Where are we with equity in instructional design? How do we bring about discussions around equity issues, similar to accessibility, in our design process from course design to educational technology? This session will look at how equity and the instructional design profession intersect and how we begin to design with an equity mindset. We will explore where we are in our journey and seek to facilitate a conversation and collaborate with others along their journey of understanding race, culture and gender equity to bring this movement to the forefront similar to the push accessibility has had in the last five years.
This session will focus on design decisions and processes and how we might better approach them through the lens of equity. From the tools we use to develop and deliver content to the best practices we use to engage faculty, students and stakeholders, there are multiple opportunities to bring awareness to issues of social justice and transform instructional design. We will look at the ideas and actions of individuals and groups focusing on equity in education. We seek to share not only what we have learned, but also we seek input and self-reflection on our instructional design practices in order to adequately address marginalized groups in education. We want to facilitate a conversation and see how we can build bridges that transform our profession to prioritize social justice and equity similar to the movement around accessibility.
The idea for this session started with an EdSurge Loop call where two instructional designers found a common interest in the ideas of social justice and equity in course design. As we shared inspirational articles and resources it became apparent that one 30-minute phone call between two people would not be enough to answer the questions we had.
Discussions related to social justice, equity and inclusion are not new to the instructional design world. Where we come into this cycle of - Awareness - Awakening - Action - may differ but our individual experiences and knowledge can help us as a profession to transform our practices.
We hope to continue this conversation with IDs, faculty members and others who are dedicated to this topic with the hopes of developing better, more inclusive practices and with a focus on where we each of us may be, as well as, where our institutions may be in this cycle.
Level of Participation:
The presentation style will be collaborative as the presenters weave their experiences together to create an on-ramp for attendees to join the presenters in constructing knowledge together. (30 minutes) Attendees will be arranged into small groups with each group given a different reflection prompt to first consider individually (5 minutes) then within the groups. (10 minutes) As groups share a summary of key things from their conversations the presenters will capture the information to include as part of the session resources to add to the body of knowledge on the topic.
Session Goals:
At the end of the session, we will share the resources we have gathered with the idea of curating a digital commons for instructional designers and other partners to collaborate, join in, share and disseminate as we develop more process and thought around equity in our field.
We hope to continue to facilitate a conversation around this topic with other IDs at other institutions and grow the knowledge base and expertise.