Online Teaching: Embedding Social, Race and Gender-Related Equity
Discover how to embed equity in your online teaching and support equitable participation for all.
Duration
12 weeksWeekly study
13 hours
Online Teaching: Embedding Social, Race and Gender-Related Equity
Gain the skills and knowledge to design and deliver equitable online teaching
Equality is recognised as giving an individual or group of people the same resources or opportunities in order to succeed. However, equity recognises that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.
This microcredential will give you an understanding of the differences between educational equity, equality, and inclusion, and of the ways in which learners’ contexts can have an impact on their opportunities for equitable participation in online learning.
Understand the importance of educational equity
2020 saw increased awareness of, and activism around, inequity in all aspects of society. Examples included the global momentum of the #BlackLivesMatter movement following the death of George Floyd; the inequalities resulting in disproportionate death rates from COVID-19 amongst people from Black, Asian and other Ethnic Minority backgrounds; the escalation of trans activism globally, and the continuation of the ‘me too’ campaign.
In all sectors and settings, and all nations globally, formal education has a moral, and often legal, responsibility to address such inequities through the design and delivery of teaching, learning, and assessment activities.
You’ll learn the importance of not perpetuating exclusion, discrimination, and disadvantage, but instead raising awareness of and addressing inequity in all its forms through the design and delivery of online teaching.
What topics will you cover?
- The impact of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and socio-economic status on study outcomes in online learning.
- Legislation around rights and responsibilities concerning race, gender, gender identity and sexual orientation in educational contexts.
- The impact of bias on learners’ outcomes and how to identify and address this when teaching online and designing online courses.
- The impact of equality-focused, deficit-based, avoidant and context-neutral mindsets in perpetuating educational inequity.
- Digital colonialism in online learning contexts and how to address this.
- How equity literacy, critical digital pedagogy and universal design for learning can be the basis for equitable online teaching and course design.
- How institution-wide practices and policies can support and compromise equity in online teaching and course design.
- How educators can:
-Achieve equity in online representation, for example through the use of case studies, images and video.
-Support learners in developing equity literacy skills and awareness.
-Support the development of safe and respectful online communities.
-Support the digital literacies needed for safe online participation by people whose identities are often a focus for online abuse.
-Support students in developing equity literacy skills and awareness.
-Design equitable teaching, learning and assessment activities
-Navigate privilege and power relationships within the online classroom
-Embed teaching about issues such as racism, economic injustice, sexism and heterosexism into an integrated online curriculum.
-Use equitable language when writing online courses.
Learning on this course
On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.
Who is the course for?
This microcredential would benefit anyone currently working, or looking to work in colleges or Further Education, universities, and workplace learning and development roles in the private, public or third sector, including:
- teacher
- trainer
- training manager
- lecturer
- learning designer
- course development specialist
- educational technologist
- heads of department
- institution leader and manager
This course has a global focus and the skills you’ll learn will be relevant for learners from countries around the world.
Who will you learn with?
Dr Leigh-Anne Perryman leads The Open University's Masters in Online Teaching programme. Her research explores the relationship between equity, social justice, online teaching and open pedagogies.
Associate Professor of Practice at the Center for Learning & Teaching at the American University in Cairo. PhD in Education from the University of Sheffield, UK. Co-founder @vconnecting & @unboundeq
Anita Naoko Pilgrim is an Associate Lecturer with the Open University; author of several reports on education and equalities, and of workshops and courses on inclusive education.
Lecturer in Microcredentials and Technology Enhanced Learning at The Open University
Dr Simon Ball (he/him) is an Open University tutor and consultant researcher, specialising in inclusive online learning, educational technologies & accessibility, following a PhD in ecology.
Who developed the course?
The Open University
As the UK’s largest university, The Open University (OU) supports thousands of students to achieve their goals and ambitions via supported distance learning, helping to fit learning around professional and personal life commitments.
Established
1969Location
Milton Keynes, UKWorld ranking
Top 510Source: Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020
Learning on FutureLearn
Your learning, your rules
- Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
- Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
- Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores
Join a global classroom
- Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
- Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
- Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others
Map your progress
- As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
- Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
Want to know more about learning on FutureLearn? Using FutureLearn