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Facing challenges in higher education: enhancing accessibility and inclusion through flexible learning design

2025-08-07Journal article Open access
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datacite.subject.fosCiências Sociais::Ciências da Educação
datacite.subject.sdg04:Educação de Qualidade
dc.contributor.authorAfonso, Ana Paula
dc.contributor.authorMorgado, Lina
dc.contributor.authorCarvalho, Isabel Cristina
dc.contributor.authorSpilker, Maria João
dc.contributor.editorKuyini, Ahmed Bawa
dc.contributor.editorOpoku, Maxwel Peprah
dc.contributor.editorDas, Ajay Kumar
dc.contributor.editorNketsia, William
dc.date.accessioned2026-01-12T12:23:29Z
dc.date.available2026-01-12T12:23:29Z
dc.date.issued2025-08-07
dc.description.abstractThe increasing cultural and demographic diversity among higher education students highlights the challenges regarding accessibility and inclusion. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift toward flexible, technology-based teaching practices. However, inclusive, and accessible pedagogical practices lack consistency, particularly when supporting students with disabilities or diverse learning needs. This study evaluates the effectiveness of the Learning Design for Flexible Education (FLeD) Tool—a web-based platform developed to support teachers in designing flexible and inclusive learning scenarios. The research adopts a qualitative approach, featuring semi-structured interviews with two Portuguese experts in accessibility and inclusion. The experts analyzed three learning scenarios designed using the FLeD Tool, through the lens of Universal Design for Learning standards. The collected dataset was analyzed using thematic analysis to identify common issues, strengths, and opportunities for improvement. The findings show a gap between institutional policies and their practical application, mainly due to inconsistent teacher training and technical limitations. While the FLeD Tool supports more flexible and inclusive pedagogical designs, experts have identified key shortcomings such as the lack of automated accessibility checks and limited support for specific disabilities. Despite the reduced number of participants (two experts) and dataset (three learning scenarios), which limits the study’s generalizability, the conclusions draw attention to the pivotal role of systematic teacher training, embedded accessibility features and solid institutional policies in bridging the gap between policy aspiration and effective inclusive practice.eng
dc.identifier.citationAfonso, A., Morgado, L., Carvalho, I. C., & Spilker, M. J. (2025). Facing Challenges in Higher Education: Enhancing Accessibility and Inclusion Through Flexible Learning Design. Education Sciences, 15(8), 1013. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15081013
dc.identifier.doi10.3390/educsci15081013
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/20755
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.publisherMDPI
dc.relationFLeD – Learning design for flexible education
dc.relation.hasversionhttps://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/8/1013
dc.relation.ispartofseriesSpecial Issue Teachers and Teaching in Inclusive Education
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectInclusion
dc.subjectAccessibility
dc.subjectFlipped learning and teaching
dc.subjectLearning design
dc.titleFacing challenges in higher education: enhancing accessibility and inclusion through flexible learning designeng
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.endPage19
oaire.citation.issue8
oaire.citation.startPage1
oaire.citation.titleEducation Sciences
oaire.citation.volume15
oaire.versionhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
person.familyNameAfonso
person.familyNameMorgado
person.familyNameCarvalho
person.familyNameSpilker
person.givenNameAna Paula
person.givenNameLina
person.givenNameIsabel Cristina
person.givenNameMaria João
person.identifier.ciencia-id0F14-9519-51DD
person.identifier.ciencia-idDA1C-8D7A-8A82
person.identifier.ciencia-idB518-C55C-BFBF
person.identifier.ciencia-id4916-771B-1F66
person.identifier.orcid0000-0001-6701-0922
person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-4973-6727
person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-0499-7464
person.identifier.orcid0000-0003-1282-4691
person.identifier.ridD-3122-2012
person.identifier.scopus-author-id56027709100
person.identifier.scopus-author-id55980016200
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