Conference and workshop - Mychelle Pride

Excellence through diversity: Enhancing Learning through inclusive practices

Diversity makes a key contribution to excellence in Swiss research and teaching. Taking into account and promoting equal opportunities and diversity in all their dimensions is therefore "a cross-cutting issue that affects all Swiss universities equally” (Swissuniversities).

This event will help you gain practical insights and innovative strategies for enhancing accessibility and inclusion within your modules.

Through short activities, Maud Aspart and Vincent Groff will first help you gain a better understanding of some of the challenges your students may face. Then, Mychelle Pride will share her experience in supporting online students and give you some proven tools and approaches that are easy to implement to better support your students, in particular in a distance learning environment.

By the end of the event, you will have deepened your understanding of diversity in higher education and feel confident in your ability to address these questions.

Schedule 

9:00 AM - Welcome

9:30 AM to 10:30 AM - Workshops (bimodal - on-site and online)

In these workshops, you will be confronted with situations involving searching for or manipulating information under different constraints, to help you think about how your course materials, tools and platforms might be perceived by students.

10.50AM to 12.00PM - Conference (bimodal - on-site and online)

Mychelle Pride's talk will focus on sharing experiences and tried and tested tools for supporting your students.

Speakers

With more than 20 years’ experience in the sector, Mychelle’s work has focused on widening participation and enabling students to achieve to the best of their abilities, with a particular interest in equity, diversity and inclusion.

In her current role as Academic Director, PVC-Students at the Open University UK, Mychelle provides learning, teaching and assessment direction aimed to enhance the study experience. At the OU UK, Mychelle implemented a staff development programme ‘Unlearn and Learn’ which upskills staff in diversity, inclusion and accessibility.

Trainer of trainers, Maud Aspart specialist in training engineering and communication (oral, written, digital), she accompanies teachers in their reflection on the use of digital technology in the design of devices and the conduct of teaching projects.

Vincent Groff works for EDUDL+ at UniDistance as a specialist collaborator on techno-pedagogical aspects of teaching and e-learning. Previously, he was a neuropsychologist and psychotherapist with a focus on handicaps, assistive technologies, and rehabilitation. He is a member of the International Association of Accessibility Professionals.

Useful information

This event is financed through the P8 Digitalskills project from Swissuniversities, held by UniDistance Suisse and the University of Lausanne.