Equity-Minded Online Teaching & Learning – Comprehensive Study Notes

Webinar Context & Logistics

  • Presenters: Dr. Frank Harris III (Professor, SDSU & Co-Director, Community College Equity Assessment Lab – CCEAL) and Dr. J. Luke Wood (Associate Vice President for Diversity & Innovation, SDSU).
  • Format: Free, recorded webinar; fully-captioned recording promised within 24 h.
  • Audience: 4,500+ registrants (majority community-college faculty; some 4-year colleagues).
  • Interaction channel: Twitter hashtag #EquityOnline for live questions & peer engagement.
  • Follow-up events: Upcoming webinar on equity-minded student services in online environments; separate CUE webinar on supporting students during COVID-19.

Webinar Objectives

  • Highlight how culturally diverse students are disproportionately impacted in online courses.
  • Share practical strategies to keep equity central when designing & delivering virtual learning.
  • Maintain momentum of prior equity work despite COVID-19 disruption.
  • NOT a technical LMS training; focus is on teaching/learning practices.

Foundational Definitions & Concepts

Equity

  • Intentional strategies to address disparities affecting students who experience disproportionate impact (DI).
  • Populations noted: students of color, former foster youth, basic-needs-insecure students, students with disabilities, formerly incarcerated students.

Equity-Mindedness (per Dr. Stella Bensimon)

  1. Recognize systemic inequities that disadvantage minoritized groups across social institutions.
  2. Reframe outcome gaps as institutional under-performance, not student deficits.
  3. Avoid attributing disparities solely to students’ identities or circumstances.
  4. Engage in critical self-reflection on educators’ roles in allowing inequities to persist.
  5. Centrality of race: An educator cannot be equity-minded while ignoring racial realities.

Two-Fold Challenge for Underserved Students in Online Learning

  1. "We teach how we were taught":
    • Most professors lack formal pedagogical training, especially for online modalities.
    • Traditional methods seldom align with how students of color optimally learn online.
  2. Invisible diversity online:
    • Faculty may think race “doesn’t matter” when they can’t see students.
    • Risk: default practices serve majority students, making virtual spaces more racially hostile.

Disparity Data Snapshot (California Community Colleges, 2017 – Big Data Mart)

  • Metrics: Course retention & success.
  • Modalities contrasted: Simultaneous interaction (≈ synchronous) vs. delayed interaction (≈ asynchronous).
  • Findings:
    • Black, Native American, Latinx, Multi-ethnic, Pacific Islander groups fall below mean for both retention & success.
    • Gaps are wider in asynchronous environments.
    • Gender nuances: Black males & females show largest success gaps.
  • Key takeaways:
    1. DI exists online as in face-to-face.
    2. Largest disparities in asynchronous formats.
    3. Gendered patterns require nuanced responses.

Deficit vs. Equity Lens

  • Deficit view blames families, motivation, or culture.
  • Equity view asks: “What are WE doing / not doing that produces these gaps?”

Challenges Confronting Underserved Students (Amplified by COVID-19)

  • Persistent microaggressions & hostile racial climates.
  • Basic needs insecurity: housing, food, technology (e.g., campus Wi-Fi closures).
  • Social stereotypes of intellectual inferiority.
  • Activation of implicit bias heightened by:
    1. High stress
    2. Incomplete information
    3. Time constraints

Theoretical Frameworks for Online Equity

Garrison’s Community of Inquiry (CoI)

  1. Social Presence – affective communication, open communication, group cohesion.
  2. Cognitive Presence – exploration, integration, application of knowledge.
  3. Teaching Presence – design, facilitation, direct instruction fostering higher-order thinking.

Added Fourth Presence: Equity Presence

  • Lens of institutional responsibility; intentional rejection of deficit thinking; structural design to remove inequities.

Faculty Professional-Development (PD) Needs Survey (Community College Instructional Development Inventory)

  • Lowest self-identified PD need: racial microaggressions & intrusive practices (paradoxical given current climate).
  • Highest expressed PD needs: relationship building, validating practices, culturally relevant pedagogy, collaborative learning.
  • Patterns similar for faculty teaching primarily online vs. face-to-face.

Five Pillars of Equity-Minded Online Practice

  1. Intrusive – proactive outreach & support.
  2. Relational – authentic, caring faculty–student relationships.
  3. Culturally Affirming & Relevant – curriculum & methods honor students’ cultures.
  4. Community-Focused – build peer interdependence & shared norms.
  5. Racially Conscious – center race, facilitate dialogue, address microaggressions.

Strategy 1 – Intrusive Practices

  • Conduct an informal needs assessment:
    • First-time online? Access device (private computer / public / tablet / phone)?
    • Concerns? Preferred supports? Additional info?
  • Send orientation email & short, enthusiastic video walkthrough.
  • Provide asynchronous alternatives + record all synchronous sessions for flexible access.
  • Make success criteria transparent without discouraging tone; share campus resource links (technology loans, food pantry, emergency aid).
  • Assessment tweaks:
    • Break large exams into smaller, lower-stakes tasks.
    • Use multimodal assignments (video, podcast, slides, text) – aligns with Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
    • Offer satisfactory/unsatisfactory or pass/no ext{-}pass if institutionally approved.
  • Performance monitoring & early alerts: intercede before disengagement snowballs.
  • Mandatory interaction schedules; frequent personalized feedback.
  • Warm handoffs: connect students to PEOPLE (named contacts) not generic offices; schedule joint introductions where possible.

Strategy 2 – Relational Practices

  • Humanize yourself: share background, hobbies, short intro video.
  • Engage on academic and non-academic matters; learn at least one personal fact about each student.
  • Convey Unconditional Positive Regard – non-judgmental belief in students’ capabilities.
  • Validation:
    • Verbalize belonging (“You belong here”).
    • Affirm intelligence & effort in assignment feedback.
  • Communicate high expectations + shared responsibility for success (students & faculty).

Strategy 3 – Culturally Affirming & Relevant Pedagogy

  • Outcomes: boosts self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, belonging, degree utility; supports healthy identity development (e.g., masculinity for men of color).
  • Course content:
    • Select readings by/for communities of color; diversify authors, perspectives, images.
    • Use inclusive stock photos, diagrams, case studies.
  • Assignments:
    • Allow choice: poem, podcast, infographic, video, essay.
    • Link theories to students’ lived experiences & communities.
  • Mirror & Window framework (study with Bracken):
    • Racially salient images in online test headers/footers ↓ anxiety, stress; ↑ positive mood.
  • Ensure course can be fully navigated on smartphones (accessibility).

Strategy 4 – Building Community

  • Model expected engagement; be visibly present in discussion boards & chats.
  • Co-create community norms: communication frequency, respectful language, feedback etiquette, perspective-sharing.
  • Encourage video presence in synchronous sessions (with flexibility for bandwidth/basic-needs concerns).
  • Facilitate outside-class connections:
    • Online study groups, group projects, virtual meetups, class social-media hashtags.
  • Collaborative learning guidelines:
    • Explicit rubrics, periodic group check-ins.
    • Instructor-assigned groups to avoid bias-driven self-selection.

Strategy 5 – Race Consciousness & Microaggression Management

  • Integrate racial equity topics into disciplinary content where possible (e.g., COVID-19 racial disparities).
  • Provide students with tools/language for productive dialogue.
  • Prefer voice/video discussions over text to reduce misinterpretation.
  • Faculty responsibilities:
    • Monitor for microaggressions; intervene promptly.
    • Build skill via literature (Derald Wing Sue, Chester Pierce) & institutes (USC Race & Equity Center).

Additional Equity Considerations

Masculinity & Men of Color

  • Three common barriers: reluctance to seek help, breadwinner stress, perception of school as feminine.
  • Intrusive support & validation counteract these norms.

Case-Management Model (Policy Recommendation)

  • Institution-wide weekly outreach triaging student needs; shared responsibility across instruction & student services.

Grading Flexibility

  • During COVID-19 consider institution-approved pass/no-pass or similar; weigh financial-aid implications.

Bandwidth Constraints

  • If cameras limited by IT policy: leverage low-bandwidth tools (phone call, audio-only Zoom, Google Hangouts, asynchronous VoiceThread, etc.) to maintain interaction.

Resources & Professional Learning

  • CORA Learning (coraLearning.org): PD on microaggressions, implicit bias, equity strategies.
  • Center for Urban Education (cue.usc.edu): Webinars on supporting students during COVID-19.
  • Key readings: “Microaggressions in Everyday Life” (Sue et al.); “Racial Battle Fatigue” (William Smith).

Selected Q&A Highlights

  • Support groups for reflective practice? – Few formal ones for students; faculty encouraged to create them; upcoming student-services webinar will address.
  • Too much to do? – Recognize faculty privilege; prioritize outreach to DI students; quality work was overdue.
  • Applicability beyond race? – Yes; use intersectional lens (gender, ability, SES, etc.) while prioritizing race because gaps are largest.
  • Grade-less classrooms? – Flexible grading can promote equity; ensure alignment with financial-aid, athletic, veteran regulations.
  • Elaborate on healthy masculinity concepts? – Address help-seeking barriers, breadwinner anxiety, perception of schooling; intrusive, validating support essential.

Ethical & Practical Implications

  • Without an equity presence, online education can reproduce or magnify systemic oppression.
  • Equity-minded design benefits all learners while providing intensified support for those historically marginalized.
  • In crisis contexts (e.g., COVID-19) implicit bias risk is heightened; deliberate structures are needed to prevent harm.