Edison Elementary School has experienced a change in student population with an increase in English Language Learners and other students from diverse backgrounds. The school has not provided teachers with the necessary training and support to meet the needs of their new student population. In response, a course was created for the teachers at the school to teach them instructional strategies which could be used to assist all types of diverse learners. The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework was chosen as the primary focus of the course since it encourages accommodations for a variety of different learning styles. The course was evaluated first through a usability study and then a learning assessment. The objective of the usability study was to identify issues with the navigation, content, and visual design of the course. After four participants (n=4) were given tasks which would reveal intended, as well as unintended, information about the usability of the course, modifications were made in order to ensure that the learning assessment was not affected by functionality issues. A learning assessment occurred with the assistance of nineteen teachers (n=19) and one principal (n=1) from Edison Elementary School. The learning assessment revealed that the participants were able to learn instructional strategies which could be used in their classrooms, and the course aided in improving confidence in teaching diverse learners. However, additional practice using each of the course’s UDL strategies needs to be explored.
Lawrence Froland