I really enjoyed reading the resources in regard to inclusivity and inclusive design. I find inclusivity can often be overlooked by my educators but is a very important aspect of a positive learning environment, a place in which all learners are learning to the best of their ability! 

Reflecting on the prompting questions for inclusive design I chose to talk about how I could adjust planned learning activities to meet the needs of my learner if an unexpected event occurred. If I were to use the example of the pandemic where students had to make a quick and uncomfortable shift to strictly online learning, I would try my best to meet each students needs. I strongly support the idea that it is vital to have teach presence in online learning environments, that being said I would host zoom calls to influence collaboration and proper instructions. I would make sure that I was my students support system and that their education mattered. I would create mandatory check ins and discussions and areas for sharing content with students. 

To refrain from any ‘training’ for the students, I would try to make the content and collaboration stay as close to normal as possible and I would make sure I was consistent with clear communication. I completely understand that this online learning may not be feasible for all students or even teachers as technology comes with skill. I would take my own time to figure out what tools and resources work best for online learning and I would take down barriers as they appear!

The second prompt that I chose to reflect on was finding an example of universal design in engineering and explain how it can be used as inspiration for a learning design. A universal design is the understanding that when something is improved for some people in an environment, it could also benefit other users too. As expressed in the resource, cut curbs are a great way to explain universal design. Cut curbs are a slop in the concrete that helps assist wheelchair users. Although this was the initial intention of the improvement, this change can help assist people with stroller, people on bikes and scooters etc. A quick example that came to mind after reading about the cut curbs is elevators! they provide access for those who can’t use stairs but everyone can benefit from them. After looking into it more I came across this resource that expresses the idea of closed captions on videos. This improvement was creating for people with hearing impairments but it is an improvement that can benefit the overall population. For those people who may be working in a busy environment, those who would rather just read instead of listen and those who may want to go back and reread what was said.

Universal design is something that can often be taken for granted. Speaking for myself, I never thought about these things until reading into the provided resources that influenced me into looking more into it on my own!