ADCET Webinar: Applying AI and UDL for Inclusive Learning - Perceptibility, Flexibility, Accessibility

Q&A

These are questions that were asked during the presentation that unable to be answered at the time.

Q: What are your thoughts about Academic integrity and the idea that students might be excluded from certain tools or features in summative assessments which they use to support learning/ comprehension equitably during their study.

A: This is a great point to raise. I think what needs to be closely considered is "what is this assessment actually testing?". For example, if we are not testing spelling, it is perfectly logical to have spell-checkers enabled. If we are not testing handwriting, then why can't students write exam responses on a digital device? What would be key is making sure there is equitable access to whatever tools we think students might be drawing on, so we don't have a digital divide or digital literacy divide impacting on assessment outcomes. There is some interesting work around UDL and assessment design which is raising questions about how we equitably assess what students know and can do, so I think this will be also become part of the discussion! But I think the key statement raised by your question prompts us to consider that if a tool is being used to remove barriers to a student's everyday learning and formative assessments, are we truly seeing their full potential if this tools is then removed, the barriers reinstated, and the student experiencing a different way of navigating content to what they do usually. For example, a student might use a screen reader throughout the term, or use keyboard navigation, and suddenly be struck by an exam or assessment which has clearly not been designed with accessibility in mind, and not only does the student have to experience the stress of the assessment as other students do, they have extra barriers in their way which they weren't anticipating! At each step I think we need to consider "is this equitable, is it inclusive, and are we testing what is intended?".

Additional Resources

The following resources were suggested by participants in the webinar and were not part of the presentation.

• Loree Design - an intuitive course layout tool designed for Canvas LMS
  https://soaringed.com/products/loree-design/
• CidiLabs DesignPLUS – an easy-to-use Canvas plug-in for rapidly building and styling high-quality courses
  https://cidilabs.com/landing/design-tools
• Fathom AI Notetaker
  https://fathom.video/