Universal Design for Learning projects
As Director of Educational User Experience Design at CAST, the educational research and development organization that pioneered the Universal Design for Learning framework, Kim Ducharme heads up design strategy and user experience for the development of interactive learning environments and tools that expand learning opportunities for all individuals. She works at the intersection of user experience design, instructional design, and the learning sciences, leverages co-design to broaden inclusion and design thinking to catalyze innovation, and leads collaborative creative processes from brainstorming through prototyping to product launch. She is committed to harnessing the power of design to tackle the educational challenges of our time.
Clusive — an adaptive, supported reading environment
— Design strategy, UX & UI, & branding design lead
Clusive (clusive.cast.org) is flexible, customizable reading environment that adapts to the user. It is part of the Center on Inclusive Software for Learning. Watch the intro video on the log-in page (and below), then try Clusive as a guest, or create a free student or educator/parent account to experience the full functionality the platform has to offer.
SNUDLE
— Design strategy, UX & UI, & branding design lead
Science Notebook in a Universal Design for Learning Environment (affectionately called SNUDLE, sounds like ‘noodle’) is designed to support elementary school students through the inquiry science process.
Follow on projects included designing and scaling the teacher side of the platform to support and coach teachers in creating investigations and using SNUDLE with their students.
Udio
— Design strategy, UX & UI, & branding design lead
Udio is an online literacy environment designed for struggling middle school readers to practice and grow their reading comprehension skills through “just-right” reading challenges. Our theory of change involved engaging youth in high-interest reading material and supporting them to discover and deepen their interests through a topic-driven dashboard. This project was part of the National Center on the Use of Emerging Technologies to Improve Literacy Achievement for Students with Disabilities in Middle School.
i-SMART
— Co-design strategy lead, research, UX & UI design lead
Innovations in Science Map, Assessment, and Report Technologies (I-SMART) explored UDL-based science assessment solutions for elementary, middle, and high school students not meeting grade-level standards. The prototype screens below explore formative support for effective classroom-based instructional planning. See ExoSim testlet prototypes for elementary school, middle school, and high school.
Museum of Science: Designing for Productive Struggle
— Design process for framework research and development; led a design charrette of museum industry leaders to develop guidelines
This project involved developing guidelines for designing challenging and rewarding interactive science exhibits (“Productive Struggle”).
Multi-Gen Makers
— Co-Principal Investigator, program design, activities and space design, research
Multi-Gen STEM Makerspaces in Affordable Housing: Co-Designing a Model with the Community is a collaboration with residents from Bayview Towers, a 200-unit affordable housing complex in Connecticut. Through research justice and a design-based research approach with iterative cycles of co-design, the project is developing a sustainable model for multigenerational making and learning that builds the skills and dispositions that can support a STEM career trajectory.
EdTech Design Challenge
— Project inspiration, lead, and organizer
The EdTech Design Challenge put Boston area Boys & Girls Club teens in the driver’s seat to envision and design apps that make learning better. The youth were supported in the design thinking process to define, brainstorm, sketch, prototype with mentors, and pitch their ideas to a panel of industry experts. The project aimed to ensure and foster engaging and fruitful design thinking skills, and explored how UDL methods could inform maker education for all and the very process of design innovation itself.
Read the case story: UDL Innovation Through a Collaborative Learning App Design Challenge
Collaborative Learning App Design Challenge
— Project inspiration, lead, and organizer
The Collaborative Learning App Design Challenge brought together the greater Boston edUX designers and educators communities to solve the challenges of collaboration in maker education and maker-centered learning contexts.