Since its rollout in 2022, the Universal Design for Environmental Education course designed by EENC, California AEOE, and Silvers Linings, PLLC has served 125 educators in North Carolina, and is now hosted in California, Pennsylvania, and Arkansas, totaling 211 participants so far. It will also be offered in Alberta, Canada later this year. Registrants have included classroom and non-formal educators, administrators/managers in Environmental Education Centers, university students, and volunteers at Environmental Education Centers. Evaluation data shows that overall satisfaction with the program was a 4.28 out of 5 for all 205 participants across the country. Regarding the goal areas of knowledge of UDL language and concepts, ability to identify learning barriers, and the ability to apply UDL principles to teaching practices, there has been a 96.6% increase for all participants. These same 205 participants indicated 4.82 out of 5 in their confidence in being able to put UDL changes in place that they explored in the course.
Throughout the course, participants keep a Course Journal where they share reflections on the content and keep track of changes they would like to make to an “Anchoring Activity” they are focused on during their learning journey. Toward the end of the course as participants are sharing what they have learned, many of them have been able to report that they see easy, transferable skills that can apply to other activities they lead, beyond their Anchoring Activity. They have also shared that some remaining barriers are limitations to changing the physical space they use, making sure their whole team understands the importance of making these changes (including administration), and having limited time to make changes to more programs.
EENC is looking forward to the continued reach of this course. Through support of the North American Association of Environmental Education, the UDL in EE course is one of many that the organization hopes to see through the new eeCourses approval process, certifying it as an approved NAAEE eeCourse nationwide.
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