The Learning Experience

We are excited to launch season 3 of the podcast with a conversation between AEM Center Technical Assistance Specialist Kelli Suding, Rebecca Sheffield from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), and Ellery Robinson from the Office of Educational Technology (OET). Rebecca is an Education Program Specialist at OSEP and the AEM Center’s Project Officer, and Ellery has been an Education Pioneers Impact Fellow at OET. Rebecca and Ellery discuss a number of exciting initiatives related to digital accessibility at their respective Department of Education offices, as well as how their two offices are collaborating to share resources and ideas in order to have an even greater impact on the lives of all students who can benefit from technology, including those who have disabilities. 

Visit aem.cast.org for show notes. If you’re getting value out of this podcast, please share it with others and let us know by providing a rating and commenting wherever you get your podcasts!

The contents of this podcast were developed under a cooperative agreement with the US Department of Education, #H327Z190004. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer: Rebecca Sheffield, Ph.D.

This Season 2 bonus episode originated from the AEM Center being introduced to leaders at the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) by both the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and the Office of Educational Technology (OET) at the U.S. Department of Education (USDE). Throughout May, OSEP and OET partnered on a month-long public campaign to celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). On GAAD, May 18th, the two Offices hosted a joint webinar featuring the evolution of SCDE’s digital accessibility initiative. Alerted by a 2017 letter of complaint from the Office for Civil Rights at USDE citing accessibility violations on its website, SCDE has taken multiple actions to improve digital accessibility within the agency and for districts across the state. In this episode, AEM Center Project Director Cynthia Curry interviews SCDE digital accessibility leaders, Valarie Byrd, Senior Consultant, and Lydia Hutto, Training Coordinator & Staff Technology Instructor.

Visit aem.cast.org for show notes. If you’re getting value out of this podcast, please share it with others and let us know by providing a rating and commenting wherever you get your podcasts!

The contents of this podcast were developed under a cooperative agreement with the US Department of Education, #H327Z190004. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer: Rebecca Sheffield, Ph.D.

On this episode, we welcome Zebadiah Hall to the podcast. Zebadiah is the first Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of Wyoming, and he has a long career in the field of disability services in higher education. He was previously the Director of Student Disability Services at Cornell University, where he was a champion for integrating Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles into the work of the disability services office.  Our conversation focuses on how we can celebrate the intersectionality and variability learners bring into our learning environments and through the application of UDL along with accommodations when they are needed, create communities of belonging for all learners.

Visit aem.cast.org for show notes. If you’re getting value out of this podcast, please share it with others and let us know by providing a rating and commenting wherever you get your podcasts!

The contents of this podcast were developed under a cooperative agreement with the US Department of Education, #H327Z190004. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer: Rebecca Sheffield, Ph.D.

On this episode, CAST Disability and Digital Inclusion Lead Luis Perez chats with Mia Murphy and Chris Smith from the North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS). Mia and Chris have been great partners in supporting the work of the technical assistance centers at CAST, especially the Center on Inclusive Technology and Education Systems (CITES). In 2022, CITES launched its Virtual Learning Project to learn about promising practices related to educating and supporting students with disabilities in virtual learning programs and their families. The CITES team connected with a number of school districts and organizations dedicated to virtual learning and we are excited to share the work of one of them, the North Carolina Virtual Public School.

Visit aem.cast.org for show notes. If you’re getting value out of this podcast, please share it with others and let us know by providing a rating and commenting wherever you get your podcasts!

The contents of this podcast were developed under a cooperative agreement with the US Department of Education, #H327Z190004. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer: Rebecca Sheffield, Ph.D.

If you are interested in learning more about efforts to coordinate work around Universal Design for Learning across states and make it more systemic and sustainable, this episode is for you. CAST Technical Assistance Specialist Michelle Soriano has a great conversation with Zach Smith, who as a Senior Project Director at West Ed, leads a UDL Deep Drive group as part of his work at the National Center on Systemic Improvement. NCSI is federally funded through the Office of Special Education Programs or OSEP, and its mission is to support state education agencies in developing and improving their general supervision and professional development systems in order to better meet the needs of all students, including students with disabilities and their families.

Visit aem.cast.org for show notes. If you’re getting value out of this podcast, please share it with others and let us know by providing a rating and commenting wherever you get your podcasts!

The contents of this podcast were developed under a cooperative agreement with the US Department of Education, #H327Z190004. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer: Rebecca Sheffield, Ph.D.

On this episode, CAST Technical Assistance Specialist Maggie Pickett interviews the authors of Inclusive Learning 365: Edtech Strategies for Every Day of the Year. The authors’ contagious passion for inclusive learning will be quickly evident as they each start with a brief description of what drives their work as advocates for inclusive technology and accessibility. This is followed by a  great conversation on the importance of an inclusive mindset, how to build an inclusive strategies toolkit, and the authors’ vision for a more inclusive future.

Visit aem.cast.org for show notes. If you’re getting value out of this podcast, please share it with others and let us know by providing a rating and commenting wherever you get your podcasts!

The contents of this podcast were developed under a cooperative agreement with the US Department of Education, #H327Z190004. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer: Rebecca Sheffield, Ph.D.

Mark Nichols is the Senior Director of Universal Design and Accessible Technologies at Virginia Tech and a longtime friend of the AEM Center and CAST. This episode starts with Mark sharing the personal experience that drives everything he does as an accessibility professional. We then explore the exciting Choose Accessible Learning Materials, or CALM, initiative and how it has helped Mark and his team “franchise” digital accessibility at Virginia Tech. Mark also touches on how the AEM Quality indicators have informed that work from the beginning. And stay tuned until the end for information on how you can get access to design files you too can use to create your own campus digital accessibility initiative.

Visit aem.cast.org for show notes. If you’re getting value out of this podcast, please share it with others and let us know by providing a rating and commenting wherever you get your podcasts!

The contents of this podcast were developed under a cooperative agreement with the US Department of Education, #H327Z190004. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer: Rebecca Sheffield, Ph.D.

On this episode we are excited to welcome CAST CEO Lindsay Jones to the podcast! Lindsay discusses technical assistance with the entire TA team at CAST, which spans two national technical assistance centers: the National Center on Accessible Educational Materials for Learning (AEM Center) and the Center for Inclusive Techology and Education Systems (CITES). After explaining what makes the approach to technical assistance at CAST unique, the team shares favorite resources based on the different roles and tasks involved in the provision and use of accessible educational materials and technologies. With the resources shared on this episode you will be well on your way to becoming an accessibility ally and hero!

Visit aem.cast.org for show notes. If you’re getting value out of this podcast, please share it with others and let us know by providing a rating and commenting wherever you get your podcasts!

The contents of this podcast were developed under a cooperative agreement with the US Department of Education, #H327Z190004. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer: Rebecca Sheffield, Ph.D.

Procuring or purchasing accessible educational materials and technologies will make it more likely that learners with disabilities who use assistive technology (AT) will have access at the same time as everyone else. In this episode, a team from the Francis Howell school district in Missouri speaks to the collaboration across departments that has helped them improve how accessible educational materials and technologies are purchased and provided throughout their district, with the goal of ensuring all learners are able to participate and make progress in their learning in a meaningful way.

Visit aem.cast.org for show notes. If you’re getting value out of this podcast, please share it with others and let us know by providing a rating and commenting wherever you get your podcasts!

The contents of this podcast were developed under a cooperative agreement with the US Department of Education, #H327Z190004. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer: Rebecca Sheffield, Ph.D.

The research is clear. Implementing strong, authentic family engagement practices has a positive impact across the board for educators, families, and learners themselves. In this episode, you’ll learn how the Center on Inclusive Technology and Education Systems (CITES) is elevating this critical piece of district technology implementation across the five areas of the CITES framework - Leadership, Infrastructure, Teaching, Learning, and Assessment. Our guest Yokasta Urena then shares her unique perspective on family engagement based on her lived experience as both the parent of a student with a disability and an education professional supporting families in a variety of roles.

Visit aem.cast.org for show notes. If you’re getting value out of this podcast, please share it with others and let us know by providing a rating and commenting wherever you get your podcasts!

The contents of this podcast were developed under a cooperative agreement with the US Department of Education, #H327Z190004. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer: Rebecca Sheffield, Ph.D.