Equitable access to learning environments for all students in open and distributed learning contexts revolve around changing the fundamental way that educational resources are designed. The inadequacy of some learning environements for users that require accessibility assistance highlights the intersectionality of disability and educational disparities in learning environments. Robertson (2017) writes that course materials are frequently augmented and modified only after users have issues with accessibility. The fact that inclusion is not a main goal during the creation process underscores serious problems in not just e-learning, but problems that are prevalent in more traditional models of education too. 

The first step to creating equitable access for all students is through careful designing of learning environments. Robertson (2017) writes that ideally this creation process involves the input and guidance of students who need materials to be more accessible. By not utilizing these students as a resource in the design stage, educators are allowing these students to not be in the room, so to speak. It is also important to recognize when students are being hindered by accessibility issues or are being left out of activities.

While designing inclusive learning environments, following a set of guidelines that maximize educational opportunity for all students is important. The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guidelines were valuable in learning about concrete, actionable ways that learning environments can be improved for all students. It is not enough to just recognize that there are problems with learning environments or fix these issues as they arise, although taking action to help a student is important. These learning environments must be initially designed with inclusivity in mind. The UDL Guidelines outline how to increase the universality of a platform through the factors of engagement, representation, and action and expression (CAST, 2018).

The Inclusive Learning Design Handbook (date) is also a great resource for creating educational resources that are personalized and accommodating to all students. I found a perspective article included in this handbook that was illuminating in its explanation of why inclusivity issues are still so prevalent. The article describes how the design of learning environments is often based on numbers—what does the majority of students need? This “human equation” leads to students being left on the fringe and offered less resources (FLOE).  I found it valuable to not only see the ways resources can be designed with accessibility and universality in mind, but also to learn about ways that I can be more aware of these issues of marginalization in the classroom. In the future, I hope to be able to recognize these issues when I use these educational resources.

References

CAST. (2018). Universal design for learning guidelines version 2.2. http://udlguidelines.cast.org

FLOE. (n.d.). The inclusive learning design handbook. https://handbook.floeproject.org/

Robertson, T. (2017). Diversity, equity, and inclusion in open research and education. In M. Bali, C. Cronin, L. Czerniewicz, R. DeRosa, & R. Jhangiani (Eds.), Open at the Margins: Critical perspectives on open education (Ch. 18). Rebus Community Pressbooks.