Keep CALM and Teach On! Developing Accessible Learning Materials in Educator Preparation Programs

Teacher educators know about the importance of accessibility as an essential aspect of course design and collection of learning materials, but we often find ourselves overwhelmed with all that this responsibility entails. In this session, we will use the Choose Accessible Learning Materials initiative (CALM; Bugaj, 2018) to demystify the process of creating accessible learning materials and to shift our thinking to viewing accessibility as a starting point, rather than as an accommodation or afterthought.

During the seminar, you will have opportunities to a) See examples of accessible learning materials from special education teacher preparation courses, b) See differences in accessible & inaccessible learning materials from the user’s (student) perspective, c) Ask questions about and get support for modifying existing course materials to make them fully accessible, as well as creating new materials, and d) Discuss the importance of modeling the CALM approach with teacher candidates.

After the webinar, you will:

• Understand the essential elements of creating accessible educational materials
• Understand the role of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles in creating accessible educational materials
• Identify the advantages of applying CALM to instruction & course design
• Be able to model the creation & use of accessible educational materials for teacher candidates
• Be able to locate, use, and share credible and useful resources to extend their learning and teacher candidates’ learning