Developing a Process for Making Inclusive Online Courses

Audience Level: 
All
Session Time Slot(s): 
Institutional Level: 
Higher Ed
Streamed: 
Onsite
Special Session: 
Diversity & Inclusion
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.

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.
Conference Session: 
Concurrent Session 9
Conference Track: 
Access, Equity, and Open Education
Session Type: 
Education Session
Intended Audience: 
Design Thinkers
Instructional Support
Technologists