Abstract

The design and use of Moodle is a critical part of inclusive practice, for example, through the availability of teaching materials, flexibility of access and breaking down barriers. However, gaps in awareness, training and design, mean this potential is often not fully realised. We will discuss the key messages from interviews with students and staff who are neurodiverse, disabled and/or have English as an additional language. They told us what works, what doesn’t and why Moodle is important.

Session and activities

This will be a joint presentation from Mariia Korneeva, student Changemaker and MA Art and Science student (CSM), and Amy Urry, Senior Digital Learning Coordinator (CSM). We will draw on Amy’s PG Cert Action Research Project, and a joint Changemaker project at CSM where Mariia has been conducting user testing interviews with students in the Art Programme, both of which have looked at the use, importance and design of Moodle as a tool for inclusive practice.

We will outline the broader context of access and inclusion, including our legal responsibilities, developments across HE and our commitments under the Social Model of Disability. We will look at why this is of particular benefit at UAL, where numbers of staff and students who declare a disability is relatively high and we have identified ourselves a ‘social purpose institution’.
We will share the outcomes of our research i.e. what did staff and students tell us and what did we observe through their use of Moodle. What were the barriers? What was useful? And critically, how can we make improvements? We will look at the meaning of digital accessibility, navigation, awareness of the learner journey, the use of plain English, and practical elements of design. We will discuss how staff engagement is critical in inclusive practice and offer some practical ideas for how course teams can address this.

We will briefly outline our research methods; interviews, user testing and questionnaires with students and staff who are disabled, neurodivergent or have English as an additional language, and why we feel it is important to hear directly from students, especially if they are from potentially marginalised groups.

We hope that attendees will come away with an understanding of the importance of the VLE for inclusive practice, and ideas for how to make practical improvements on a range of levels.