Overview
Are you looking to increase your understanding of Universal Design and embed it strategically within your organisation? The Universal Design for Senior Leaders in Tertiary Education course provides leaders with a framework for strategically embedding Universal Design and adopting and implementing ALTITUDE — the National Charter for Universal Design in Tertiary Education.
For this course, a senior leader is defined as a decision-maker or influencer of practice within Further Education and Training or Higher Education. These strategic leaders drive and manage system-level enhancements to build institutions of educational excellence that reflect national strategy and policy.
The course explores the roles and responsibilities of senior leaders in embedding a whole-system approach to Universal Design through strategy, policy, practice, and governance across all areas of an organisation.
Participants will consider how leadership decisions, institutional strategies, policies, and practices can widen access, participation, and belonging, enabling learners and staff to realise their potential and succeed.
This free introductory course is designed for senior leaders working in Higher Education and Further Education and Training in the Republic of Ireland. It is a self-paced online course requiring approximately three hours. Participants can complete it at intervals that suit their schedules without losing track of their progress.
The digital badge is optional. To earn it, participants must complete and reflect on four course units and submit their reflections.
The programme is practical and flexible. Case studies from across Ireland provide innovative examples of how to enhance services and supports, communications and interactions, and institutional systems and processes.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Explain key definitions and theories of Universal Design, including Universal Design for Learning;
- Enhance your capacity to implement Universal Design strategically within relevant legislative, policy, and funding frameworks;
- Evaluate and apply examples of Universal Design practice within your organisation;
- Strengthen your strategic commitment to Universal Design through engagement with relevant resources and the optional digital badge.
Professional Development Recognition
On earning the open badge for this course, you will have achieved further recognition across the following domains of the National Professional Development Framework for Staff Who Teach:
- Domain 1: The Self in Teaching and Learning — focuses on reflection concerning personal values, motivations, and experiences;
- Domain 2: Professional Identity, Values and Development — explores professional and disciplinary identity and how it evolves within teaching contexts;
- Domain 3: Professional Communication and Dialogue — emphasises communication, collaboration, and dialogue through different media;
- Domain 4: Professional Knowledge and Skills — covers evidence-based teaching and assessment and the maintenance of current disciplinary knowledge;
- Domain 5: Personal and Professional Digital Capacity — focuses on developing the digital skills and confidence needed to harness technology and improve learning.
Course Developers
This open course was developed by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in partnership with:
Margaret Finch
Academic Lead, Universal Design
Munster Technological University
Aileen Kennedy
Assistant Registrar
Munster Technological University
Laura Hegarty
PATH 4 Project Lead and Lecturer
Atlantic Technological University
Mairead McCann
PATH 4 Project Lead and Lecturer
Atlantic Technological University
Register Your Interest
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