CAST Newsletter: November 2020

Forward

Teaching is emotional work. Quote from David Rose, CAST's Co-Founder and CEO, Emeritus

It’s been a year. We see how hard you’ve been working. We applaud the new strategies you’ve tried. We’ve felt your love for your learners. In this time of giving thanks, we thank you. Rest. Recuperate. Recharge. We’re with you every step of the way, until learning has no limits.

Mark your calendar!

Save the date for CAST's 7th Annual CAST UDL Symposium

Join us for the 7th Annual CAST UDL Symposium: The Future Designed! This year’s Symposium will be held online and on-demand from Wednesday, July 28 – Friday, July 30, 2021. Stay tuned for our call for proposals in December and registration in February.

Learn about the CAST UDL Symposium

We’re updating the UDL Guidelines

This multi-year effort will focus on updating the UDL Guidelines through an equity lens to address continuing barriers to equitable learning opportunities and outcomes. We’re committed to building a transparent, inclusive, consensus-building, and community-driven process, and we look forward to collaborating with you along the way. Stay connected with our progress or volunteer to participate in future surveys and/or focus groups by filling out our interest form.

Get involved with UDL Rising to Equity

Learn the benefits of EPUB

Did you miss the National AEM Center's joint webinar series with Bookshare this fall? On-demand access is now available! Assemble a virtual team and watch the three-part "Reading for All" series. The AEM Center’s Luis Perez and Bookshare’s Christine Jones will guide you through the “why, where, and how” of using accessible EPUB as a flexible reading format for all learners. See why participants of the live series called the experience “inspiring” and “empowering!”

Get on-demand access

Earn your UDL Credential

characters placed on different parts of the globe representing international connections

Earn your Level 1 UDL Associate Credential to demonstrate your understanding of why UDL is so essential in today’s learning environments. Show how you proactively design for learner variability so everyone has the opportunity to succeed. Our free Mini-course: UDL Associate Credential – Level 1 is directly aligned to the Level 1 UDL credential to help you along your journey.

New Hampshire educators have the opportunity to earn this credential for free! Please contact info@learningdesigned.org for more information.

Learn more at Learning Designed

#BayviewMakes

Two young girls create light-up masks with CAST Multi-gen Makers team

CAST and Operation Pathways created a popup makerspace last month at Bayview Towers in Stamford, CT. The team gathered at the affordable housing community’s outdoor plaza to safely get acquainted with residents, create light-up masks, and demonstrate the use of a wood lathe and 3D printer. Read more about the event in the Stamford Advocate.

Learn more about our Multi-Gen Makers

Supercharge Your Professional Learning

Watch the recent webinar with Supercharge Your Professional Learning authors Nicole Tucker-Smith and Kasia Derbiszewska as they explore ways of designing effective professional development and removing barriers to adult learning in high-stress times. With a compelling health-and-wellness analogy, they provide concepts and tips for PD that refuels rather than fatigues, something we all need in the age of COVID-19.

Access the recording & resources

Invent your future with Biofab Explorer

We are excited to announce that Biofab Explorer is now available to educators and students. Biofab Explorer is a free career guidance resource created by CAST in collaboration with the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI) to attract and inspire students to the emerging field of Biofabrication. Biofab Explorer includes profiles of employees working in both the biotech and manufacturing sides of Biofabrication, as well as case stories documenting the life-changing impact of Biofabrication technology on the treatment of chronic diseases. The tool also includes a Teacher Guide to support teachers’ use of the modules in their classrooms.

If you have questions about using this free resource in your classroom, contact Alison Driscoll.

Learn more & try Biofab Explorer

Help CAST help educators

When COVID-19 started, CAST was there. Our team helped educators around the globe redesign their instruction almost overnight, providing free guidance in how UDL can ensure no one is left behind in the shift to emergency remote learning. But we know the barriers to learning highlighted by COVID-19 are really barriers that struggling learners face every day. This year on #GivingTuesday, please consider supporting CAST. We are committed to ensuring education during and after the pandemic is more flexible, more inclusive, and more equitable than it was before.

Give the gift of education!