The Curriculum & Instruction (C&I) Team is here to help! Online learning is challenging for both students and instructors. If you have any questions about making your course more inclusive (or have questions about course design or academic technology in general) email cic@csp.edu.
1. Establish a climate that supports belonging for all students.
- Ask your students about their concerns, needs, and preferences for online learning.
- Talk about some of the difficulties you and your students face with online learning and brainstorm strategies or solutions together.
- Provide opportunities for students to interact with each other in Zoom breakout rooms or group discussions
- Use names that are used by the students, regardless of how they appear on the course roster (Classlist tool)
- Be available via Zoom, email, chat, phone, and check in with students periodically throughout the term
2. Allow students to draw on previous experiences, learning, or background knowledge.
- Learning is most effective when students connect new knowledge to previous knowledge or experiences.
- Stress cultural/social relevance and help students connect their lives to the course content. Give opportunity for self-reflection.
- Allow students to set their own goals
3. Design your course with accessibility in mind
- Establish a weekly routine or rhythm to make your course as predictable as possible. Have consistent deadlines, activities, and events.
- Present content in different formats and allow students to choose the formats in which they learn best (written, visual, audio)
- When possible, give students multiple attempts to complete formative assessments
- Provide options and a variety of ways for students to interact with the course content, their classmates, and you.
- Use My Courses tools like recording audio/video (in announcements, content, grading feedback), instructor profile and quicklink
- Use html pages and CSP content templates for course content. When not possible, use PDF file formats to ensure your course documents can be read with screen readers and are searchable.
- Create different ways for students to demonstrate understanding. Offer different ways for students to communicate and participate during class (emoji, chat, microphone, etc).
- Use simple language when writing instructions and eliminate unnecessary complexity in any place in your course that is not directly related to a course outcome.
- Use the accessibility checker built into the My Courses platform.
