After 15 years of scholarship, Ěýparticipated in her last commencement ceremony on Friday, May 6, recognizing her Doctoral degree from the School of Education in Literacy Studies, Curriculum and Instruction.
Beaver is the Universal Instructional Design Consultant for the here at the University of Colorado Boulder, and she has dedicated her career to insuring learning is accessible for all.
Prior to joining the School of Education, Beaver received her Master’s degree in English Education while teaching high school English in Brooklyn and Queens through the New York City Teaching Fellows program. It was there she realized her deep passion for teaching and pedagogy.
“I learned the importance of universal design through building in strategies for inclusivity,” she said. “This lesson stuck with me ever since.”
Beaver visited Colorado for a curriculum conference in 2007, and she was “blown away by how big the sky was” and “knew she needed to move to Boulder.”
Soon enough she was enrolled in her second Master’s program at CU-Boulder for English Literature and had lined up an assistantship working in the writing center on campus and teaching Writing 1150 for the Program for Writing and Rhetoric. However, it was Dr. course Theory and the Teaching of Literature that was her “turning point,” motivating her to pursue a doctorate degree, Beaver said.
“Dr. Bickman stressed the importance of sharing research and knowledge beyond academic circles, through mindful pedagogy designed to impact all levels of learners,” Beaver explained. “I realized that the focus on learning and inclusive design was a form of activism, and it inspired me.”
In 2010 Beaver began her research in the areas of digital literacies, multimodal assignment design, secondary and post-secondary composition practices, and online learning environments. Beaver founded the for students in the , because she “wanted to ensure that distance learners had equitable opportunities for academic support like what they might experience on campus.” She defended her dissertation titled, “Social Interaction and Design in an Online Multiliteracy Center” in Spring of 2015.
“Through the School of Education, I learned how to describe why I was so passionate about social justice. I was given the language to fight for my convictions.” And fight she did.
In her professional role at CU, Beaver is a proponent of creating more accessible resources for all students across campus. She works on the in OIT, the group that “solves high-impact learning problems” and developed the revamped online experience for New Student Welcome Week. Beaver recently spearheaded the university’s inaugural with , inviting the campus and broader community to participate during a week in late April to “celebrate the diverse ways we learn and play at CU.”
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This event was the product of the Diversity and Excellence grant both Beaver and were awarded in January. Together, they worked with OIT, Chancellor DiStefano, the Chancellor’s Accessibility Committee and the Colorado Learning and Teaching with Technology (COLTT) Conference to create a lineup of over 30 speakers and a week’s worth of activities, including a keynote event with from the University of Washington, an assistive technology expo, films, and a .
“It was so exciting to see the involvement and participation across campus. The sessions led by students, student groups, staff and community partners were really impactful. We were making the idea of an inclusive community a reality and plan to build on this progress next year.”
Ultimately, Beaver would like to scale up this event to be present on all of the other campuses, building on the Colorado Springs campus’ involvement this year.
She said the School of Education helped pave the road to success.
“My job at OIT allows me to have an impact on the entire institution, which is incredibly valuable and important to me,” she said.
“Universal design is in line with what I am passionate about in my career, specifically tackling learning problems and breaking down barriers through inclusivity. Taking steps to ensure all people can learn should just feel like good teaching. The School of Education helped me build both connections and confidence to get me where I am today.”