Online learning offers students and faculty a wealth of new opportunities to create and share knowledge in meaningful ways. These practices require a set of digital literacies, which faculty may assume students possess or can easily acquire, based upon inaccurate conceptions of “digital natives” (Kirschner, 2017; Veletsianos , 2020). As a result, practices intended to be social justice-centric and transformative may have neutral or negative effects on students with who face barriers acquiring digital literacies (Bali et al., 2020). To ensure equity, successful implementation of online learning requires a system of digital literacies support for both faculty and students, forming a robust and integrated support system (Gunawardena et al., 2018). In this interactive 45-minute session, participants will:

  • Identify the digital literacies needed to support their desired online pedagogical practices through collaborative brainstorming

  • Through small group discussion (breakouts), explore inequities in access to digital spaces

  • Respond to a case study of launching a new technology that supports innovative online learning, exploring the faculty and student supports needed, and the processes involved in effective integration of digital literacies support

  • Create an initial plan for ensuring effective digital literacies support

Participants will leave this session with a deeper appreciation for the support structures needed to ensure that online learning practices meet their diverse learners' needs and support them in achieving equitable educational outcomes.

Speakers 

Christina Page
Learning Strategist & Educational Consultant | Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Christina Page is a Learning Strategist and Educational Consultant in Intercultural Teaching at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU). Her dual roles supporting faculty and students allow her to understand barriers that students experience, while supporting faculty in implementing pedagogical practices that enhance both student learning and the teaching experience. Her current research and practice focuses on supporting students and faculty in culturally diverse classrooms, seeking to remove barriers to learning by fostering inclusive learning environments.

Lisa Gedak
Teaching and Learning with Technologies Strategist | Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Lisa aims to inspire faculty to innovate their teaching practices by using modernized strategies that support their chosen pedagogical approaches and create technology implementation opportunities. Lisa assists the faculty in re-imagining their course and program design. Lisa is passionate about instructional design, the intersection of pedagogy and technology, and philosophical approaches supporting learner-centred education. Lisa is currently completing a Master of Arts degree.

Session Recording