Training and education are essential for personal and professional growth, but not everyone has the same access to learning opportunities. How can you make sure that your training and education programs are inclusive, accessible, and respectful of diverse needs and preferences? Here are some tips to help you create a learning environment that supports everyone.
Before you design or deliver any training or education program, you need to know who your audience is and what they need. Conduct a needs assessment to identify the goals, challenges, preferences, and expectations of your learners. You can use surveys, interviews, focus groups, or other methods to gather feedback and data. Use this information to tailor your content, format, style, and delivery to suit your audience.
I wanted to make ADHD friendly online courses, but having ADHD myself meant I knew how unlikely I was to follow through with online courses myself! If you know your audience inside out you can cater to what they need. For example, I created extra accountability with 5 minute a day lessons for 30 days, and weekly group coaching sessions for my ADHD Works courses, which had over 65 people for our first round.
I agree, an assessment of needs is necessary to tailor the curriculum to your audience. But one of the most forgetful aspect of why sometimes we train and educate is that we do it to improve the quality of the people we have in our organizations. It took me a while to realize that skill and experience backed up by a good education builds confident employees who are capable of innovative and creative thinking.
1) Identify learner goals, challenges, preferences, and expectations. 2) Conduct needs assessments using surveys, interviews, or focus groups. 3) Gather feedback to tailor content, format, style, and delivery accordingly. Identify learner goals, challenges, preferences, and expectations. Conduct needs assessments using surveys, interviews, or focus groups. Gather feedback to tailor content, format, style, and delivery accordingly.
Each audience has its own needs, learning style. make sure to asess first to see what is best for your audience. There is no one solution fits all. Accessibility should be available for all!
You should consider using a questionnaire of some sort to get a broader idea of who your audience is. You may have an audience with disabilities or walks of life you never even thought about. Knowing who you're talking to can then help you make a game-plan of how you are going to go about things. Making your keynote with bigger font and color-blind friendly colors could be one example. Speaking slowly and concisely could be another. You may even change the entire way you teach based on your audience. It's hard work to be accessible, but it will pay off when you're able to keep the staff with ADHD from zoning out for four hours of the class or the hard of hearing from nodding and pretending they can hear you.
There are many ways to deliver training and education, such as face-to-face, online, blended, synchronous, asynchronous, self-paced, or instructor-led. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages, and you need to consider the accessibility, convenience, cost, and effectiveness of each option. You also need to choose the right tools and platforms to support your delivery, such as learning management systems, video conferencing, chat, email, or social media. Make sure that your methods and tools are compatible with the devices, browsers, and internet connections of your learners, and that they have clear instructions and support on how to use them.
1) Select delivery methods (online, face-to-face, blended, etc.) based on accessibility, convenience, cost, and effectiveness. 2) Utilize appropriate tools (learning management systems, video conferencing, etc.) compatible with learners' devices, browsers, and internet connections. 3) Provide clear instructions and support.
Keep in mind that many people struggle to absorb information presented in a single format (and of those who do, many are just used to wasting time and not understanding things!). The more you can mix up and layer audio, text, image, and synchronous/asynchronous teaching, the more your audience will have the chance to process and absorb.
Após a fatídica pandemia, o modelo de ensino foi totalmente modificado, ao menos na mente das pessoas que se dispunham a ensinar. O método online, embasado no gamification (ou seja,ensino através de jogos online), foi o mais usado nessa época. Claro, temos que avaliar se, além dos professores, os alunos têm as ferramentas disponíveis para seu aprendizado, como um computador, boa internet, espa?o em casa para fazer as atividades, entre outras quest?es. Ferramentas como Teams e Zoom foram primordiais no ensino online, e ainda hoje é muito utilizado, já que, como foi falado anteriormente, o modelo de ensino mudou, e pelo visto de uma forma permanente.
Universal design is an approach that seeks to make products, services, and environments usable and accessible for all people, regardless of ability or disability. You can apply these principles to your training and education programs by providing multiple means of representation, action, and engagement. Representation should include different formats and media such as text, audio, video, images, graphs, or animations. Additionally, captions, transcripts, subtitles, or alternative text should be used for audiovisual materials. Action and expression should include different types of activities, assignments, assessments, and feedback. Finally, engagement should motivate learners by making content relevant and meaningful with examples that reflect their backgrounds and experiences. Furthermore, interaction, collaboration, and participation should be encouraged among learners and with you. All of these steps will help you create an inclusive learning environment.
1) Provide multiple representations (text, audio, video, images). Include captions, transcripts, subtitles, and alternative text for audiovisual content. 2) Diversify activities, assessments, and feedback for varied expression. 3) Make content relevant with examples reflecting learners' backgrounds. 4) Encourage interaction, collaboration, and participation among learners.
O ensino precisa ser democrático, e precisa também ser trabalhado de acordo com todos os tipos de aprendizagem. Cada vez mais nota-se a necessidade de despertar os sentidos dos alunos, tanto de maneira auditiva como visual. O layout do material do professor precisa ser atrativo. Fazer uso de slides, vídeos, músicas, jogos, e todo recurso disponível, de uma forma que motive o aluno a clontinuar aprendendo. Particularmente, tive a experiência de aplicar um exame internacional da língua portuguesa a um aluno deficiente visual, e foi algo incrível de notar, como ele percebia as letras e a fonética do idioma. Foi algo que me fez enriquecer ainda mais as aulas, já que percebemos de forma prática como cada aluno pode entender um idioma.
One key principle of universal design is equity in use, which means that products and environments should be designed to be accessible and usable by everyone, regardless of their abilities. Another important principle is flexibility in use, which means that products and environments should be designed to accommodate a wide range of individual preferences and abilities. This can be achieved by providing adjustable elements, such as providing simple and intuitive controls. By applying universal design principles to training and education, we can promote equity and inclusion, and ensure that everyone has access to the education and training they need to succeed.
Diversity and inclusion are not only about acknowledging and celebrating the differences among your learners, but also about ensuring that everyone feels valued, respected, and supported in your learning environment. To respect diversity and inclusion, be mindful of your own biases, assumptions, and stereotypes. Seek feedback from those with different perspectives. Be sensitive to the cultural, linguistic, religious, ethnic, racial, gender, sexual, or other identities of your learners. Avoid using offensive language or images. Utilize inclusive terms and pronouns. Address any issues or conflicts that may arise due to diversity or inclusion. Be responsive to the needs of your learners and provide reasonable accommodations if needed. Modify content, delivery, or assessment as necessary. Following these tips can make training and education programs more accessible and inclusive for everyone. Additionally, it can improve interpersonal skills and build positive relationships with learners. How do you make training and education accessible to everyone? Share your thoughts and experiences with us.
1) Be mindful of biases and assumptions. Seek feedback from diverse perspectives. 2) Address cultural, linguistic, and other identity considerations. 3) Use inclusive language, terms, and pronouns. 4) Respond to conflicts arising from diversity. 5) Provide reasonable accommodations. 6) Modify content, delivery, or assessments as needed. 7) Foster positive relationships through sensitivity and responsiveness.
Temos que ser sensíveis às necessidades dos alunos, sejam elas necessídades pessoais ou de aprendizado. Por exemplo, respeitar o uso do pronome que o mesmo usa, seu nome social (em caso de tê-lo), sua forma de se expressar, inclusive sempre permitir que o mesmo se expresse, ajudando-o a ser compreendido em seu dia-a-dia.
During one of the virtual training sessions, we faced a challenge when some participants had difficulty accessing the online platform. By offering alternative access options, such as phone conferencing, we ensured everyone could participate regardless of their technology constraints. This flexibility not only resolved the immediate issue but also highlighted the importance of adaptable solutions in making education truly accessible.
Durante a pandemia, eu tive o privilégio de aprender de uma forma rápida e prática o manuseio de ferramentas de reuni?o virtual. Devido a essa facilidade, pude ajudar muitos amigos professores, normalmente os que eram mais experientes do que eu em sua forma??o acadêmica, mas que tinham algumas quest?es com tecnologia. Me senti muito útil em ajudá-los. No final me especializei em aulas virtuais e em todo o processo de gamification, tornando minhas aulas, e de outros que consegui ajudar, muito mais dinamicas, interativas e didáticas.