Universal Design for Learning & Digital Media Literacy in D2L Brightspace by Nicholas Balderas

What is Digital Media Literacy?

nicholasbalderas01 — 2025-07-02 15:24:57 UTC

Digital Media Literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and act using digital tools and media in a critical, responsible, and informed way. It's about understanding, questioning, and creating media in ways that are thoughtful, ethical, and empowering. How can Digital Media Literacy and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) shape online courses to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes using D2L: Brigthspace?

What is Universal Design for Learning (UDL)?

nicholasbalderas01 — 2025-07-02 15:34:43 UTC

Originally developed by researchers at the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) in collaboration with Harvard University, the UDL framework functions as a teaching and course development framework that gives all students equal opportunities to learn, and is about creating an inclusive learning environment where all students, regardless of their background or abilities, have an equal opportunity to succeed.

Why UDL?

nicholasbalderas01 — 2025-07-02 15:35:06 UTC

UDL can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities. So what is it good for?

Designing inclusive curriculum that works for all learners.
Removing barriers to learning before they happen
Supporting students with diverse needs, abilities, backgrounds, and preferences
Promoting equity, accessibility, and student agency
Improving engagement, comprehension, and expression in any learning environment—online, hybrid, or in-person

The UDL Framework

nicholasbalderas01 — 2025-07-02 16:33:07 UTC

The UDL Guidelines are organized into three core principles:

Engagement – The “why” of learning
- How we motivate and engage learners
Representation – The “what” of learning
- How we present information and content
Action & Expression – The “how” of learning
- How learners demonstrate what they know

Organizing Your Online Courses with UDL

nicholasbalderas01 — 2025-07-16 19:34:10 UTC

If you're developing a course from scratch or thinking about updating one. This chart presents what to consider when organizing your online course.

Multimedia Learning Theory (MMLT)

nicholasbalderas01 — 2025-07-16 19:41:13 UTC

The term multimedia can be viewed in three ways - based on the devices used to deliver an instructional message (i.e., the delivery media), the representational formats used to present the instructional message (i.e., the presentation modes), or the sense modalities the learner uses to receive the instructional message (i.e., sensory modalities) (Mayer, 2002, Pg. 5).

Student Lived Experience and Online Education

nicholasbalderas01 — 2025-07-16 19:41:52 UTC

Many student experiences are grounded in very complex relationships within transnational identities of class, race, and gender.

The learner is viewed as a knowledge constructor who actively selects and connects pieces of visual and verbal knowledge (Mayer, 1997, Pg. 4).

Media Literacy

nicholasbalderas01 — 2025-07-16 19:42:31 UTC

Media literacy, the movement to expand notions of literacy to include the powerful post-print media that dominate our informational landscape, helps people understand, produce, and negotiate meanings in a culture made up of powerful images, words, and sounds (Aufderheide, 1993, Pg. 79).

Empowers individuals to be informed, reflective, engaged, and socially responsible participants in a democratic society (Hobbs, 2024).

How to Digital Media Literacy Applies

nicholasbalderas01 — 2025-07-16 19:44:16 UTC

How can we relate Digital Media Literacy using ULD? Simple, we construct the course in similar way to support students by using UDL best practices.

Critical Media Literacy

nicholasbalderas01 — 2025-07-16 19:44:45 UTC

Delgado and Stefancic (2017) describe the notion of intersectionality and anti-essentialism, that no person has a single, easily stated, unitary identity; and everyone has potentially conflicting, overlapping identities, loyalties, and allegiances. Critical Media Literacy (CML) aims to challenge and deconstruct established norms and power structures, providing a deeper understanding of social, cultural, and political phenomena.

As a way of inquiry into the power of the media industries and how they determine the stories and messaging to which we are the audience.

(Butler, 2021)

What is literacy?

nicholasbalderas01 — 2025-07-16 21:05:03 UTC

Literacy is generally assumed to include social practices like reading, writing, speaking, and listening, and it is defined more broadly as the sharing of meaning through symbols (Hobbs, 2024, Pg. 8).

Action and Expression Module - Click to Learn More

nicholasbalderas01 — 2025-07-18 15:16:40 UTC

In this section, you’ll learn how to support the different ways students interact with learning tasks and show what they know. From using flexible tools to offering varied formats for communication, this module will guide you in creating opportunities for learners to express their understanding in ways that align with their strengths.

Representation module - Click to Learn More

nicholasbalderas01 — 2025-07-18 15:18:11 UTC

In this section we will learn how we present information to support understanding. Here, you’ll discover ways to design content that reflects diverse needs, backgrounds, and perspectives.

Engagement Module - Click to Learn More

nicholasbalderas01 — 2025-07-19 19:21:44 UTC

Welcome to the Engagement module. In this section, you’ll explore how learners are motivated in different ways and why offering choice, relevance, and supportive environments helps maintain interest and persistence.

References

nicholasbalderas01 — 2025-07-20 03:14:15 UTC

Aufderheide, P. (2018). Media literacy: From a report of the national leadership conference on media literacy. In Media Literacy Around the World (pp. 79-86). Routledge.
Butler, A. (2021). Defining Critical Media Literacy. Critical Media Literacy and Civic Learning: Interactive Explorations for Students and Teachers.
CAST (2024). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 3.0. Retrieved from https://udlguidelines.cast.org
Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2017). Critical race theory. New York University Press.
Hobbs, R. (2024). Media literacy in action: Questioning the media. Rowman & Littlefield.
Hobbs, R. (2024). Media Literacy Is a Lifelong Learning Process [image]. In Media literacy in action: Questioning the media. Rowman & Littlefield (Pg. 7).
Mayer, R. E. (1997). Multimedia learning: Are we asking the right questions?. Educational psychologist, 32(1), 1-19.
Mayer, R. E. (2018). Thirty Years of research on online learning. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 33(2), 152–159.
Mayer, R. E. (2002). Multimedia learning. In Psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 41, pp. 85-139). Academic Press.

Start Here

nicholasbalderas01 — 2025-07-20 04:13:43 UTC

Start by following the arrows to an overview of UDL. Then, explore how you can use Brightspace features to apply UDL in your own courses. At the end, you will find out how UDL ties into Digital Media Liiteracy!

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Contact Information

nicholasbalderas01 — 2025-07-20 04:28:44 UTC

Nicholas Balderas M.S.C.S

Instructional Technology Support Specialist

Center for Online Learning and Teaching Technology

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Nicholas.Balderas01@utrgv.edu

Color Key

nicholasbalderas01 — 2025-07-20 06:36:34 UTC

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nicholasbalderas01 — 2025-07-21 17:55:05 UTC

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nicholasbalderas01 — 2025-07-31 13:46:27 UTC

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