Article Preview
TopIntroduction
Today’s undergraduates are increasingly more diverse in background, ability, and learning preferences (Levine & Dean, 2012). Around the world, institutions of higher education are recognizing their responsibilities to achieve the full inclusion of individuals with differing needs and/or disabilities. To best address the growing needs and interests of learners, more accessible inclusive learning environments need to be developed. This study identifies Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) to proactively design educational approaches that help increase student engagement and cognitive performance.
Learners benefit when their options allow them to choose their preferred pathways and goals. Universal Design for Learning emphasizes that good design – planning ahead – allows teachers and course developers to build inclusive elements into curricula. Universal Design for Learning believes in planning ahead when designing learning environments where all the learners can learn well. UDL provides learners access to quality education by eliminating their physical, cognitive, and affective barriers. The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) developed the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) instructional design framework, offering flexibility and adaptability to meet the needs of increasingly diverse learners and maximizing engagement in any system. (Orndorf et al., 2022; Meyer & Rose, 2000; Rose & Meyer, 2000). In contrast to a one-size-fits-all approach, the UDL framework focused on providing options that can meet the needs of a range of learners by building flexibility into curriculum and instruction (Rose & Gravel, 2009).
Attwell (2021) stated that PLEs were essentially a social pedagogic approach to using technology for learning. In the present study, PLEs are not only technical platforms but also a new digital learning literacy, conceptual space, pedagogical process, and social networks that enable and support learners to achieve their lifelong learning goals. PLEs have drawn significant attention from educational organizations due to the potential educational and cost benefits (Monova-Zjeleva, 2005; Tseng et al., 2008; Zeer & Krezhevskikh, 2022). PLEs puts learners in control of their own learning process, supporting them to achieve the desired learning objectives at their own pace with personalized resources.
In our previous IELTS courses, researchers developed the PLEs platform in a supervised way to engage learners in the IELTS course. However, it was found that learners learning engagement was low and their cognitive learning improvements were not significant in the supervised-PLEs platform. For instance, learners’ engagement time on the PLE was less than the minimum 2 hours/week requirement of the course design. The average cognitive improvement in IELTS reading and listening tests was around 0.5-1 point (IELTS scores range from 0 to 9). To explore the hidden reasons, we made an open question survey on the improved design of the PLE platform. The result revealed that personalized learning goals instead of general learning goals were preferred, the interface of the PLEs platform could be more user-friendly, the tools and contents of the platform could be easier to access and be more diversified. These suggestions were in line with the UDL Guidelines which required the flexibility of course design, pedagogical knowledge, and instructional technology. Meanwhile, the suggestions also echoed the principles of UDL which emphasized that teachers must differentiate instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners (Tomlinson, 2001; Rose et al., 2005) while improving the learning process for all students (He, 2014; Katz and Sokal, 2016; Navarro et al., 2016). This study tried to design a PLEs platform that embodied Universal Design for Learning by involving teachers, content managers, and instructional designers in the development of the PLEs. We believe PLEs that enable and encourage diverse learners to see themselves reflected in the design would motivate their autonomous learning and improve learning outcomes.