Quality Course Design Through Universal Design for Learning
Monday, Oct. 17, 2:30-4 p.m. in the R.H. Stephens Room
Register for the Universal Design workshop
Vance Martin, PhD., Executive Policy Advisor for Accessibility
Universal Design began as an architectural concept, that by integrating design decisions into a building that might be aimed at helping one group of people, you can equally benefit other groups. This idea as applied to learning allows us to intentionally design content for students that is accessible, but also allows students with different learning preferences to better interact with the content, leading to better learning outcomes. This session will cover some of these ideas as well as allow for a question-and-answer session.
Note: Faculty can receive two points toward their Training and Innovation professional development total for successful completion of this workshop.
Dr. Vance Martin has served as the executive policy advisor for the University of Illinois Board of Trustees since 2020. Prior to that, he was the campus accessibility specialist in the Center for Online Learning, Research and Service at the University of Illinois Springfield. He also taught undergraduate and graduate courses in history, humanities, education and technology for over 15 years using in-person, online and hybrid formats. Additionally, he has over 10 years of experience in curriculum and instructional design.
Vance’s research looks at technology use in education, social justice and the intersection of the two. His dissertation project used wikis in community college history classes, which he found encouraged students to question standard historical narratives and created an environment in which minority students felt represented and engaged. As a post-doc at the University of Illinois, he worked on the redesign of teacher education programs in the College of Education and helped to develop a leadership training program in partnership with Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He also worked on a collaborative international project to deliver educational content to secondary students in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, via cell phones.