Developing a Process for Making Inclusive Online Courses

Concurrent Session 9

Session Materials

Brief Abstract

UNC Charlotte is committed to building an environment that promotes student, faculty, and staff diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) where everyone feels welcome and differences are valued and respected. The Online Course Production Team’s mission within the Center for Teaching and Learning is to create online courses with the three dimensions of inclusive design in mind: recognizing diversity and uniqueness, strategizing inclusivity, and building for diversity. In this presentation, we will discuss our initial work to ensure an inclusive online community for students in the courses we design and develop.

Presenters

Lead Presenter: Blair Stamper, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Dr. Blair Stamper is an Instructional Designer (ID) with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Blair Stamper, LLC as well as a public speaker. As an ID, she works with faculty to create student-centered and active online courses that align with high quality standards. Her passions lie in student success, active learning, and access, equity, and inclusion in online courses. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Michigan State University and Arizona State University. Blair shares her expertise with her online blog, social media (Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest), podcast, and through mentoring. Blair began working in education as a middle school math and science teacher in 2012. Using her experiences with curriculum design as a teacher and her love for technology, Blair found her true niche in the instructional design field in 2015. After 7.5 years as an ID, Blair’s passion for sharing her expertise with the online learning field has led her to being published in Educause Review, an active member with Educause, Online Learning Consortium, UPCEA, and the creation of her Be an Instructional Design Rockstar podcast. Blair’s research focuses on instructional design practices including relationships between IDs and faculty during online course developments. She has also explored access, equity, and inclusive practices and active learning in online courses. Blair has also served as the Managing Editor for Current Issues in Education and a reviewer for multiple academic journals. Blair is a graduate of Arizona State University (2022, Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Innovation), the Online Learning Consortium's Institute for Emerging Leaders in Online Learning (2018), Michigan State University (2015, Master of Arts in Educational Technology), and University of Michigan-Dearborn (2012, Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education).

Co-presenter: Sam Gist, University of North Carolina Charlotte

Co-presenter: Lynn Wahl, UNC Charlotte

Lynn leads the Course Production Team in UNC Charlotte's Center for Teaching and Learning in the School of Professional studies in their work with faculty in the redesign and development of blended and online courses, the development and implementation of media and interactive learning objects, and quality assurance efforts and initiatives. Lynn is passionate about creating successful faculty and student learning experiences in online and blended learning and growing as a leader. Lynn received her M.Ed. in Instructional Technology from Idaho State University and M.A. and B.A. in English Literature from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. With over 15 years of experience in higher education, Lynn is a two time OLC Best in Track award winner, frequent volunteer with OLC Accelerate, Innovate, and IELOL, a thought leader in instructional design, and is a graduate of the Online Learning Consortium's Institute for Emerging Leadership in Online Learning.

Co-presenter: Melanie Lewis, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Extended Abstract

In this presentation, we will present our initial work to ensure that our online courses are created to align with the three dimensions of inclusive design in mind. Rooted in the principles of inclusive teaching and learning, our outline of presentation includes:

  1. Participant discussion: What is DEI? How has your current institution handled DEI for online courses?
  2. Present: Rubric we have adapted from Peralta Community College District to provide faculty members with specific examples of what an inclusive online course looks like and includes.
  3. Participant Discussion:
    • What is human bias? How does this show up in online learning? How can we ensure that human bias is limited?
    • What is representation? How can we increase representation in online courses?
  4. Present: A tool based on inclusive curriculum that we have created to help faculty members make the course more inclusive during the design and development process. This tool hopes to promote the reflection and mindset shift needed to design a course with diversity and inclusion in mind.
  5. Present: Trainings we have created for both internal and external stakeholders and a presentation of how they have been implemented at UNC Charlotte.
  6. A discussion of next steps and how we can work together to ensure inclusive teaching in online courses.