Inclusive Design

Hi Jiayu, 

I think you did an excellent job at highlighting the key factors of online education. It has been quite a strange year on zoom, and it has caused teachers to have to be extremely creative. I love the ideas you had including recording lectures, setting deadlines, and having social spaces available for students. I know personally, all of these aspects have really helped me in my online learning journey. I really appreciated that for this class, Heidi outlines deadlines for assignments to keep us on track, but doesn’t enforce them. This allows students to adapt the course work to their own schedules while still ensuring they are generally meeting the assigned dates. Social spaces have been a lifesaver when it comes to online learning. It is nice to talk to fellow students about assignments, exchanging ideas and working together. I think it is important for teachers to schedule time for students to meet them face to face to support students in their work and ask any questions that may be unclear through email. Online learning is not something I wanted, but given the circumstances, I think it has overall been beneficial and could be more relevant in our future. Great work!

https://yixingchen.opened.ca/category/edci335/

Hi Yixin,

I really appreciate your idea of not making meetings mandatory, but rather, recording the lectures for individuals to view on their own time. Attending meetings in real-time has many benefits, including interacting with peers, asking questions and getting answers immediately, as well as feeling part of a community. However, sometimes unexpected things happen or prior commitments have to be made and people cannot attend these meetings. Recording the meeting will allow all individuals to be informed regardless of circumstance. 

It sounds like your Blueprint is delivered digitally which I think is a super cool idea! I think another way you can adjust to learners in different time zones could be having two meetings in a day, one in the morning and one at night. This way, learners have the option of attending the live meeting that best fits their schedule. This allows students who want to attend live meetings but can’t because of their time zone to be better accommodated. Either way, recording the meeting is an excellent idea that will be very beneficial to all learners. I am looking forward to seeing your Blueprint!