Module 5

Goal(s)

By the end of this module, participants will be able to: 

1. Consider how power dynamics present in their context can create barriers to building community and a learner’s sense of belonging. 

1. Talk describe and identify strategies they can implement to increase learner engagement and build a learning environment that is centered on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging for all learners. 
    

Materials

Watch Anti-Racist and Inclusive Online Teaching during the Racial Justice Uprisings and the Pandemic, video (CC available), Byron Adams, Heidi Nicholls, Adrienne Frie, Thomas Fischer 
 
Watch Sharing Stories: Antiracism and Universal Design for Learning with Andratesha Fritzgerald (CC available) 

 
Read Greer, A. (2014). Increasing Inclusivity in the Classroom. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. (To activate Text-to-Speech on Google Chrome, highlight text, right click, select “speech,” select “start speaking”) 
 

Optional Materials 
Read “Becoming an anti-racist educator”  

​

Explore “Diversity and Inclusion”  

​

Read “How to Forge a Strong Community in an Online Classroom”  
 

Choose a guided reflection prompt and post your answer on Yellowdig
Think about your identity. How might your identity affect your learners’ sense of belonging in your online class? How can you address the power dynamics that exist between you and your learners in order to build community and a sense of belonging? 

 

Think about your learners. Who are your learners? What power dynamics exist between learners in your online courses in respect to race, ethnicity, religion, caste, gender, class, sexuality, ability, nationality, and other identity markers? How might we build learner engagement and belonging once we start leveraging these differences as assets? 

Think about your practice. What strategies can we implement in our online learning environments that are culturally sustaining? 

 
UDL in action

1. Redesign a lesson or an activity that allows learners to draw on their cultural knowledge as a means of expression.
   OR

2. Draft a diversity statement and online learning norms that centers equity and inclusion. Include yourself in this statement.