Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Online Course Design and Delivery

Great progress has been made in recent years highlighting the importance of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in our learning institutions.  Academic institutions have actively committed to DEI through campus-wide discussion, outreach, and awareness. Many institutions have begun implementing more strategic in hiring of diverse faculty and staff and have emphasized recruiting diverse students.  Many have created senior leadership positions with names such as “Chief Diversity Officer” and offices or departments whose primary role is to champion DEI initiatives across the institution. 

One of the early challenges that faces these champions is defining Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as distinct but related concepts, each with varied goals, strategies, and practices both in the classroom and in the broader campus community.  Some early results of these efforts has been that our diverse students are increasingly valued, welcomed, and engaged.  

In some cases, however, these successful approaches do not easily translate to our online learners in our courses and programs.  In some cases, there may be institutional or practical barriers that prevent the natural spread of these important ideas to our online learning spaces.  As professionals with expertise in designing online learning experiences, teaching online, and preparing others to teach online, we have a key role in helping define, expand, and operationalize DEI in the online space.  

Please join us for a highly participatory discussion about how we can build diverse, equitable, and inclusive online learning experiences and communities. 

Session Interactivity

To establish shared language,  the session will begin with a 5-10 minute exercise to orient participants to the definitions of diversity, equity, and inclusion and a summary of some of the promising strategies and practices used on-ground in communities and institutions.  Participants will then participate in a 5-10 minute discussion of what DEI means in the online learning space, identifying some of the broad challenges in operationalizing DEI online, and highlighting important questions. 

The questions raised will be aligned and adapted into 5-8 facilitated breakout discussion groups. Topics for the breakout groups will include: 

• Identifying the needs of our diverse students

• Identifying inclusive online teaching practices

• Developing quality rubrics to measure DEI in online course designs

• Infusing DEI in the design and development process for online courses

• Addressing DEI in faculty development

• Identifying champions and resources on campus and making the case for DEI. 

After participants are assigned to a group based on topic preference, the facilitators for each group will share several challenge questions and invite participants to share their ideas, experiences, and expertise.  Each group will also be supported by a staff notetaker who will document the group’s collaborative efforts in a live document shared across the session. The small-group discussion will last approximately 20 minutes.  In the final 5-10 minutes of the session, groups will report back two important collective findings, ideas, or challenges to the entire session.  

Participants will leave the session with a link to the live session document that includes notes from each discussion group, the presentation materials, and an annotated list of resources provided by the presenters.

Session Goals

Individuals participating in this “Discussion Not Presentation” discussion will be able to:

• Describe the value of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the online space. 

• Identify challenges and opportunities particular to online learning students and learning environments.

• Select and critique specific online design and delivery strategies for DEI.

• Recommend and implement strategies for infusing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the online environments in their own institutions.