Equity and Inclusion in the Online Learning Environment
There are three aspects of accessibility that are key here – accessibility for students with physical impairments that may create challenges for reading/seeing/hearing digital files and content, accessibility for students with psychological and/or learning differences that require certain accommodations such as extra time to process materials or additional exam time, and accessibility for students with limited access to computers or stable internet service.
- Ensure all files, images, videos, and other posted content are accessible (i.e., visual content can be clearly translated by a screen-reader and audio content has visual captions)
- Provide approved accommodations for students who present accommodation letters from the Office of Student Accessibility Services
- Check whether the content is mobile-friendly
Use the Accessible Course Design page.
- Have flexible policies: Review your syllabus and consider what changes might be needed to your grading weights, late policies and other course policies
- Think about alternative ways that students can engage with your course (flexible activities)
- Think about alternative ways that students can show you what they have learned (flexible assessments)
- Consider integrating culturally relevant materials
- Be aware of how the current situation is impacting different communities
- Pay attention to early warning signs that students may be struggling and reach out proactively
- Use more formative assessment and make completion mandatory
- Know what resources are available for students
- Continue to have opportunities for live, synchronous engagement
- Talk to your students about what is happening
- Build/maintain community among students
- Provide students with support and resources
- Structure, structure, structure
- Use the must-have Online Course Essentials (ONCE)
- Create transparent assignments
Online Learning: Self-paced training and resources
Iowa State University webinars
Webinar, Create an inclusive learning environment
The teaching-learning process is an inherently social act. Students interact with the instructor, their peers, and the course content throughout the learning process, often simultaneously in a learning environment. All of these interactions help shape their success in the course. Explore ways to create a welcoming learning environment, brainstorm what we can do to build an inclusive environment, share campus resources and programs, and extend your learning about teaching inclusively.
View the condensed webinar Create an inclusive online learning environment video (12m 12s).
- Delivering High-Quality Instruction Online in Response to COVID-19 report page (Every Learner Everywhere)
- Supporting Students During COVID-19: The #RealCollege Guide (PDF)
- Teaching Inclusively, Transitioning to Online Teaching, and Supporting Educators during the COVID-19 crisis (Aspire – National Alliance for Inclusive and Diverse Faculty)
- Permission & Advice to Reduce the Burden & Stress Please Do a Bad Job of Putting Your Courses Online (Rebecca Barrett-Fox)
- On the Folly of Rewarding A While Hoping for B, by Steven Kerr
- Teaching Connectedness Webinar
- The Space Between – Identifying Cultural Canyons in Online Spaces and the Use of LatinX Culture to Bridge the Divide, by Dr. Courtney Plotts
- What Do Our Most Vulnerable Students Need This Fall? To Be on Campus, by James M. Lang
Inclusion in the Online Learning Environment, by the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) at Iowa State University is licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0. This work, Inclusion in the Online Learning Environment, is a derivative of Maintaining Equity and Inclusion in Virtual Learning Environments developed by San Diego State University Diversity and Innovation (retrieved on May 13, 2020) from https://diversity.sdsu.edu/resources/inclusive-pedagogy.