Principle of Representation - Guideline 1 Criterion 2 (v 3.0)

 

When developing a course using the first principle of Universal Design for Learning, there are three specific guidelines to assist us.  The first, Perception in many ways overlaps with creating accessible content.

Criterion 2 of this guideline advocates that we provide alternatives to perceive information.

Images, info-graphics, and video can be a superior way to presenting content.  This is particularly true when demonstrating relationships, such as between actions or events. A picture can stay 1000 words, but not if you cannot see it. These presentations can abandon those with visual disabilities. To ensure equitable access, offer non-visual learners alternatives, such as:

• Providing descriptions (text, spoken, or both) for all images, graphics, tables, and other visual content
• Providing auditory cues for key concepts and transitions in visual information
• Providing physical models (when possible) to convey perspective or interaction
• Adding a primacy to supplying textual representations that can easily be converted to text-to-speech.  The malleable nature of text on the web has an advantage of permanence and flexibility. Having Closed Captions, a transcript, or visual description should always be included. Offering a text-to-speech option alongside the text further benefits the learners.  

Text is a special case of visual information. For those with visual impairment, how the text is presented is critical. Be sure to use accessibly standards to the text you employ, such as those provided by NIMAS or WCAG.  There is an advantage to text in that many tools can easily work with it to provide alternative means of communicate.  Minimally, a text-to-speech option should be available for learners.

Sound is a very effective teaching tool, and the addition to sound to video, or text, can accelerate learning. However, information solely conveyed with audio is not equally accessible to all learners.  This is more so with learners with hearing disabilities. Ensure that all learners have access to information by:

• Providing written transcripts of closed captions to video or audio clips
• Provide visual diagrams, charts, and notations to sound (such as music)
• Offer visual analogues, such as symbols or images.
• When no voice is to be transcribed, offer visual/emotional description of audio, such as musical clips.

Finally, one should note that there are several new technologies that can convert to text to speech.  However, research reveals that learners prefer and thrive with human audio over computer generated speech (Mayer, 2009). Given the option, you should favor creating or using human audio to both increase learning and for generating a more welcoming learning environment.

By following these suggestions, your course will assist students communicating and expressing their knowledge, as well as being in line the Principle of Representation in the Theory of Universal Design for Learning.

AI and Universal Design for Learning

 

AI-driven tools are increasingly shaping classrooms through adaptive learning platforms, tutoring systems, lesson-planning assistants, and other educational technologies. Their true potential, however, is realized when they are designed and implemented using Universal Design for Learning <UDL> principles. By combining what we know from learning science through Universal Design for Learning with the personalization capabilities of AI, we can intentionally design learning experiences and tools that support all learners from the outset, rather than relying on time-consuming retrofits later.

AI has already enhanced many traditional assistive technologies, such as text-to-speech and voice recognition, making them more accurate and natural-sounding. The next exciting frontier for AI in learning lies in its ability to reduce cognitive load. In this phase, AI functions as assistive instruction by helping individuals more efficiently understand and process information.

When AI is intentionally integrated with Universal Design for Learning, these tools make content more accessible and support deeper, more meaningful engagement for all learners.

 

3 Ways AI & Universal Design for Learning Can Mix:

1.       AI equals Assistive Instruction.

People with disabilities often rely on assistive technologies to learn and navigate the world. AI has already improved many of these tools, such as text-to-speech. The next major opportunity for AI in learning is its ability to reduce cognitive load by helping learners more quickly understand and process information. For individuals with executive functioning or language-processing challenges, tasks like organizing information or reading complex texts can be exhausting barriers to deeper learning. AI tools that adjust reading levels or simplify complex content. such as scientific explanations, can make academic material more accessible and support meaningful engagement.

When combined with Universal Design for Learning, these tools help learners access content more easily and engage more deeply.

2.  Don’t Retro-fit – Co-Design! 

Frequently, educational technology is designed with an “average” student in mind.  Because no learner is truly average, this approach often results in hidden barriers within the technology that excludes many learners. These barriers require educators and institutions to spend additional time and resources modifying or accommodating tools after the fact for those they do not initially serve. Instead of retrofitting solutions, you should account for learner variability from the beginning and actively include learner voices in the design process.

By co-designing with learners and applying Universal Design for Learning principles from the outset, developers and teachers can reduce barriers, improve accessibility, and reach a broader audience. Importantly, involving diverse voices, such as people with disabilities and multilingual learners, early in development often leads to more innovative and effective solutions that benefit all users.

3.  Use Universal Design for Learning to support AI-Tool Development and AI Literacy.

Everyone brings unique perspectives and experiences to learning, so we should not treat them the same. To address this predictable variability, Universal Design for Learning provides a framework for identifying and reducing hidden barriers that limit access.

The theory’s guidelines can assist AI developers in anticipating learner needs, and by building multiple means of engagement, representation, and expression. When educators apply Universal Design for Learning, they create more accessible learning environments, strengthen learner agency, and offer flexible pathways to success. AI can further extend these benefits by providing personalized support tailored to individual learners. Beyond AI-powered tools, the Universal Design for Learning guidelines should also inform the design and implementation of AI literacy education to ensure it is accessible, flexible, and inclusive for all learners.

It is important to understand that AI is a tool and not a solution.  When using this tool with the guidance of the principles of Universal Design for Learning, they can help create more effective learning environments. One should always be cautious with AI applications and use them responsibly. When doing so, they offer several fecund options for education.

UDL - Principle of Action and Expression (version 3.0)

The three principles of UDL each address specific aspects of learning and how we process information.
They are:

1. Representation: which focuses on recognition networks in the mind.
2. Action and Expression: which focuses strategic network in the mind
3. Engagement: which focuses on affective networks in the mind

The second principle pertains to how we present information to learner.  Essentially, it is about how they are learning. To ensure learning is most successful, offer a choice of multiple expression of the material to be learned.

We all differ in how we approach a learning environment and how we express our knowledge. Often we approach learning tasks differently depending on our experiences.  We should expect these variations not only from those with significant physiological impairments, but also from cultural differences and those with language barriers.  Simply, we all vary in how we approach learning.  While some may favor writing and not oral presentations, others may prefer oral presentations, such as those with severe dyslexia.  Because our actions and expressions differ in our practices, strategy, and organization, a more inclusive approach is to develop learning environments where learners have options that can accommodate these differences

There are three guidelines to follow when focusing on the action and expression in learning.   They are:

1. Interaction (previously called Physical Action)
2. Expression and Communication
3. Strategic Development (previously called Executive Function) 

Each of these guidelines, each with their own goals to meet, ensure students have the best chance to learn. Meeting the Principle of Action and Expression also contributes to student inclusion, as it offers a variety of ways for students to choose how they will learn. This results in overall student success and is just good practice in teaching

Universal Design for Learning - Version 3.0

Universal Design for Learning v 3.0

The update builds on earlier versions of Universal Design for Learning by focusing more directly on reducing barriers caused by bias and systems of exclusion for learners with and without disabilities. It intentionally includes the voices and perspectives of practitioners and scholars who were underrepresented in previous editions. The goal is to strengthen the Guidelines as a tool for designing learning environments that better support and value every learner.

This updated version of the UDL Guidelines expands them in several important ways. It connects Universal Design for Learning more clearly with other asset-based approaches and frameworks, especially those that center and sustain learners’ cultural identities and experiences. It places stronger emphasis on identity as an important part of learner variability, recognizing not only how students learn but also who they are. This “who” of learning is woven throughout all three Universal Design for Learning principles.

The update acknowledges barriers at individual, institutional, and system levels, highlights the importance of interdependence and collective learning, and shifts the language from being educator-centered to more learner-centered. Together, these changes strengthen Universal Design for Learning as a more inclusive and responsive framework.

Previous versions technically included these inclusive teaching techniques implicitly throughout the guidelines. However, when we include information implicitly, we risk that some will overlook these or infer that these practices are not as valuable. This is why it is best to explicitly state the material.

How Does This Affect Me?

There is some overlap between different versions of the Guidelines, and many of the guidelines and criteria remain the same. However, you may still find older versions online that use slightly different language. To help reduce confusion, include the previous names alongside the updated ones.

As a general rule, it is a good idea to check which version is being referenced in any material you use.

Principle of Engagement - Guideline 2 - Criterion 1

 

When developing a course using the third principle of Universal Design for Learning, there are three specific guidelines to assist us.  The second, Sustaining Effort and Persistence addresses maintaining focus and determination.

Criterion 1 of this guideline advocates that we focus attention on the salience of goals and objectives

Many sources of interest compete for attention during the course of any long project or practice. For example, some learners will require reminding of their initial goal or what will happen when they obtain that goal. In this case, it is important to regularly offer elements to remind them of the goal and the value of meeting it.  This will assist these learners in sustaining effort or concentration to overcome factors that may distract them from meeting the goal.

When re-enforcing the understanding of goals and objectives, consider:

1. Displaying the goal or objectives in multiple ways or throughout the learning activity
2. Prompting learners to explicitly formulate or restate goals
3. Encouraging division of long-term goals into short-term objectives or demonstrate how this is done
4. Using prompts to visualizing desired outcome
5. Engaging learners in assessment discussions of what constitutes excellence and meeting the goals. Be prepared to accommodate different cultural backgrounds and interests
6. Providing exemplars to demonstrate goal achievement.

 By following these suggestions, your course will assist students communicating and expressing their knowledge, as well as being in line with the Principle of Engagement in the Theory of Universal Design for Learning.

UDL - Principle of Representation - Guideline 1 Perception

The first principle of UDL, ‘provide multiple means of representation”, help promote an inclusive learning environment on many levels.  When developing a course and focusing on this principle, there are three guidelines to follow.  They are:

1. Perception
2. Language and symbols
3. Building Knowledge

We are not going to take a deeper look.

The first guideline, Perception, in many ways overlaps with creating accessible content.  When creating content, be sure that interaction is flexible and does not solely depend on one sense for its delivery.  As you develop the material be sure that you can meet the following criteria:

1. The option to customize the display of information. By providing malleable content options in digital format that is accessible, you will be increasing the clarity and salience of information for a wide range of learners.
2. Alternatives to perceive information. A picture can stay 1000 words, but not if you cannot see it. These presentations can abandon those with visual disabilities. To ensure equitable access, offer non-visual learners alternatives such as closed captioning and transcripts.  Also, consider visual graphics and infographics to assist learners who perform better visually than with text.
3. Represent a diversity of perspectives and identities in authentic ways. Learners need to see themselves, as well as others, represented in what they study. When students recognize their own experiences and cultures in course materials, it builds validation and belonging. 

Meeting these criteria will reduce barriers to learning. Key information will be equally perceptible to all learners by: 

1. providing the same information through different modalities, and
2. providing information in a format that will allow for adjustability by the user 

Multiple representations not only ensure that information is accessible to learners with disabilities, but also easier to access for other learners from varying backgrounds.

Intelligent Agents in Brightspace

Intelligent agents in Brightspace are not really “intelligent” or GenAI.  Instead, they are rule-based automation tools that monitor learner activity and trigger targeted actions, such as: personalized feedback, or reminders. There are two key actions intelligent agents can do:

1. Change user roles (permissions) and (un)enroll users (Administrator level access required)
2. Instructors can email students alerts based on a triggered rule (Instructor level access)

Intelligent Agents as Instructional Agents

Intelligent agents can help put teaching plans into action automatically so they can immediately reach students, keep them engaged, reduce repetitive tasks, and use course data to guide your teaching in online or hybrid classes. This seems like a lot, but essentially in Brightspace they offer actions that can be automated by conditional statements.

Create and Employ an Agent

You can create an Intelligent Agent by:

1. Going to Course Tools on the NavBar and selecting Course Admin
2. Scroll Down to the Communication tools and select “Intelligent Agents” 
3. Select “New Agent”
4. The New Agent will have 4 features:
1. General: The Basics
1. Give the Agent a Name (Required)
2. Give the Agent a Description
3. Select a Category (Optional – you may need to make one using “Add Category”)
4. DO NOT Select “Agent is enabled.  Only do this once the agent is ready to be deployed. You may want to test your agent first.
2. Scheduling: Do you want this to be something done daily or once?
1. NOTE:  Student patience is fragile. Be careful not to overdo it!
3. Criteria: What triggers the action?
1. Who is affected by their roles:
1. It is best to choose all in the Classlist.
2. Using specific roles requires care.  You could email other course instructors or librarians (folks with roles other than students).
2. Take Action or Activity
1. Select warnings for late log in activity by either:
1. Brightspace Log-on
2. Course log-in (this is best)
3. Release Conditions: This is a vast list of options.  Some include:
1. Not posting in a discussion section
2. No Quiz Attempts
3. Scoring Below or above a number on a Quiz
4. Not visiting a content page
4. Action: 
1. Occur only once or (caution) repeatedly
2. Send Email” select the box 
1. Be sure to make the email informative.
2. OPTIONAL: Replacement Strings can personalize your message.
5. Save and Close

If you enabled the agent, it will run when scheduled. In addition, you can enable the agent from the list.

If you want to run it right now, select the agent’s chevron and select “Run now”.

What are Replacement Strings?

“Replacement strings” are bits of code entered into automated emails for personalization.

Use the following replacement string in the “To” address field to send the agent email to specific recipients: {InitiatingUser} – The user (student) who performs the actions necessary to satisfy the agent's criteria.

 

What replacement strings can I use in the subject and message? 

Here are several recommended replacement strings to consider using:

• {InitiatingUserFirstName} - The first name of the initiating user.
• {InitiatingUserLastName} - The last name of the initiating user.
  
  
• {LastCourseAccessDate} - The date the initiating user last accessed the course.
• {LastLoginDate} - The date the initiating user last logged in.
  
  
• {OrgUnitStartDate} - The start date of the course. (Access to the Brightspace course)
• {OrgUnitEndDate} -The end date of the course. (Access to the Brightspace course)

*Replacement strings are case sensitive!  Be sure to use them exactly as they are shown, else you could look like uncaring automaton or an idiot to the recipient. *

Example of a Message with Replacement Strings

The following text with replacement strings:

Dear {InitiatingUserFirstName},

I see that you did not log into the you course, {OrgUnitName}, last week. I hope everything is okay.  If there is an issue, do not hesitate to contact me to see what we can do. Please remember that regular participation in course activities is essential for success in this course. You can get back on track by first logging in to the course as soon as possible.

Looking forward to your return to the course,

Professor Wolf

This will look like:

Dear John,

I see that you did not log into the you course, PSY222-73 DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY, last week. I hope everything is okay.  If there is an issue, do not hesitate to contact me to see what we can do. Please remember that regular participation in course activities is essential for success in this course. You can get back on track by first logging in to the course as soon as possible.

Looking forward to your return to the course,

               Professor Wolf

Strategically Employed Intelligent Agents are Powerful

Using Intelligent Agents in conjunction with Conditional Releases can create powerful rule-based tools that can engage students, provide immediate feedback, and otherwise help add a more personal touch to your class.

For example, Intelligent Agents can:

• Send reminders to students who have not logged in recently,
• Congratulate learners who perform well on assignments, or
• Provide additional resources when students struggle with course material (via email link).

These automated messages help maintain communication, encourage engagement, and support student success without requiring instructors to manually monitor every course interaction.

See the D2L Community Resource for more on setting up Intelligent Agents

Video Note in Brightspace

 

You know that short video increases student engagement, however you do not have the finances or time to purchase complex video creation software.  Getting a video production crew on a teacher’s salary is just not possible.  How can one take advantage of video in their online courses?

What if I told you that there is a tool that can easily create short video clips for your online course, embed the clips, and automatically generate closed captions?  Ensuring that the experience is accessible, the tool generates transcripts automatically.

How to use Video Note

Video Note can be accessed by using the “Insert Stuff” icon.

When selected you have to option to:

• Record live using your web camera or
• Upload a premade video.

Remember to keep the video short, or you will lose the attention of the viewers.

Remember to give the video:

• a name,
•  description,
• select the video’s language and
• select “Automatically generate captions from audio”.

Select next to review and insert (or re-record).  The video will be in embedding into the web page. Video Note will even keep your video in your course – so there is no commercial access or issues with social media!

 

There are so many uses! Video Note can be used in any editor in Brightspace and is excellent for giving feedback when grading.  Use it in the feedback section so students will then be able to easily click on the video with one click when viewing their grades – increasing their likeliness to review the feedback!

 

Other video editing tools and transcript tools can cost you thousands of dollars.  Video Note cost nothing – and can be paid in four small payments of $0.

I only want Audio

What if you do not want video, but only want audio, can you embed that with Video Note?  Yes.

Whatever your reason, be it being an international spy or that you just want to remain faceless, you can use Video Note to upload audio.  Simply select the audio only feature or upload the audio file, and Video Note can create an interactive player that proves captioning and transcripts.

UDL - Principle of Representation (version 3.0)

 

The three principles of Universal Design for Learning (version 3.0) each address specific aspects of learning and how we process information.

They are:

1. Representation: which focuses on recognition networks in the mind
2. Action and Expression: which focuses strategic network in the mind
3. Engagement: which focuses on affective networks in the mind

The first principle pertains to how we present information to learner.  Essentially, it is about what they are learning. To ensure learning is most successful, offer a choice of multiple presentations of the information.

 

People differ in the ways that they perceive and comprehend information. How we present it to them matters. Besides sensory disabilities, such as blindness or deafness, and various learning disabilities, there are several varying factors that are associated with standard accessibility that significantly affect individual learning. A few of these factors include:

• Language differences
• Cultural differences
• Economic differences

Each of these may require different strategies to presenting content to ensure student success. In this way a more inclusive approach would accommodate all of these factors to offer an equal opportunity for understanding.  

 

Disregarding all of these factors, other learners may simply acquire information faster through one means of presentation instead of another, such as excelling at visual presentations instead of textual information. For this reason having multiple representations of content improves student success at learning. This allows students to make connections between, and within, the content that improves learning and the transfer of concepts. Thus the use of multiple representations of content is vital for everyone to learn because there is not one optimal representation for learning and the use of multiple representations allows the students to better comprehend the material during the learning process.  

 

There are three guidelines to follow when focusing on the representation as of content.  They are:

1. Perception
2. Language and Symbols 
3. Building Knowledge (version 3.0)

 

Each of these guidelines, each with their own goals to meet, ensure students have the best chance to recognize what they need to learn.  Meeting the Principle of Representation also contributes to student inclusion, as it does not bar access to the content for any group. This results in overall student success and is just good practice in teaching.

AI, Instructional Design, and Speed

 

AI company CEOs are claiming that artificial intelligence will replace workers (Cutter & Zimmerman, 2025) based on the vast amount of content quickly created by AI. However, faster does not necessarily entail better.  When one needs brain surgery, it is probably not wise to go with the surgeon who claims to perform the procedure faster than anyone else with no attention to the survivability rate.  When stakes are high, we value accuracy. Sacrificing a marginal amount of time becomes an acceptable trade.

 

Online learning took years of research to confirm its legitimacy, and in 2009 the Department of Education confirmed that not only were online courses comparable, but were in some cases better than, traditional courses (Means, et al., 2009).   Once the pandemic necessitated a move to online instruction, a vast number of academics moving to online instruction frequently resulted in best practices being ignored in favor of speed by those new to the online modality (Farrell, 2022).  Years later, the effects on online instruction without proper instructional design is still not determined.  
 

The introduction of AI provided tools has produced more AI generated text than the combined output of human generated text since the Guttenberg printing press (Vincent, 2021).  This vast amount of content is hawked as a good thing.  However, quality isn’t measured in terabytes. When writing computer programming code, AI code often contains bugs and introduces security risks (Perry et al, 2023).  Alarmingly, while programmers predicted that AI tools can reduce their completion time by at least 20%, studies reveal the tools slowed down completion by 19% (Becker, et al, 2025). This significant difference illustrates that if one is enamored by a quick an easy tool it could lead to a sacrifice in quality that will impede the end result. Simply having a tool that can produce vast amount of content does not vouch for the quality of that content.

How does this apply to online learning? Over twenty years of research molded an online design approach that focuses on positive learning experiences (Wasson & Kirschner, 2020) where courses are designed to be accessible to all students, follow a Universal Design for Learning approach (Dell 2015), and focusing on complex learning through engaging designs instead of merely presenting content (Wasson & Kirschner, 2020). A few features that are expected in these online designs include:

• A focus on the learner
• Prototyping designs
• Designs that accommodate multiple learning strategies (Rose & Meyer, 2002)
• Iterative development incorporating student feedback (Adnan & Rizhaupt, 2018)
• Aligning learning outcomes to assessments (Ni She, et al, 2021)

Being able to develop online learning environments that apply best practices defined by applied research in learning is critical for creating courses that promote student success.  While AI may be able to quickly produce content, would it be able to create discussion activities for adult learners that:

• Promote active learning
• Provide open-ended questions that explore and apply concepts
• Encourage learners to apply their real-world experience to the content
• Avoid soliciting facts that close off conversations
• Apply scaffolds that ensure inclusive learning practices

With the vast growth of the AI industry, faculty access to AI, and economic issues facing schools, it is quite possible that AI will quickly provide shoddy content at the cost of the learners.

Case Study: Brightspace LUMI AI

 LUMI is an AI tool available through D2L Brightspace that applies only the specific content instructors provide while promising content privacy.  Based on the Anthropic’s Claude architecture, the tool can generate:

•  test questions,
• discussion questions,
• assignment ideas, and
• module summaries.

This can be done quickly and relatively easily. Impressively, users can even set the level of Bloom’s taxonomy for many of the outputs. Being integrated within Brightspace allows for a common platform for a school to use that will save money and training time.  Its one-press button is also convenient for the faculty.

Will it replace developers and instructional designers?  Like the claims of many selling AI tools, they are exaggerated.  When using AI to develop questions for online discussions, I noticed a disturbing trend.  The questions were similar to a new teacher who has no knowledge of best practices in instructional design.

With each generated output, the discussion questions lacked instructional design principles for online learning. Presumably developers will edit the material and make necessary additions or changes.  In reality, overworked instructors are not incentivized to do so.  And this is the crux of the problem with AI.   It encourages the quick and easy solution and contributes to ignoring specialists. AI slop is quick and easy; however, it does not promote student learning (Weller, 2024).

Below is a LUMI Pro AI training guide:

The Lesson

AI is a tool – not a solution.   If you are going to use AI, be sure to edit and apply best practices in instructional design for learning.   For example, online discussion questions should be written with:

• Open ended questions
• Providing follow-up questions and time for reflection
• Linked to authentic life experiences
• Encourage sharing references and promoting an academic conversation.

While there is nothing wrong with using AI to help inspire you when developing courses, you will probably note that the best courses have inspiring and engaging learning activities that are more than just a vague question for a standard online forum. To be fair to LUMI, Brightspace has designed it such that instructors must review/edit the generative results before they are applied.

The AI Apocalypse - Wow?

Replacing experts with stochastic parrots is probably a recipe for disaster.  The hallmark of good college is its instruction.  AI is a tool and it is important to not be enamored by its novelty.  Instead, learn to work with it and know its limitation.  Be sure to vet all generative AI material.  Be warned:  You may be like the programmers who think the AI tools are increasing their speed, when in actuality the tool has become an albatross.  

 

Since instructional design is a detailed field, it is prudent to understand best practices in online course development to assist your assessment of the AI content.  Most teaching and learning centers are filled with instructional designers who are more than happy to share the knowledge with faculty.  While the may dispel the razzle-dazzle of some AI tools, it will contribute to developing courses that increase student success.

References

Becker, J., Rush, J., Barnes, E. & D. Rein (2025) Measuring the Impact of Early-2025 AI on Experienced Open-Source Developer Productivity. arXiv.

Cutter, C & H. Zimmerman (2025) CEOs Start Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud: AI Will Wipe Out Jobs. The Wall Street Journal. July 2.

Dell, C. A., Dell, T., & Blackwell, T. (2015). Applying Universal Design for Learning in Online Courses: Pedagogical and Practical Considerations. Journal of Educators Online, 12(2), 166–192.

Farrell, O. (2022) Learning Design in the Time of COVID-19: The Digital Learning Design Unit Story. Open Praxis.

Hodges, C., Moore, S., Lockee, B., Trust, T., & Bond, A. (2020, March 27). The Difference Between Emergency Remote Teaching and Online Learning. Educause Review.

Means, B, et. al (2009) Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and  Review of Online Learning Studies. US Department of Education.

Ní Shé, C., Farrell, O., Brunton, J., & Costello, E. (2021). Integrating design thinking into instructional design: The #OpenTeach case study. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 33–52.

Perry, N, Srivatava, M, Kumar, D, and D, Boneh (2023) Do Users Write More Insecure Code with AI Assistants?. In Proceedings of the 2023 ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS ’23), November 26–30, 2023, Copenhagen, Denmark. ACM, New York, NY, USA.

Rose, D. & A. Meyer (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Vincent, J (2021) OpenAI’s text-generating system GPT-3 is now spewing out 4.5 billion words a day. The Verge. Mar 29.

Wasson, B., & Kirschner, P. A. (2020). Learning Design: European Approaches. TechTrends, 64, 815–827.

Weller, M (2024) 30+ Years of Ed Tech – 2024: AI Slop. The Ed Techie.

Micro-Feedback

 Data and Assessing Courses

When we teach, either online courses or in the classroom, gathering information for assessment is critical to improve what we do as educators.  Assessment is one of the aspects that educators often don’t do well.  Many times, course evaluation surveys are the extent of our attempts to assess whether we are meeting the courses goals. These surveys are distributed at the end of the course and if the instructor is lucky, the results may be available months later.  This process neglects the needs of the instructor by not affording them the information they need to make corrections and improve in real time.  Naturally, the students also suffer, as they will not benefit from real time corrections by the instructor.

The ADDIE model is a traditional instructional design methodology to help streamline the production of your course.  The name is an acronym for the 5 steps of the model:

1. Analyze
2. Design
3. Develop
4. Implement
5. Evaluation

Evaluation is set at the end of the process, and while the process is supposed to be cyclical, often critiques of the process is that it is too time consuming.  Models like Rapid Instruction Design (RID) or Agile emphasize including evaluation throughout the stage.  Whether these critiques of the ADDIE model or if traditionally people have failed to apply the ADDIE model functionally at different levels is an interesting question, but will not directly help you improve you course now.

Micro-Feedback

Developing mechanisms to collect feedback throughout the course, or micro-feedback, and using it to improve your course on the fly can be very helpful.  By including short surveys at the module level (or smaller), instead of just one large survey at the end of the course, instructors can gain valuable insight that can help them rapidly adapt to their students’ needs.  This improvement will directly affect the students. Moreover, the adaptation can meet the specific needs of the students ad may vary the next time the course is taught.

Adopting a flexible and adaptive approach using micro-feedback gives you a greater understanding of your course.  Surveys can be short, and can include some reflective feedback from the student to give you the information you need to both better meet their needs and improve student success.  While it may seem difficult, adding a small (5 question) option survey can give you valuable insight on improving your courses.  You may find that the information can help you by giving you insight that could streamline your instruction and reduce your work by making it more effective.