Equity and Access in Online Environments

Streamed Session

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Brief Abstract

In this session, we will focus on equity and access. Participants will build awareness and understanding of key do’s and don’ts as it relates to creating an equitable learning environment for all students in a distance setting.

Presenters

Extended Abstract

Learning environments have been disrupted by the introduction of COVID19 and its impact on the educational ecosystem. While leading change in school, classroom and learning environments has been challenging for students, parents and educators alike, it has provided the broader education community with the unique purpose to rise to the occasion, challenge the status quo, reimagine learning in both K-12 and Higher Education, as well as the space to hypothesize, test and measure instructional moves. 

 

The Past

Before COVID19, classroom and learning environments were relatively controlled. Within an institutional setting, from the moment a student stepped onto campus, their day was intentionally designed. Food, shelter, water, a learning schedule (usually built strategically with both mental and physical time blocks) is executed. As educators, we therefore practiced universal design in a vacuum, because every other variable that could impact learning was accounted for and planned for. 

 

The Present

We’ve heard the stories. We have seen pictures and videos of students from pre-K to college crying, anxious, absent, and in some cases delighted by the switch to remote, distance, hybrid and live streamed learning. So what went wrong? Our present challenge cannot be solved if we continue to implement universal design without the influence equity plays in the learning environment. Generally, we started the 2020-21 academic year, planning as if each student had identical access, time, resources and structures in place at home as they did in school. This did not work successfully for students young and old for a number of reasons. Here are a few:

  • Access to Wi-Fi

  • Access to a computer and in some cases shared family computers

  • Financial responsibilities

  • Students and or a member of their family may have become ill with COVID or some other medical condition 

  • Students becoming caregivers for family

  • Access to a parent or guardian during remote learning for young students

  • Trauma

 

This Session

In this session, we will focus on equity and access. Participants will build awareness and understanding of key do’s and don’ts as it relates to creating an equitable learning environment for all students in a distance setting.  

  • Participants will explore how equity and access are related and manifest in distance learning settings. 

  • Next, participants will conduct an exercise to audit and ask questions about where there might be gaps or places to tighten in online learning. 

  • Participants will identify an action based on learning from the previous section so that it is concrete and livable in upcoming practice. 

  • To close, we will share an example of an innovative learning tool to create inclusive environments for all students (all abilities, deaf, hard of hearing, ELL etc) and how it can be implemented into practice using the example from the audit.