Tag: Accessibility

Strengthen Student Engagement with Campus Technology and Universal Design (Jamie Niman and Lori Mickle)

How can we help our students to be more successful? We can intentionally integrate campus technology to help promote students’ ability to participate, comprehend, and interact fully in our academic spaces.

Explore strategies for students to overcome those perceptual, environmental, language, economic and cultural barriers. Join us as we discuss Universal Design strategies to enhance the student learning experience by utilizing campus technologies (Microsoft Learning tools, video conferencing platforms, and document creation tools) and enabling integrated accessibility features. 

Be a part of the 2022 Disability Awareness Week, “Nothing about us, without us.”

This session will be co-facilitated by Jamie Niman, Director of Student Accessibility Services, and Lori Mickle, Instructional Designer, CELT.

The session will be offered in Morrill 2030 and via Webex.

If you’d prefer to register outside the link below, call CELT at 515-294-5357 or email celt@iastate.edu (specify event title, date, name, department, and title with your request) if you’d like to register that way.

If you are a person with a disability, please contact CELT via the above phone number or email address to request reasonable accommodations to allow participation in this event.

Register to attend online via Webex

Register to attend in person

Tips to Make Your Course More Accessible (Teaching Tip)

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Students work together during Disability Awareness Week

This week, Iowa State University has been observing Disability Awareness Week, a week devoted to educating the Cyclone community about the experience of individuals with disabilities. As an instructor, you have a direct impact on a student’s experience and ability to grow and thrive at ISU. Consider these tips to increase accessibility and improve all student learning experiences.

  • Present information in multiple formats: A disability may impact a student’s ability to access specific forms of communication. Provide course content in a variety of modalities to eliminate this barrier, and allow all students the ability to access materials through the platform most beneficial to their learning. Create captions and transcripts for videos and audio recordings, include audio descriptions of images, diagrams, or maps, or include a simulation or hands-on experience.
  • Consider how students will engage with course materials and each other: Can you identify any barriers to or within the meeting location(s) or learning environment? Have you selected learning technologies accessible to students with disabilities? Support students by being flexible and providing alternative options for engaging with course materials and each other. Allow students to participate in person or virtually. Give them the opportunity to voice questions and comments, type them within a chat, or provide anonymous feedback via Qualtrics. Encourage students to work together using alternative formats including virtual rooms, team chats, discussion boards, or online interactive apps.
  • Use assessment for learning ownership: Identify alternative mechanisms students may utilize to demonstrate acquisition of knowledge and skills indicated in your learning objectives. Provide a variety of options for students to demonstrate their skills that allow for various strengths, preferences, abilities, and student disabilities.

Contact Lori Mickle (ldmickle@iastate.edu, 515-294-5299) for more information about course accessibility or email celt-help@iastate.edu with any questions.

Above photo courtesy of Alexandra Kelly/Iowa State Daily

Full Teaching Tip

View the published CELT Teaching Tip: Resources for Success (October 28, 2021 – Constant Contact) page.

Prefer a Print Version?

To view the Teaching Tip as a printable document with web addresses, download the CELT Teaching Tip for October 28, 2021 (PDF).

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