2019 Annual Conference

CDLT PreConference Symposium: Research & Theory in Distance Learning or Technology for Adult Learners

CDLT PreConference Only: Concurrent (20 to 45 minutes)

This presentation will examine how distance educators can facilitate profound learning in online settings using Universal Design for Learning.  While the online environment may not intuitively appear to promote profound learning, there are approaches to distance learning that can initiate and maintain profound learning.  

Practitioners and experts  in distance learning settings will benefit from attending this session, including instructional and systems designers, online instructors, distant education program administrators, and graduate students who engage in online education as students, teaching assistants, and instructors. Participants will be encouraged to review their experience and learn ways to strengthen opportunities for profound learning in distance education using Universal Design for Learning.

Participants will gain an understanding of the nature of profound learning and how it is manifested in an online environment through UDL. They will understand the need for increasing their own awareness of deep learning and how best to encourage such learning online. Participants will be able to examine their own philosophy and practice using UDL principles. As a result, participants will be equipped to enhance online learning activities and collaborate more intentionally to promote profound learning.

This presentation will use the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to describe ways for instructional designers and online instructors to facilitate profound learning. Carr-Chellman and Kroth (2017) propose that profound learners develop “practices, habits, or routines which result in continual exploration, skill development, and growth in understanding” (p. 25). How can these practices be initiated in distance education?  The application of UDL supports profound learning where there are “. . .no completely correct answers. . .Learning then becomes a process of exploration rather than one of accomplishment” (p. 25). Likewise, UDL supports profound learning when “. . .the pursuit of deeper learning never has an endpoint [as] learners will continue to develop learning capacity over a lifetime” (p. 25). Lastly, UDL supports profound learning when practices for delving more deeply are incorporated into the instructional plan.  “Spiritual disciplines are such practices, but so are others in various domains of human experience. Disciplines of inquiry and relationship-building are just two other examples” (p. 25). We will draw from specific UDL principles including multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement.

This session will introduce profound learning theory and explain its applicability to universal design in distance education .  It will describe various ways that online learning can initiate and sustain profound learning as described above, especially instructional techniques that enhance profound lifelong learning. The format will include an oral presentation, a multimedia component, and a dialogue with session attendees.