Indeed, this approach has driven some of the greatest disruptions in the consumer marketplace, such as those caused by Uber and Amazon Prime. Small behavioral changes enabled by technology have contributed to the success of each.

First, the nature of customer experiences is unlike anything that could have been predicted. Increasingly, customers can’t describe the experience they want to have, let alone begin to imagine what they expect in the future. Second, completely new competitive models have entered the picture, disrupting old rules of engagement. These developments make it imperative to understand human behaviors in new ways.

With a deeper understanding of what makes people tick, technology and business leaders can make better technology decisions and create more meaningful digital transformations, engaging experiences, and valuable disruptions.

In fact, according to Gallup Research, companies that apply the principles of behavioral economics outperform their peers by 85 percent in sales growth and more than 25 percent in gross margin. Nonetheless, many organizations still take a technology-first approach.

When technology is more TECHNICAL and less usable, this means the level of support given is primarily going to be of that nature – to fill that support need. When technology is more usable, intuitive and self-describing, users are able to figure it out on their own much easier, meaning the support practices that involve “let me show you how to click the correct button” fades away, leaving support staff and resources to focus on other things.

To start, if the technology being used is antiquated, then we can assume it’s pretty challenging to use.

What’s true, is that none of us can teach online without help. We always need dedicated and expert support staff to help us with a variety of needs, based upon our experience, ideas, time constraints and the availability of learning technologies.

Flash forward to 2021 and many of us who have been teaching online for a long time, and those of us who have been thrown into teaching online as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic have recognised the opportunities and challenges that come with teaching with technology.

UDL is not just a premixed alcopop in a can, though perhaps the association with bad undergrad hangovers is why it has yet to take hold at Australian universities?

panic and reduction but with planning for hybridity and transformation.

It wasn’t until 2000 that UD properly established itself in digital education with Rose and Meyer’s book Teaching every student in the Digital Age : universal design for learning. Since then, UDL has become a familiar concept across North American institutions. More recently, whilst it is generally felt that the COVID crisis has improved awareness of accessibility, inclusion and supported wider UDL adoption, the pandemic also created and highlighted more barriers. In Australia, the ADCET was recently launched and partnered with the LX.lab inclusive practices team to support educators to teach in accessible ways at UTS.

Universal

Exploring UDL: design with everyone in mind

Professional learning communities have been, at least in theory, one staff development avenue used with various degrees of success in different contexts and at different levels of the education system.