Open Education 2016

The Floe Project funded by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has been producing resources to help OER hosts and creators make learning environments and content more inclusive. The goal of breaking down barriers to learning and reaching those slipping through the cracks is being accomplished through a suite of embeddable components (learner options, sonification, chart authoring, and more), and through a handbook of techniques for making content more inclusive. The components are easily integrated into applications, sites, and WordPress; while the handbook tackles gnarly problems with complex content like math, simulations, sonification, simplification and more.

By using an inclusive design approach to all activities (hackathons, workshops, meetings, design, and development), the Floe community has carved out a process for conducting inclusive design. This process helps build open communities of participants who can solve for accessibility, represent an inclusive perspective, and think deeply about problem solving. And by building out these communities, Floe has extended the impact that an inclusive process can have - well beyond checklists and one-off solutions. This process yields more inclusive solutions that empower content hosts and creators to break down barriers to learning while better meeting the needs of diverse learners through transformation, augmentation, and personalization of the learning experience.

This session will provide a practical, hands-on approach to inclusive design using the tools, handbook, and processes described above. Participants will learn how to use the Inclusive Design Cards to collaboratively learn and teach inclusive principles, practices, tools, and activities - and in doing so disrupt old ruts of thinking and problem solving. Come ready to embrace diversity, exercise your design thinking, and learn how to co-create.