Facilitators Jennefer Rousseau, Andreas Lambrinoudis, & Svetlana Miftahov-Rapoport moderated the session at the CAST UDL Symposium “Using student voices to guide practice in the modern classroom.” They are all at a college in Canada, Bow Valley College. They have invested in a “modern classroom configuration.” There are cameras and speakers in the classroom and they can be projected on the screen. Students can participate virtually, in person, and asynchronously. Rousseau shared a one-minute video about the UN Sustainability Goals. Rousseau explained that Canada has decided to reach those goals by 2030. The room was developed and aligns with the UN Sustainability Goals. Miftahov-Rapoport described their experience in the classroom. The space has been open for two years! Students were interviewed and spoke about the flexibility of the space. One international student spoke about the travel restrictions and attending virtually. Another student talked about being able to refer back to content. Students also talked about connection issues. They also spoke about getting distracted. One student shared that a professor pre-recorded lectures and then used time for questions and discussion. Another student shared that students should participate and engage. Students mentioned that Covid-19 health and safety, weather conditions, life-work school balance, and expensive/time-consuming commute were the biggest reasons shared to not attend in person. The panelists shard their experiences with the room. The panelists cited the importance of explaining to students the approaches taken and why high-impact practices will benefit them.
