1.6 Assignment Critical Reflection Journal – Blog
Making Education More Equitable Through Digital Learning
Write a reflective blog post on this week’s readings, Roundtable dialogue, and/or action research learnings. The blog writing may be your choice, but it must be substantive, including outside scholarly works.
Making Education More Equitable Through Digital Learning
Technology evolves at lightning speed, and higher education has struggled to keep up. However, America’s education systems have proven responsive and resilient, but there is always room for transformative action and improvement. With the rapid and changing climate of a growing higher education market, higher education institutions must make educational courses more accessible, inclusive, and engaging for learners than ever before. One of American education’s most significant hurdles is unequal access to resources. This proved true during the COVID-19 pandemic when remote learning caused many students to fall behind their peers. This was due to a digital divide that overlaps poverty, race, ethnicity, and geography. For example, when students were sent home, some students didn’t have enough internet bandwidth or appropriate devices to support remote learning for everyone in the household.
Equity needs to be built into the foundations of higher education. Besides technical access, quality education needs social connection and emotional well-being. People designing higher education courses must use technology to create rich digital platforms that enhance connectivity and inclusivity. One way to ensure equitable educational access is to implement personalized learning using Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Universal Design for Learning (UDL) focuses on removing barriers to make education better for everyone. UDL creates flexibility for students, using technology to give them choices about how they learn. To create equitable access to education for all students, this design must be embedded in education from the beginning rather than as an add-on. This requires shared decision-making and effective use of data to inform instruction and monitor learning. Ultimately, higher educational excellence in 2023 and beyond will be defined by how equitably education helps students reach their best potential, regardless of wealth, ability, age, or stage of life. The bottom line is that technology must be part of the solution, and making it equitable and inclusive to all is necessary to remain competitive.
