Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in Remote Teaching
Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), especially as they apply to academic accommodations, are key considerations as we move to remote teaching.
At Dalhousie, Quenta Adams, Director of Student Academic Success, encourages the university community to remain open and flexible to student accommodation requests. While we move through a period of rapid transition, it’s inevitable that students will require changes to their existing accommodation plans or need to request accommodations for the first time. Adams reminds us that, “per Dalhousie’s Student Accommodation Policy, students can request accommodation if an educational barrier is directly tied to a protected characteristic under Nova Scotia human rights legislation.”
What to do if a Student Requires an Accommodation at Dalhousie
If students approach you regarding accommodations, Student Accessibility Centre (Halifax Campus) and the Student Success Centre (Agricultural Campus) recommend the following:
Direct the student to the Student Accessibility Centre (www.dal.ca/access)
You then send an email to access@dal.ca with the:
course number and section,
plan, and
changes to original syllabus
The Student Accessibility Centre will assess your query and delegate as appropriate for a response
[Agriculture Campus: direct your students to the Student Success Centre (ssdalac@dal.ca)]
Some of your students may already have accommodations such as time extensions. If you are using Brightspace to administer your exam, please contact the Brightspace support team for more information on allowing for time extensions: intech@dal.ca.
The Student Accessibility Centre remains open during this time to support you and your students in these unprecedented circumstances.
Inclusion, Equity, and Access While Teaching Remotely
In an article entitled, “Inclusion, Equity, and Access While Teaching Remotely,” by Bailin Fang, (Director, Instructional Design, Walter H. Adams Center for Teaching Excellence, Abilene Christian University) provides some helpful suggestions for considering EDI online. The following includes adapted excerpts from that publication:
Pedagogy that prioritizes inclusion—whether the courses are online, in-person or a combination of the two—asks us to consider how we can help all students succeed. Students may have variable access to the Internet or to WiFi. They may rely on data plans which may run low or run out before they have completed all their coursework; they may lack access to physical devices like laptops, tablets, printers, webcams, or other equipment; they may not have access to specialized software; or they may be unable to run certain apps or software on their devices. Local resources, like public libraries or coffee shops may not be accessible to students when they need them, or may not be available at all in the event of community-level closures.
If campuses are closed and students leave, they may be in time zones all over the world. In these cases, offering students the flexibility of an asynchronous learning environment (students access the materials at a time of their choosing, i.e., not live) may help to alleviate stress and encourage participation. Asynchronous experiences can reduce or remove many challenges, and may increase engagement with the course materials since students can access them at their own time and pace.
Some tips for increasing equity and access when teaching remotely
Here are some other tips for increasing equity and access in remote teaching and learning environments:
Anonymously ask students about their level of access to technology. Use the results of this survey to inform the technology choices for your courses. Additionally, ask students if they have particular needs concerning access and accommodations. Students may have accommodations they had not previously requested, and some students may need to make adjustments to their accommodations.
If access is an issue, when possible, offer flexibility or alternatives to students. If a student anticipates or has demonstrated need regarding technology access, ask them what they would need in order to more fully participate. Students are most aware of the constraints they face, and are often in a good position to make suggestions for work-arounds.
Ensure materials are accessible and mobile-friendly. Screen-readers often can’t read text in tables. PDFs are generally more accessible for students who may rely on screen-readers, as long as the text is really text and not a scanned image (see Figure 1). PDFs also adapt to different devices and mobile phones more readily than other formats.
Text in PDFs should be selectable like this!
Figure 1. See the two short sentences above. Try to select/highlight both sets of text. The text on the top cannot be selected because it is an image; the text on the bottom can be selected and is recognizable by a screen reader.
If you anticipate students may need materials from the campus bookstore, inquire as to whether the bookstore will ship materials off-campus to students. Consider, too, using Open Educational Resources (OERs) available through the Libraries.
Record course content and virtual meetings so they can be downloaded and viewed by students later (see Panopto resources on Dal eLearning website). Consider whether streaming video is necessary, given how streaming requires strong Internet connections and can deplete data plans and memory on students’ (and your!) devices.
Provide transcripts and captions of audio and video. This benefits not only students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, but those who are participating in classes in noisy locations, those who don’t have headphones, and those who might have English as their second language.
For class discussions, have students participate in a Brightspace discussion board, the chat feature of Collaborate, or in a live edit document through Microsoft Teams.
PowerPoint and Panopto offer automatic captioning that, while imperfect, can increase access.
Provide narrations of the material you’re presenting on the screen (for example, describing a diagram, chart, or photograph) for students who are blind, have difficulty reading on a computer screen, or who are otherwise unable to view the video or slides.
Offer students resources on how to stay motivated and keep up with coursework when classes are being offered remotely. The resource “Tips for Learning During Disruption,” compiled by Rice University faculty members Dr. Caleb McDaniel and Dr. Jenifer Bratter, is designed to help students refine their approach to coursework and studying when classes are no longer meeting in-person.
Create an environment that includes and values all students
Students may face a variety of physical, emotional, cognitive, and financial challenges that can impact motivation, concentration, learning, and performance. They don’t have to be directly affected by a crisis for it to have a significant impact on their health, well-being, and stress levels, and some students will be impacted in ways that they may not want to share with you. When possible, offer all students additional flexibility to meet deadlines, adjust workloads, and the necessary time to adapt to their own changing situations.
Some tips for promoting an inclusive environment while teaching remotely:
If you are in a position to do so, advocate for the students in your community that may have greater need and fewer resources on which to depend. Not all students have safe and welcoming homes to return to in times of crisis, and many students rely on campus resources for regular access to food, shelter, employment, and health care (including mental health care). These needs may be invisible, and students may be reluctant to disclose these needs to individual instructors. Consider the impact remote teaching and campus closures have on all students, and encourage other instructors, staff, and administrators to do the same to ensure support is available for all students.
Ask students if they have concerns about accessing other campus resources, as well as any other concerns about remote teaching and learning they want to share. You can use this information to shape your class and teaching. Be prepared to connect students to resources or to offices who can help them if they disclose they are in need of support.
Be mindful of the ways in which a crisis can impact communities in different ways, and how students from different identity groups (race, ethnicity, age, religious affiliation, gender, sexual orientation) may have different responses to a situation. Moreover, consider that some communities may become targets of bias incidents, discrimination, and even hate crimes during times of crisis. Be prepared to address tension, heated moments, or bias incidents if they occur in your classes or on campus, and step in to shut down inflammatory or hurtful language or actions.
Consider how to discuss the cause of the disruption in class, and how you will prepare for those conversations. Teaching after Hurricane Harvey and Teaching in Times of Crisis from the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching offer valuable tips for discussing local, national, and international crises in class. Misinformation spreads easily in times of crisis, and students may have misconceptions about the causes of an issue or about communities that are impacted. When possible, correct misinformation.
Remember to practice self-care! Moving to remote teaching requires balancing a lot of competing needs and expectations—a balancing act that can be stressful and require more emotional labor than usual. It’s okay not to aim for perfection during a time of certainty and constantly changing landscapes; allow flexibility in course planning, be transparent with students, and expect that mistakes and hiccups will happen! As you support your students, remember to seek support and assistance from your fellow instructors, department and university administrators, university support staff, as well as friends and family when you need it.
If you want to incorporate EDI considerations into your teaching the Dalhousie Centre for Learning and Teaching can help! To schedule a consultation, send us an email clt@dal.ca. Faculty and Staff can find more information about Academic Support through the Campus Life website.
Resources:
Hicks, Cat, Emeline Brulé, and Roberta Dombrowski. 2020. “You Have to Put Your Class Online: Simple Things to Think About.” Online resource.
Wieck, Lindsey Passenger. 2020. “An Equitable Transition to Online Learning: Flexibility, Low Bandwidth, Cell Phones, and More.” Pedagogy Playground.
Cohen, Jenae and Beth Seltzer. 2020. “Teaching Effectively During Times of Disruption." Stanford University online resource.
Hamraie, Aimi. 2020. “Accessible Teaching in the Time of COVID-19.” Mapping Access.
Dill Emma, Karen Fischer, Beth McMurtrie, and Becky Supiano. 2020. “As Coronavirus Spreads, the Decision to Move Classes Online is the First Step. What Comes Next?” Chronicle of Higher Education, March 6.
Professional and Organizational Development Network listserv and Google Group. Special thanks to Bailin Fang, Director, Instructional Design, Walter H. Adams Center for Teaching Excellence, Abilene Christian University for his practical suggestions for inclusive and accessible practices when remote teaching.