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The Beauty of CSS Design

Presuming Competence By Design • A Tutorial for Systems, Environment, Curricular, and Materials Design in Learning Systems

Requirements

Universally-Designed Learning Materials

 

Multiple Modalities

By presenting learning in multiple modalities, we not only make it more engaging, but we create multiple avenues of access. Each modality is a mode of access, a medium - or a traffic lane (to use an earlier metaphor). By tapping multiple modalities, we can actually increase traffic flow for learners and ensure learners who can access only one or a few modalities still access the information.

 

For example, how many hands-on or tactile learning experiences are a part of your classroom now? Hands-on activities are more authentic and lead to increased transfer of learning. Tactile objects (or manipulatives) can also be a refreshing approach in a classroom setting.

 

Examples:

College English - An instructor used a set of rocks, leaves and other natural objects to teach the unit on compare/contrast. Students developed organization schema for comparing and contrasting the objects then developed a variety of possible paper outlines in class.

Universal Design for Learning - in an activity we referenced elsewhere, participants manipulate a set of objects as they conduct an exercise.

Tactile graphics - instead of just printing graphics or diagrams, there are embossing printers available that will print tactile graphics. These make visual content accessible for students who do not have access to visual information channels, but they also add a layer of interaction for learners who do (they both see and feel the image).

Additionally, we can turn traditional materials into multimedia materials. For example, in this tutorial, parts of the content have been put into a Flash video where there are visuals and the "text" is turned into narration. The Flash is still accessible with Section 508 compliant captioning, but the content is now presented in a multimodal format, tapping both visual and auditory channels while still maintaining accessibility and flexibility. Rather than handing out lecture notes, instructors can record a lecture in advance and provide it for in-class courses to access (e.g. on a professor's website or a BlackBoard shell). These same materials make online learning far more engaging as well.