Design and health educator insights on future pedagogies for online teaching

A panel of design and health educators came together to reflect on their experiences of online teaching. Seven insights and four takeaways emerged from their discussion, on advancing access, equity, and inclusion in relationship to contexts, experiences, approaches and technologies that inform their online teaching practices. The panel took place at the 2022 Digitally Engaged Learning Conference, with a conversation paper published later in the proceedings of Learn X Design 2023.

The health educators (and users of OB3) have more than a decade of experience in online teaching, allowing them to develop and refine their online courses over an extended period of time. In contrast, the design educators had some experience in online teaching and the pandemic provided opportunities to increase it. Similarities and differences in online teaching between the two disciplines were highlighted.

Figure 1: Co-authors clock-wise: Emily Wright, Gloria Gomez (GG), Mary Kensington (MK), Rea Daellenbach (RD), Areli Avendaño-Franco (AAF), Sarah Wakes (SW), and Lorna Davis (not in picture)

They came together to work and select key insights (figures 1 and 2) from a discussion stimulated by two conference questions:

How your field is advancing access, equity, and inclusion within digital spaces?

What practices and processes for inclusive teaching and culturally responsive pedagogy are forging new paradigms of participation and empowerment in learning?

Figure 2: Three sets of data from which insights came from

Figure 2: Three sets of data from which insights came from

Key insights for question 1

  • Context shapes online teaching programme development (see figure 3)
  • Relatable activities improve equity in educational outcomes and student participation
  • Equitable and inclusive access: “A hard-balancing act” between internet infrastructure and university technology policies
  • Challenges in doing practice-based components of teaching online
  • Keep continuity and access students quickly during a disaster situation
Figure 3: Selected insights from panellist around how lifestyles and circumstances of students shape the design of online teaching

Figure 3: Selected insights from panellist around how lifestyles and
circumstances of students shape the design of online teaching

Key insights for question 2

  • Encourage student sharing or co-creating in asynchronous discussion technologies (see figure 4)
  • Teachers to nurture connection with students and reduce dropout rates
  • Future learning from simulations and seamless technologies for connection and feedback
Figure 4: Insights from panellists around their rationale to prioritise the development of an asynchronous learning model

Figure 4: Insights from panellists around their rationale to
prioritise the development of an asynchronous learning model

Takeaways

  • Know who you are designing for because context shapes teaching programmes
  • Educators need to have well-designed programmes and technologies to advance access, equity and inclusion in online teaching
  • Understand possibilities and limitations of practice-based components of programmes going fully online
  • The future pedagogies for online teaching involve experimentation with virtual reality (e.g., simulations) and seamless technologies for connection and feedback

The full paper includes summary rich descriptions with supporting quotes on each insight and takeaway. A brief discussion pointing to a few references in the literature helped establish that these are still relevant to online teaching post-pandemic.

OB3 was mentioned in relation to insights discussing asynchronous modes of learning and the use of asynchronous discussion technologies. The health educators have been able to make advances in equitable and inclusive access by using OB3 to:

  • address rural internet challenges including limited access and connectivity
  • provide theory content to enable students to discuss and share knowledge asynchronously
  • support practices for inclusive teaching, culturally responsive pedagogies, and student participation and empowerment in learning
  • encourage student sharing and co-creation in group assessment
  • enhance engagement through asynchronous discussion among students, which has also changed the way staff worked online

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