did for every single student.
I was like there's no way there's no way I have time to do this and at the time I wasn't adjunct.
So I definitely didn't have time and when I took Dr. Storck's class realizing that you can just start with one thing.
You can start with one way to make the course or a particular assignment more accessible.
And so that might be if you have a reading that you like your students to read giving them an audio option whether that's the actual same content just
turned into an audio format or if you have an alternative that talks about the same concepts but is actually a different video or different audio content that you can provide.
So what do you start with? You take a course like some of my courses. I use that little icon thing in...
Ally.
Yeah.
That kind of shows me where there might be either type or contrast that aren't correct.
But beyond that what's the next step?
So the Ally is really looking at the like ADA accommodations.
So the things that are legally required you have to have certain descriptions and things like that.
Closed caption on videos.
Yes.
And some of that is UDL as well.
So the ADA has requirements like and it has to be for for example if you get a student in your class that has an accommodation for captions.
They are legally required to have them. But other than that it's technically to my understanding not illegal to not have captions.
If that makes sense.
Okay.
So adding captions to any video one makes it more accessible to those students who might need those captions.
You don't have to wait for the accommodation form that makes it mandatory.
But not only are those students who need the captions going to benefit but there's benefits to other students as well.
So you might have second language learners who pay attention better if they have or like we were talking before we recorded.
I pay much better attention when I have subtitles.
I also sometimes just don't like listening to stuff and would rather read it.
I'm you know in the literature discipline.
So I don't think I'm shocking that I like to read.
But also you know students who are busy or have loud houses whether that's because they have small children whether that's because they're in a house with their siblings still.
Maybe they have to do some reading at a coffee or their schoolwork at a coffee shop that's loud to write more than just the people who cannot hear the video are benefiting from adding captions.
That's kind of the whole crux of UDL as well is that when you remove barriers for the ones who need it most.
When you remove barriers for the deaf and hard of hearing students.
When you remove barriers for the blind students, the ones with dyslexia, ADHD, right?
When you remove those barriers everyone benefits.
Music
So where you start is really personal to what I guess your philosophy is as a teacher but also your content and also how much you're able to change things.
I know there are a lot of courses and majors that have certain things that have to be included and certain tests.
I think what stood out for me as a primarily writing instructor was figuring out how I could create opportunities for students to express themselves not in writing while still teaching a writing class.
Interesting. How did you do that?
I literally just posted like four reflections for my students so now I'm like do I need to redo these?
Please tell us.
So an easy way to do that would be if it's a reflection if you are not grading the writing itself.
If the writing is important let them do a recording.
Oh my gosh.
You can do a video right?
You just talked about this.
In Canvas you can do a video you can have them do audio.
They can also just record on their phone and upload.
I always tell them as much as I love Canvas.
It's sometimes weird with audio and video files so I always tell them like post it on YouTube and then just share the unlisted link.
You don't have to put it public.
You don't have to let anybody see it.
But use the unlisted link and post that.
And you still will get a lot of students who will write but then the ones who are really, I don't know how I want to say this, really don't want to write for whatever reason.
Those are the ones that usually will.
And then sometimes students are tired of writing.
Maybe they like to write but they have written so much in the past week that one reflection they might do a recording instead.
So things like that is if writing is not the point where are those opportunities that I can give students to turn something else in.
Whether that's a recording, whether that's instead of maybe an essay or maybe a few paragraphs, can I have them do something more visual?
Can they do like an infographic?
And even in those formal writing spaces I can give them opportunities to use writing formats that maybe are less intimidating than the quote unquote college essay.
Like, infographics, brochures, newsletters, websites.
I've had students do presentations where there's still a lot of text but they have to record themselves and have a whole outline of what they're talking about where I can still assess the writing elements of it depending on how much the writing is important to the assignment.
And when I'm able to do that then they also are choosing things that might be more likely to be used in their future, whether that's a future class or a future job.
So how many of our students are going to grad school and starting to publish and things like that but how many more of them are going into positions where maybe they have to post on social media and they need an event graphic.
Or they're going to send out information to clients and things like that and they need to make the content on the website or a brochure to hand out to their potential clients or consumers.
So, giving them opportunities, I still have to assess writing so I'm not taking away that and there are times when they have to write an essay but giving them those opportunities to express other types of what they have learned in other ways.
One of my favorite examples is when I do Ethos Pathos Logos.
I usually have them do it in groups and I have them.
That's Greek by the way. I took Greek so I...
What does it mean?
Ethos is like ethics or character. Pathos is suffering or passion and Logos is word.
Now I don't know in terms of how it's used in yours.
Essentially the same. So, Ethos would be the credibility, the author.
The credibility, the character.
Yes, and that can be invented by using coding credible sources or you might have situated Ethos which would be that you yourself have that knowledge or experience.
Okay. Pathos is the passion.
An emotion. So, we see a lot of that when the ASPCA ads are always my favorite example.
It's just like ball.
That one or we're children.
Yes. Yeah. The hungry children.
Oh my gosh.
Just tug at the heartstrings.
Yes. And then Logos would be word but logic and structure.
So, you know, is it organized? Does it make sense? Are you using evidence?
Yeah. Things like that.
So, one of my favorite ways to do this then is especially if I'm in a physical classroom having them work in groups so they have to get to know each other.
And then I have them create an infographic based on what they learned.
And so, they have to include an example of where it's used well, an example of where it is used improperly.
So, for example, if you're trying to make a really logical argument and it's you're trying to be really credible and persuade people but then you're all you're doing is tearing at people's emotions and making them angry or sad or whatever.
So, an example where it's either not used well or used unethically.
Manipulation.
Yes.
And then they have to include things like.
Which I'm wondering about those SPCA ads sometimes.
So, you know, there's criteria that to meet but there's not a ton of text.
Some of them have more text than others but there's not a ton of text and they have a way.
It's an early opportunity to use like Canva or something like that with templates so that if they do, if I choose an option later on this semester for a larger assignment, they already have some experience with the technology too.
It seems more holistic.
Does that make sense?
Or does it give students more autonomy?
I think it gives them more agency.
Yeah.
It gives them more agency and that's actually another element of UDL is giving them some options that they can choose what is actually impactful to them.
It's going to make them more engaged and this isn't new and it's not unique to UDL.
Lots of educational spaces talk about the importance of connecting with the material so that it'll be more relevant so that it'll last a little bit more.
So that it'll last longer or whatever the case is.
That's another way that for my classes anyway, it's fairly easy to give students is giving them options about what they want to read about or write about.
In literature classes, I usually give them a range of options for what they can read.
Even creative writing, same thing as when we're reading something.
I usually give them a list of four or five and then they can pick, you know, two or three out of those so they have some agency in what they're going to read.
So yeah, they're going to be more engaged when they actually are making those choices for themselves.
And sometimes I have those conversations too, whether that's in person or in a video that I put in my online classes, just about how and why they might make certain choices.
So maybe not so much in literature and creative writing where it's, you know, a gen ed class that they're probably just trying to get through, but in composition in particular or professional writing.
Why you might want to use an infographic or a brochure instead of a traditional essay?
Well, if you're going into marketing, it might make more sense if you choose one of those options.
I actually just did an op ed for my comp two students and I was like, choose something you're really interested in, really passionate about.
And a lot of them chose things that are either related to their majors or are kind of connected in some way.
They had a student that wrote about the understaffing in hospitals.
And so she wants to be a nurse.
So giving her that option to kind of engage with that content and then it makes even the writing process a little bit easier when it's something you're already interested in.
Cool.
So I'm wondering how feedback from students, kind of a feedback loop with all this, how important is that in terms of, so you've created a UDL assignment as well as you can think, is there a way that you incorporate also student feedback so that you can assess how well that assignment is working for them?
Sure. And I mean, I would like to think that my entire class is UDL designed.
Yeah, go ahead.
But if, for example, somebody wants to focus on one thing.
Right. So I, you know, this boy is a great opportunity, especially because you can add your own questions.
Yeah.
Well, I find it's probably too long in the first place for students to even want to get through to those questions.
Well, now you can do those like anonymous surveys and campus.
I would do something.
Yeah.
So when you do that, you do a form or something like that.
The, I offer bonus points for them to complete this boy. Obviously, you don't know names or anything.
So I just do based on the percentage of the students that complete it.
It's a good motivator. I get more responses that way.
Yeah.
But I also typically do like a mid semester feedback and I do an anonymous quiz or bonus assignment in Canvas so that I can ask.
And so you can ask about a particular assignment and you can ask about, you know, what worked, what didn't.
And Maggie, just for those who may not be from our university, that might be listening in.
What is boy we've used to do?
It stands for student perception of instruction.
Yes. Bing, Bing, Bing, Bing.
Yeah. Ten points.
Yeah. Basically at the end of the semester, we get this.
You can do it mid term too. You can create your own. But as far as across the university line.
The university just to see where students think of each course and how well it's been.
Something they've grown in, what they've struggled with, the instruction.
Yep.
And there, you know, those standard questions that everyone has to answer, but then you can add your own.
You can add your own.
Did you know we have a dashboard for that? Yes.
You can view like the entire university's boy.
I have not looked.
Like by term too. And by which class. It's kind of freaky.
It's kind of, I saw it in my ego has hurt a little bit, but you know, I like that.
I was like improvement. I like that better than right my professor.
Oh my gosh. At least you know these students go here and actually took the class.
Well then also.
And you get a bigger, a bigger group of them. It's not the disgruntled students going on right my professor.
It's, you know, the whole class.
Not the disgruntled part, but like, you know, the whole class.
The whole class.
What I have found surprising about the feedback is that.
So I do tell students about my philosophy with UDO and why I use it and how it might appear in the class.
It's part of my syllabus quiz because I want them to know like I'm doing this for a reason.
And also trying to teach them that they can use these same concepts themselves.
So if they, you know, telling them about the library scanner that'll turn documents into audio files and things like that.
There are resources that they can use that to help them.
So I get a lot of feedback both from spoil in term surveys, but also sometimes just from students who will tell me either in passing or as a like end of the semester email about how much they appreciated having options, having audio instead of always having to read,
having options for how they can meet complete assignments.
Some of this also goes to probably the most controversial part of my perspective of UDO, which is my attendance policies and how much they appreciate that and take advantage of that.
And so it's really nice to see that students appreciate that.
What is your attendance policy because John and I have been pulling our hair out.
I'd love to hear yours.
So I was just talking about this yesterday too.
So I started this a version of this before COVID.
I had a student who had a, I think an autoimmune disorder and had the accommodation for flexible attendance.
She could not attend class sometimes.
And I was like, okay, how do I do this?
And I started putting course content in canvas for her to complete.
And I realized, well, if I can do this for her, I could do this for anybody.
I was already putting stuff in canvas anyway because I like showing students what we're going to be doing that day.
I also, then they have, can I have the instructions up while we do activities.
So I'm like, why I can just open this up and she can just do these assignments and everything I asked her to do.
She would do and usually do more than what I asked her to do.
So it'd be like a group activity and I'd say do this part.
She'd do the entire group activity.
And so after I had that student, I realized again, I could do this for everyone.
And also sometimes we just miss your car breaks down.
You get sick and tracking right.
You get, you know, have to lose track of all, have to keep track of all the letters and the quote unquote proof and, but not everybody can get proof because not everybody can go the doctor.
And then of course, COVID happens.
So making it even more interesting and more difficult.
But one of the accommodations that adaptive services sees a lot and that I think it's a lot more pushback, perhaps from faculty is that flexible attendance.
So my attendance policy is that you can miss as much as you need to.
The content is on canvas.
If you are going to miss the expectation then is that if you want points, you have to complete the activity.
If I am trying to get you to learn skills and understand concepts, I want you to do the work.
And if I want you to do the work, I have to make it available.
Whether you're missing because you're having a flare up or you had an anxiety attack, your car broke down, or you just overslept.
So instead of having to track all of the letters and documentations and things like that, if you want the points, you have to complete the assignment online.
And there are benefits for attending class.
One is that I bring snacks.
And I tell them at the beginning, this is literally a ploy to get you to like me and be nice to me.
Transparency, they love it.
But the others that we, I do a lot of gamification as well.
And so there are opportunities to earn bonus points.
Well, you can't do that if you're leaving it later.
And then also usually what is posted online, especially if it's been gamified, is not going to be quite as fun as if you actually attend in person.
So you use a lot of carrots, not too many sticks.
That's interesting.
Yeah.
But then my late work policy takes it a little bit further.
So I allow anything to be submitted up to one week late with no penalty.
And really, I accept it much later than that.
If they have to submit beyond one week.
No student should be listening in that.
But if they have to submit something beyond a week, then they have to complete a late work form, which has, that, even that part, has kind of evolved in the past few semesters.
And one of the elements of the late work form.
One is that they have to outline all the assignments and they have to give me a reasonable time frame for when they're going to submit.
And I have the right to refuse that timeline.
But one of the things I want them to do is if I'm going to accept your late work, I want you to do it well.
I don't want your crappy assignment.
I don't want you to rush and do this just to get some points because it's not going to benefit you in the end anyway.
So a reasonable timeline to do the work and do it to the best of your ability.
Because if I'm going to give you feedback too, I need your best work.
The other part of the form is they have to either have met with me or met with someone from the CAA or their advisor.
And some sort of accountability. If you're submitting this many assignments more than one week late, you've got to do something to make sure that this isn't going to happen again.
And the CAA is the Center for Academic Achievement.
Yeah, just making sure our nationwide listeners.
Maggie, what do you think of her policies?
I am very intrigued.
I have to think about it more.
I do.
So for context, classes I teach are like freshman courses, freshman college.
So for sure, seminars.
But sometimes engagement is like pulling my hair out.
But what we talk about is all applicable in the real world.
What else do you do? How big are your classes?
Sometimes I'll have 50% attendance and we meet once a week.
Yeah, so this is my second semester with the hybrid where we meet once a week.
And yeah, so my classes are typically capped at 25.
The only one that is more is inter to lit, but it's entirely online.
Okay.
But yeah, freshman classes, freshman students, first time in college, especially comp one.
So I do, like I said, I do a lot of gamification to make it so they want to come.
If they're going to come to campus, I want them to be, I want them to not necessarily know they're learning.
I would enjoy that learning.
But that they really do like learning.
Yes.
So one of the other things is that even when I only have 15 other 25 that are attending,
the 15 are there to learn.
So I feel like it's almost better than when the others come to class and are just
moping around, not being.
Sleeping in the back.
Yeah, right.
They haven't done any other work.
They're just leaching off the other students.
So if those students aren't there, still have to do the work and have to do it on their own.
They're still learning.
And then my students in the classroom are then having a better experience because everyone is invested.
Everyone is there to learn and participate.
And it becomes a, I feel like a much more.
So just embrace it.
The five, like 10 people will show up out of the class of 25.
Well, you might want to look at like what can you do to get them there?
And like I said, I think the gamification helps.
Tell me what, just on another note, I'm just wondering what is your DFW rate that's D's, F's or
withdrawal from class because they didn't get the work done because it just, it was like you gave them so much rope.
Before I kind of figured out the ins and outs of my late work policy in particular, like the late work form,
how long I wanted to give them, things like that.
Before I started figuring that stuff out, I was about on par with the rest of my department,
which is like 10 to 15% I think or 20%.
And sometimes that's for Comp 1.
All of my classes each.
And so, you know, I mean, some would have individual sections would vary different, right?
I know the Comp 1 is kind of like an indicator course for first FTIC.
First time in college, just FTIC.
Yes.
So I have, you know, individual sections are very different.
And honestly, that's one of the like most fascinating things is I'll have two of the exact same class and the exact same format.
And I'll have one that does everything early, everything's on time.
Like it's great.
And I'll have one that has like 10 students that smits everything late.
It's fascinating.
There's no average class.
True.
Nope.
But since I've kind of figured out my policy, I want to say this fall.
So I taught five classes in the fall.
Five.
Yes.
I usually teach six.
So that was a downgrade for me.
Her and I were crying over fall.
We didn't know each other then, but I also had five and I was just like tears.
That's overload, right?
Yes.
I'm just going like, yeah.
Yeah.
I've been teaching six classes for like, I don't know, three, four years now.
Elizabeth.
So I'm down to five.
I have a life.
No, no.
This is her life.
Okay.
So, same, shameless plug.
UDL helps.
At least I think so.
So in the end though, you said this fall.
Yeah.
So this fall out of the five classes, I think I had, I think I had less than 10 total.
The didn't pass.
Yeah.
Out of like 150 students.
125.
125.
So it's a little less than 10%.
Yeah.
Congratulations.
That's good.
And I, and it is somewhat the late work policy.
So one of the other things that I do with that and that has helped somewhat, at least for
my work life balance, is I do have a cut off.
So it's not like a, you can turn everything in at the very last day of the semester.
And I tell them from, so for example, this semester, it's April 7th.
Like after that, the only thing that can be revised is what is upcoming.
And I won't accept anything else late.
Oh, and I should also mention an incentive for turning things in on time.
So for in class, right, you can earn bonus points if you attend or, you know, it's generally
more fun.
You get to meet other people in the class.
So attendance is bonus kind of.
No, so I don't, I take attendance to learn names and because they want us to.
But it actually doesn't factor into their grade.
So the, they're great entirely based on the assignments.
So if they miss the only way that they can get the grade is to do the actual work.
Late work policy, the way that I try to incentivize that they turn things in on time is that as,
if you submit on time, you can revise for a new grade.
Ooh.
Okay.
So students who maybe, and I tell them this too, I'm like, if you are going to turn something
something in late, I would highly recommend meeting with me to, especially a larger assignment,
meeting with me to make sure you have the information you need, the knowledge that you need that
you've gotten some feedback to get the best grade possible because you don't have that safety net.
And I feel like it works really well for first year students who, some who have maybe an inflated
sense of their abilities of writing.
And then the other side of that is the students who think they quote unquote can't write.
And so if they know it's okay to take a risk, if you turn it on time and get a brand new grade,
it relieves some of that pressure and anxiety for those students, which again is kind of another part of, of UDL as well.
Do you do that for large assignments?
Like all assignments.
All assignments, but they generally don't use it for like homework and practice because you don't really need it.
It's interesting.
What are you thinking Maggie?
I have been thinking a lot of things.
A question would be what advice would you give to adjuncts who want to create a more inclusive classroom,
but don't know where to start.
So there's some like low hanging fruit that immediately help.
So it's kind of weird stuff like making your font a little bit larger because those who are visually impaired,
and again it's not necessarily that they're blind, but it makes it-
Within Canvas make it larger?
Yes.
And any documents that you provide either that the font is itself larger or they are able to adjust that font.
There are certain font types that are better for people with certain reading issues.
I mean times New Roman is usually a good choice, you know, don't go with script.
So for documents it suggests 20 point font.
20.
Or the ability to enlarge the font, which most things, especially Word docs are really easy.
Okay, so you recommend if for example you don't want your document to be 50 pages because it's that size, 20 font.
If you upload it into Canvas as a Word document, is that okay because students have the ability to zoom in or change the font versus a PDF?
Yes.
Okay.
Interesting.
So at least give them the ability to edit it to what they need.
Right.
Okay.
Some other things you can do is like adding subheadings and headings.
It makes it easier to read with screen readers, but also it's really good for people who have ADHD and other processing disorders
because it allows them to like help chunk the information into parts using images as needed and then describing those images.
And so this is a part where my one of my new interests of AI comes in because if you have an image that you don't want to sit there and try and figure out how to describe and make sure that it's accessible.
You just ask AI.
Yes.
And that can even go for more complex images.
I mean, obviously, and this is I think the part that students then miss is you have to edit.
You have to make sure it's accurate.
Yeah.
But at least it speeds up that process.
So if you think it's going to take a long time, usually it really doesn't.
And especially if you're using something like AI to help generate the initial content, the initial heavy lifting that then you just go and edit carefully.
So the scaffolding, I think is a, I don't want to say an easy one, but a little bit of the low hanging fruit because if you are scaffolding assignments, students are then better able to see the connections.
So like a term paper where you say, okay, you've got to have the thesis to it in two weeks and then in three weeks, we're going to do this and this and this and so they're putting it together along the way.
Yes.
And also, even if you go back like earlier in the semester to readings, and this is one of the things I love about Canvas, I mean, I'm sure other learning management systems do this too, but linking directly to previous readings in the assignment instructions or linking to previous assignments and the assignment
instructions to show that what you did earlier was important or what you read earlier.
So if you forgot what you read earlier, you're building up here is the information again.
You can go back to that.
If we only had video right now, my jaw is on the floor and your eyes just lit up, Maggie.
It's like a whole new world now, especially as, no, literally.
Yeah.
I feel like not just for adjuncts, but I felt like it helped me to also make sure my content connected and that it made sense.
Was like, am I actually linking to anything else?
Are we doing anything with this material again?
Like, why are we learning this?
Right.
Why did you have to read this?
Why was this important?
Why is this video important?
So I felt like it also helped me as an instructor figure out what was important and how to connect those things.
Interesting.
Also linking to instructions on how to submit or what they need to do, that's been a big one that I've utilized.
Like, for example, bigger assignments, all upload, if you, how to convert a Word document to a PDF.
Here are also some sites you can go do this.
You can do a great extra support on your writing beforehand.
Here's the writing center and also Purdue out if you can't access it.
Just like little things.
Or how to upload a video submission.
Yes.
I was going to say even for how to submit, because that's not just UDL, it's also cognitive load.
There's only so much information we can keep in our head at the time.
And if you're stressed out-
If you've never done it before, well, I mean, hopefully not.
Or stressed out.
Especially by the end of the semester.
Right.
But right.
If you're at the end of the semester, you have four term papers and an exam.
You might be like, I don't remember how to upload a file.
So just providing those instructions to students.
And then again, you know, linking to anything else that's relevant.
Some of this is also linking to what, you know, what do they know or what do they not know.
So in Comp 2, theoretically, they should know how to evaluate web sources.
But maybe they forgot.
Or maybe they didn't have to take Comp 1.
Or maybe-
They took it somewhere else.
Right.
So linking to those kinds of sources, like if you did not get this content.
Um, linking to relevant definitions of relevant terms and vocabulary and things like that are
going to help.
Again, this is for students who maybe have learning issues and things like that.
But also students who have a lot on their plate for whatever reason forget.
And I think we like to think students just flush information.
At least I used to think that.
They're like, oh, they don't remember anything.
And we just went over.
But I mean, again, cognitive load.
There's only so much information you can hold.
It's also part of our responsibility.
I feel to connect those dots.
Because they're also learning it all for the first time.
And then you're demonstrating to them to what they should be trying to do.
Like can you make-
In other classes too.
Can you make connections in your content?
But also, you know, can you make connections to the classes that you are taking?
And in between classes and seeing that interdisciplinary work a little bit.
And then building the skills too about, okay, so maybe you have another class where you have
a paper, but it's not a quote unquote writing class.
Taking what you learned about building that paper and applying it then to the other class.
If I wanted to learn a little more about UDL beyond this podcast and what you've just
described, do you have some resources that we could add into our notes for this?
Yeah, me.
Oh, yeah.
If you don't mind, we'll put your email in.
Yeah.
Do we have a campus course for it?
I have a Microsoft Teams that I actually have to check on because when they updated,
they did something funky and a bunch of my work went away.
Oh, cool.
So I got to investigate that, but I used to have.
I have a bunch of like research linked, but then I was breaking it up into different disciplines
as well as I could.
Any books or articles that you would recommend?
So anything by Todd Rose.
So I already mentioned the myth of average.
Oh, I don't know how I found this.
That's mine.
Well, now I know I'm meeting the author of the introduction to UDL Canvas course.
I added myself to for everybody listening.
So we got it back.
Well, that's why I asked and I was like, girl, you wrote this.
Cognitive load.
There's only so much you can have.
She's flushed it.
It's gone.
She flushed her own work.
Yep.
So I actually might even have a part two or maybe that was a plan.
I got a look.
So can we put that as a.
It was part of your fellowship.
I know, but I.
Is there.
Like my.
I don't know what happened.
It'll be in the middle of the night.
Yeah.
So I have that.
I have a canva page that like with my info and it links to my podcast.
I have links to previous presentations I've done in the Lucas Center.
Most of them are just the slides, but sometimes I have recordings to you when I remember.
Cool.
Awesome.
This is all good stuff.
Lots of resources.
And finally, I think.
You said you had been an adjunct faculty member.
Was that here?
I was adjunct here at FSW and at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, California.
What was it like?
What helped you during those years?
What did you learn and discover?
I feel like I'm a much different instructor now.
So I'm like, if I could take the knowledge that I had now and applied it to when I was
an adjunct, I feel like I would have not only been a better instructor, but I would have
felt better about what I was doing.
What would you tell your younger self?
I would tell her about UDL.
I feel like it.
While it might seem like it takes longer, I actually don't think it does take any longer.
It ends up saving me time and stress in the long run.
So if you don't have anything in Canvas, it's going to take longer.
But I've always taught either some online classes or hybrid or so I've always been familiar
with the online aspect of courses.
So putting information on Canvas was second nature.
If you don't put anything on Canvas, I think it's a much different beast.
I feel like not only is it the way that I'm designing the course, but even just acknowledging
who my students are, when I was an adjunct when I was fresh out of grad school.
So I thought all the students would be like me.
Yeah, no.
Right?
I thought I was.
Showing a happy everyday, ready to learn.
Doing all the reading.
Yeah.
Before class.
Doing the reading before class.
Doing my best on all of my assignments.
And I mean, I had already changed how I was teaching when I became full-time.
But when I started taking classes in education and realizing like why some of the stuff I
was doing worked and why some of it didn't made so much more sense and made it so much
easier for me to decide what to keep.
What do I want to ask on the splay to find out if I should keep doing something or if
I need to drink changes?
Also to make small changes.
I had a tendency to redo my entire class every single semester.
Oh, my goodness.
Because I was bad shit crazy.
You're just ambitious.
Well, because I would get upset that something didn't go the way I wanted to.
I didn't get the results that I wanted to at the end of the semester and would think
it was just my class or I'd have a great idea.
And that's great.
Unless you're going to actually like if you don't make small changes, you can't figure
out what actually is working and what doesn't.
Because every section, every class is going to be different.
Too many variables.
Right.
All at once.
Can you give just a little encouragement to all.
There's over 400 adjunct faculty here at FGCU.
And many are working a full-time profession and or part-time profession or three or four
different universities like you were doing any encouragement.
It's both, so maybe it's encouragement and then also advice is I feel like when we are
honest with students and telling them that we have just as much on our plates as they
do, that we are working full-time jobs and teaching classes on top of this.
And that you care about whether or not they are learning, but you can't care more than
they do.
And setting those boundaries and then also making them clear to students.
So I work full-time and then come to campus and I have to be prepared.
They're going to acknowledge that and they're generally like pretty accepting and I feel
like it makes them, it helps them connect with you a little bit better.
They understand.
They have a lot in their plates too.
And when you're honest about that and even if you're honest, like I just, I don't have
an in me today, that's okay.
I feel like as long as you're also giving that grace to students, then you can give that
grace to yourself.
When I was getting my masters in education, I had a two-year-old and a four-year-old,
one-year-old and a three-year-old, something like that.
And was teaching four or five classes.
And doing two classes at a time.
And I was either teaching five classes or I was teaching four and then grading for another
class.
So I had a lot on my plate.
And there were definitely times where I should have asked for an extension.
I should have asked for more time so that I could do my best work.
And I didn't and I mean my best work versus some other people's best work maybe is a little
bit different.
So it really benefited me.
But so I've told students this too is like one of the things I like about my late work
policy and my attendance policy is that students don't have to ask.
I didn't ask because I thought it was disrespectful and I never wanted to do that.
I wasn't the kind of student I was.
But sometimes we need a break.
Sometimes we need help and we need assistance and we need that grace.
And giving that to students, then I want them to give that to me too.
If I'm sick, don't expect me to come to campus.
If my kids are sick, don't expect me to come to campus.
Maybe it takes me longer than a week to get your assignments back to you.
And again, I feel like they're pretty understanding and I've gotten students who are, you know,
even the ones who are like me very concerned about their grades, although I never would
have emailed my professor about when grades were going to come back.
I have too much anxiety for that.
But even those students when they ask me those questions are like, I know rush.
I'm just curious.
Like, I know you're got a lot on your plate and stuff.
So I feel like that's both advice and encouragement is like, it's OK to be human and, you know,
you can tell your students that you're human and they'll be happy.
They'll be happy to know that you're not that sage on the stage.
Can I come back?
Yes.
Oh my gosh.
I have like so many more questions.
I want to do a whole series with you.
Awesome.
It's always humbling because I find out so many things, Maggie.
Now I need to change.
Yes.
But I like it.
It's a new adventure.
Yeah.
It's one of the things I love about UDO is like I feel like I feel like it's more fun
creating content now.
It's like, oh, what else can I do?
What new technology is press yourself now?
Yeah.
Well, what, you know, it's and what students give me is more interesting because it's
not all the same thing.
Yeah.
All the time.
Oh, that's kind of cool.
Well, thanks again, Elizabeth.
Thank you.
Maggie, great.
Y'all out there.
Connect with us.
We'd love to hear what you think and what topics you might want on this podcast.
But we're signing off again today.
Bye, y'all.
Bye.
Bye.