The Importance of Building Forward Not Backward

I didn’t write a blog on Sunday as I normally would, mainly because I had a rather lengthy to-do list that day, but also because I was still processing the point I wanted to make in my blog this week.

I am still processing this point but it is becoming a bit more clear as I am reading a book on international approaches to UDL (Universal Design for Learning). The point, and I’ll be brief, is that I feel it is important to build forward not backward, in good UDL practice. What do I mean by this? What I mean is that it is much more difficult and time consuming to retrofit a course for access than to build it with access in mind to start. We have been given a great opportunity with a move to remote teaching (if we tried hard to find a positive in this sad situation) in that we can now review and reflect on access in our courses. If and when we return to face-to-face teaching we can then use this time we had to ensure that those UDL principles are carried forward to another modality.

I am in the process of developing an access and inclusion audit for remote delivery courses. There are resources like this that exist already but I feel that it is important to make it authentic to the instructor’s institution and lived reality. I have spent a lot of time thinking about the elements of this, and I will send more time still. The overarching point is that if we make what UDL stands for clear, both to faculty and to students, then we will be definitely starting from a different place than we have before. Possibly a more equitable and inclusive place.