Hi Percy. Thank you for sharing your thoughts about UDL and accessibility. I enjoyed reading about your personal experiences, and agree that the UDL approach benefits everyone by giving multiple choices. As you imply, even though we may generally be able, none of us is at our best all of the time. Having flexible options for engaging with content allows us to access it even when we are tired, busy, or needing a different medium of communication.
I also appreciated your thoughts about being a good digital citizen. You have a good point about choosing our words carefully when posting text on the Internet. We have to work extra hard to ensure readers know we are actively reading to understand their perspective since they can’t see all the non-verbal communication we express without thinking. Just like young children who nod at a phone, we’re now the children who have to use more words and ensure inclusive language.
Open Pedagogy – An approach to education which focuses on free access and learner participation in shaping educational structures and processes. (What is Open Pedagogy?, n.d.)
Open Educational Resources – educational materials that are freely available and allowed to be reused, revised, redistributed, remixed, and retained (What is Open Pedagogy?, n.d.). Open Textbooks and Open Courseware are Open Educational Resources.
Constructivism – A learning theory in which learners make their own meaning through personal experience and reasoning. (Bandura, 1971)
Creative Commons – A non-profit organization that develops and releases licenses for free and open materials (Bliss & Smith, 2017)
Open Pedagogy
Recall that in Blog Post 2 we discussed Pedagogy, the art of teaching and the science behind its methods (Hotchin, 2025). Open Pedgagogy places students firmly in the centre of the learning process, in charge of what and how they learn, and assuming the responsibilities of being empowered participants in a community of creators and sharers of knowledge. Foundational to Open Pedagogy are the values of autonomy & interdependence, freedom & responsibility, and democracy & participation. (What is Open Pedagogy?, n.d.) This approach expects students to contribute to a communal pool of knowledge, thoughtfully adding to it, asking questions, reflecting and creating from it, and offering respectful critique.
What, then, are teachers in this way of learning? Traditionally, educators take on the role of the experts, imparting knowledge and attempting to have learners retain it. Students might be expected to receive this knowledge without question. They are dependent upon teachers to tell them what to know or where to find information, what to think, and how to apply it. In traditional teaching, lectures, memorization, and skill drills are key methods.
In contrast, teachers who use an Open Pedagogical approach might create spaces such as wikis for students to collaborate. A key role for teachers might be to guide students to hone questions, learn to assess their own work, and gain skills in order to increase their ability to learn independently. Part of a teacher’s job might be to help students develop their empathy, see their impact on peers, and understand their power to co-create knowledge within a community. Structures such as learning outcomes, grading rubrics, and course policies can be co-created with a classroom community.
Watch the video below to explore David Gaertner’s thoughts on how to engage students with Open Dialogues.
Open Educational Resources
The Open Pedagogy values of collaboration, connections, diversity, and democracy (What is Open Pedagogy?, n.d.) are well supported by Open Educational Resources (OER). With anyone being allowed to reuse, revise, and remix content, learners can freely share materials, add their own experiences, and bring different content together in original or targeted ways. Not only does this allow students to select information that is relevant to their immediate needs, but in my experience, the act of choosing material and creating with it helps students to understand information more deeply. Perhaps of greater impact, freely accessible Open textbooks reduces the cost of education and Open Courseware reduces the cost further (What is Open Pedagogy?, n.d.). Hewlett, an early supporter and advocate for Open Educational Resources (OER), seeks to achieve OER which are openly licensed, editable, and accessible technologically and by diverse populations (Bliss & Smith, 2017).
Such freely accessible resources would mean a greater ability to bring into class materials that are up-to-date and relevant. Imagine, for example, being able to use a graphing unit built around data from the Covid-19 pandemic while the event was still fresh in students’ minds. Teachers would be able to use what was locally relevant, remix it with their own course content, adapt and refine assignments, and share it back into the educational community.
Access to free resources also means a greater ability to adapt to the needs of students with divergent needs. I know of many schools around the Metro Vancouver area, for example, that use IXL to support students who need additional practice in Math skills and Khan Academy to enable students to explore topics beyond the scope of their courses. I have had experience with elementary school students who have been able to access advanced topics through Coursera.
One of the results I have witnessed of students sharing and creating with OER is the development of skills around digital literacy. They learn to critically evaluate the information they encounter and find multiple sources to back up claims. Students learn relatively early (middle and high school) how to cite sources and they come to respect the work of others.
Another change I have seen as the educational landscape in BC has embraced more constructivist approaches is the increase in the openness of students’ minds to learning from people of all abilities. This welcoming of participation increases engagement and supports a wider variety of communication formats, increasing accessibility for learners. OERs are one more way for students to construct knowledge within a learning community.
Global Trends in OER
In “A Brief History of Open Educational Resources,” Bliss and Smith (2017) describe how countries and institutions around the world are embracing Open Educational Resources. Key events include
1993 – Open Access is founded
1997 – California State University creates MERLOT to curate mostly free online curriculum materials for higher education
1998 – David Wiley from Utah State University proposes a license for free and open content
early 2000s – OpenStax (a.k.a. Connecxions) develops over 20 open college-level textbooks. MIT opens OpenCourseWare
2001 – Creative Commons is founded
late 2002 – the Hewlett Foundation focuses its efforts on providing Open content
2006 – a review of the OER program by Atkins, Brown, and Hammond recommend that the Hewlett Foundation “shape a new culture of learning.”
2004 – 2010 Many Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are produced.
2014 – Twenty-five countries have clear policy support for OER development and use
2016 – the Hewlett Foundation’s strategy is focused on strengthening infrastructure, such as Creative Commons and research, and solving socio-economic problems, such as equitable access to education
Since 2016, the OER movement has continued to grow, allowing access to education for children and youth in prison or foster care, from low-income families, or in government schools in the United States and creating educational opportunities for developing countries Bliss and Smith (2017). A vision that stands out to me is the use of OERs in training professionals, particularly in the developing world. In countries where access to technology, equipment, and specialized environments are limited, virtual laboratories, diagnostic rooms, and operating rooms could allow for medical training that might otherwise be impossible. Additionally, local training supported by local mentors ensures that medical professionals learn in the context of their communities and home cultures. This application of OERs would increase equity in education and healthcare.
A challenge to use of OERs in this way might be access to computer and electronic technology. One way to address this difficulty might include material support from developed countries. Another could be ways to access educational content offline and without electricity, as developed by the Foundation for Learning Equality (Bliss & Smith, 2017).
An additional challenge to the general use of OERs in education, as Bliss and Smith (2017) point out, is the lack of knowledge about OERs by many teachers and professors. However, this knowledge is increasing as social media has aided the sharing of OERs within the education community. Platforms such as Desmos Classroom allow teachers to build original content or modify existing activities and are more and more frequently being used.
Creative Commons
Creative Commons (CC) licensing enables teachers to responsibly use images, music, video, and other educational resources responsibly. Understanding the different types of CC licenses ensures that we abide by any restrictions put on the use of the content. Below are six license types, listed from most to least permissive:
CC BY – Users may reuse, redistribute, remix, adapt, and add to the material, as long as attribution is given to the creator.
CC BY-SA – Users can reuse, remix, adapt, and build upon the material, with attribution, but any modifications must be licensed under identical terms.
CC BY-NC – Reusing, remixing, adaptations, and building upon the material is allowed, with attribution, as long as it is for non-commercial purposes.
CC BY-NC-SA – Reusing, remixing, adaptations, and building upon the material is allowed, with attribution, for non-commercial purposes, as long as modified material is licensed under identical terms.
CC BY-ND – Copying and distribution of material is allowed without adaptations, as long as attribution to the creator is given. Commercial use is allowed.
CC BY-NC-ND – Same as CC BY-ND, except that commercial use is not allowed.
Creators may also choose to give up their copyright and allow reusers to use and adapt their works with no restrictions. To do this, they apply a Public Domain Dedication, CC0. (About Creative Commons, 2023)
Applying Open Pedagogy
Use of Open Educational Resources and understanding Creative Commons and Open licensing are helpful to teachers who seek to apply Open Pedagogy to their own practices.
To guide us as we evolve our teaching approaches, we can consider attributes key to Open Pedagogy: participatory technology, innovation and creativity, sharing of ideas and resources, reflective practice, openness of and trust between people, a connected community, learner generated content, and peer review (Hegarty, 2015). For my own classroom, it is useful to recognize the attributes that are also important in the Building Thinking Classrooms approach and the First People’s Principles of Learning.
To create an environment in which students are willing to openly share ideas and resources when problem solving and studying, I need to build a connected community, where students get to know people beyond their personal friends. I am transparent with this intention and ask the classroom community to participate in co-creating behavioural expectations, including suggestions for ways to show support, respond to mistakes, add to ideas, and include others. We get to know one another through structured and informal activity, and practice respect for differences in thinking, history, and identity. The collaboration with others in randomly formed groups to work on sometimes ill-defined problems gives students opportunities to share ideas. The practice of generating class notes using learner generated work encourages a student-centred mindset, as does directing groups who feel stuck to confer with other groups who have found successful pathways. Working with learning outcomes that are openly shared, students reflect upon their learning, classroom experiences, and ways in which their education supports themselves and their personal communities.
Online, I am interested in the practice of using technology such as Google applications to create collaborative notes and share resources. Perhaps this works best in small groups to reduce clutter and allow more opportunities for each student to contribute. Whiteboard applications or online journals could be platforms for collaborative problem solving, while student-created websites could be ways to organize ideas and resources.
In these ways, students are more active participants in their own learning. They are also more aware of others in the learning environment. Providing different ways to collaborate increases accessibility to participation and engagement. As a result, the learning environment is more inclusive.
Bliss T. & Smith M. 2017. A Brief History of Open Educational Resources. In: Jhangiani R. & Biswas-Diener R (eds.), Open. London: Ubiquity Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/bbc.b
Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Technology, University of British Columbia. (2018, January 29). Open Dialogues: How to engage and support students in open pedagogies. YouTube. https://youtu.be/PGVzKqvKhQw?si=rU7dxCUmAyESB3Um
Hegarty, B. (2015). Attributes of Open Pedagogy: A Model for Using Open Educational Resources. Educational Technology, 55(4), 3–13. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44430383
Hi Chase, I really enjoyed reading your post about UDL and accessibility. The ideas you shared in lists and tables are really practical and useful. I like that you have included reflection in your list of ways to offer feedback. In my experience as well, reflection is such a powerful learning tool for students to assess themselves and set their own goals.
It sounds like the English course that shifted to online during the Covid-19 pandemic really did not offer sufficient support. I can only imagine how difficult it would have been for those students who faced additional barriers to learning. Your use of this context to illustrate applications of UDL was very effective. I agree that online and asynchronous courses rely a great deal on the clarity and structure of course materials, and transparency in grading and schedule help students to direct work appropriately and to manage anxiety and time.
Hello Rondean. I enjoyed reading your post on UDL, particularly the explicit applications you outlined for digital and physical classrooms. I agree that manipulation of video captions and speed is a strong benefit of the medium. It’s too bad that synchronous sign language is currently so difficult to ensure for all videos. Perhaps as AI technology develops, video platforms will be able to offer sign language in the same way they have caption capabilities now. Having reliable (a key word!) Internet and devices are also another challenge, which seems to be a difficulty in many schools.
Thank you for sharing ways that teachers can protect students from some of the dangers of EdTech. I like your idea of having a technical team investigate apps for educators. This leaves teachers time to do what they know how to do best, which is teach students. As well, it makes much more sense for a central body to investigate apps for many people than for many individual teachers to do the same work just for their own classrooms.
Hi Justin, thank you for sharing your thoughts on pedagogy and networked learning. I found your thoughts about different teaching styles interesting. You mentioned that you worked best when you have control over your learning and form your own opinions, but in a statistics course, you would rather be told exactly what to think and learn. I’m curious what you think the difference is in the courses. Is it that you prefer to have autonomy in courses where you have intrinsic motivation to learn the material? Or do you think some topics lend themselves better to student-directed learning than others?
It sounds from what you write like you have taken many online courses. I am curious how your more effective instructors encouraged discussions and created supportive learning environments. I can relate to being more engaged by interactive content and variety in forms of content. Digital learning spaces create a lot of opportunity for different ways of interacting with content and peers. In addition to videos, readings, and podcasts, I’m also thinking of virtual experiments and tours, games, and presentations. So much opportunity in the digital world!
Liam, I really enjoyed reading your Blog Post #2. Your experiences and insights made me think about these issues in new ways.
In particular, I was interested to read about how online learning in 2020 evolved your learning and helped you gain tools in open learning platforms and online conversation. I, too, learned a great deal by connecting with peers online, at first through email forums and then, when social media came into existence, through online groups. I agree that the added perspectives and resource networks are incredibly valuable.
I’m curious what you mean by Network Pedagogy becoming something you need to search for yourself. Are you saying that each student needs to find the online tools that work best for them?
Your view of the role of the instructor as one who “send(s) the students down the path of success” also piqued my interest, and I liked the way you articulated that. Often as teachers, we are focused on helping students learn and the different ways we might enhance their learning, but from a student perspective, instructor appreciation of what they have learned is an important motivating factor. Paying attention to detail and transparency in expectations and being flexible in how we see accomplishment in an online setting not only supports students to be fairly graded but supports a successful social exchange in which the student meets the teacher’s expectations and is rewarded with approval.
Thank you for your thoughts. I look forward to reading future blog posts!
Students with exceptionalities: Students with uncommon ways of learning or behaving whose needs cannot be met through typical instructional approaches. (Filiatrault-Veilleux, 2022)
Disability: Disability is a term used to describe a functional limitation that hinders a person’s full and equal participation in society. (Legislative Services Branch of Canada, 2025)
Accessibility: In an educational setting, accessibility refers to having equal opportunity to gain knowledge, receive services, and participate in learning or community experiences. (University of Virginia, n.d.)
Digital Accessibility: Digital accessibility of education means that technology to be used is designed for all users, regardless of disability. (University of Virginia, n.d.)
Accommodations: Students with exceptionalities may require adjustments to course or class expectations or delivery modes in order to access learning. These adjustments are known as accommodations.
EdTech: EdTech is short for education technology and refers to modern technology used to support or enhance learning.
FIPPA: Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act of British Columbia, Canada
Accessibility
In any course designed for a group of people (as opposed to self-directed schooling), we need to consider the wide variety of needs presented by students. In my experience, as instructors we tend to feel successful if we have met the learning needs of a majority of students. However, this tends to leave out students who are less typical, in particular students with exceptionalities. To ensure we reach exceptional students also, we must consider the accessibility of our course design, instruction, and assessment.
UDL
One way to create accessibility is through the use of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a framework constructed to address a diversity of student needs based on what is known about the human brain (CAST, n.d.). The main concept behind UDL is that a learner characteristic is a disability only because of its interaction with the learning environment (Rose et al., 2014). For example, a student who is dyslexic has trouble reading, which impacts their ability to learn Science if the information is relayed only through textbook readings; however, if the student has the option of hearing a lecture or watching a video to access the same information, the dyslexia is no longer a barrier. Therefore, by changing the learning environment, we can remove barriers to full participation in education. By offering students multiple options for understanding and engaging with content, accessibility is increased for a wider range of learning needs. By offering multiple options for demonstration of learning, barriers to assessment equity are reduced.
UDL addresses diversity in three main categories: engagement, representation, and action & expression, by increasing access, supporting the learning process, and supporting executive function. (CAST, n.d.)
Engagement
Representation
Action & expression
Increase access by designing options for…
Welcoming interests and identities
Perception
Interaction
Support the learning process by designing options for…
Sustaining effort and persistence
Language & symbols
Expression and communication
Support executive function by designing options for…
For example, when I design a course in Math, I build in opportunities for retesting to allow students to continue persisting in their growth towards learning outcomes. This increases access by supporting greater engagement. As well, students who struggle with tests due to anxiety may show their learning by engaging in a one-on-one conversation about the topic, again a way to support their learning process through multiple options for expression and communication and support their executive function of emotional capacity. Students have opportunities to engage with a concept through lecture, group work, use of manipulatives, engaging with technology, or watching videos, increasing access to learning by providing multiple means of representation. Collaborative activity in which students communicate as part of problem solving creates opportunity for multiple means of building knowledge (listening, watching, talking, negotiating), representing and communicating (writing, speaking, using models), and welcoming identities (seeking to reduce barriers of cultural bias by decreasing the amount of teacher-centred education).
Learn more about UDL in this video created by CAST.
Accessibility in an Online Setting
In an online setting, designing for accessible education includes also ensuring digital accessibility. Learning platforms with simple designs which are easy to navigate and use are more inclusive of those who have less experience with technology (Hotchin, 2025). Likewise, straight-forward language and highlighted definitions increase accessibility for those who have language impairments (Edmunds & Edmunds, 2018). Websites which are navigable by screen readers and alt text on images allow those with visual impairments to access content, while transcripts and captions help those with auditory impairments or struggle with understanding the language of the content. Standards and guidelines such as WCAG are useful tools to ensure learning platforms and materials are maximizing their accessibility (Hotchin, 2025).
Ethical Considerations
One way of addressing accessibility for those with learning differences is to offer computer-aided personalized learning. For example, programs such as IXL, a Math program that assesses student levels and difficulties in order to offer targeted tips, explanations, and challenges, are used in many schools to supplement regular classroom activity. While educational technology (EdTech) can enhance learning experiences by making practicable the creation of very flexible and responsive materials and environments, we also must take into account ethical considerations. In Ethics and Information Technology, Regan & Jesse (2018) discuss how EdTech is able to create learning that is personalized to the interests, preferred learning styles, and skill levels of students. Not only is personal information gathered, but students’ digital behaviour, such as the choices they make or the time it takes to click on a button, is tracked and analyzed to offer future experiences selected by the software. Regan & Jesse question whether this type of tracking and sorting is discriminatory and make associations with classrooms segregated based on race, ethnicity, gender, and class.
On a broader scale, use of digital technology raises ethical considerations about information privacy, anonymity, surveillance, autonomy, discrimination, and information ownership (Regan & Jesse, 2018).
Information privacy – Information about an individual should only be collected with their knowledge and consent, and should be used only for the stated purposes for which it is collected. [Privacy of information collected by public bodies in B.C. is protected by the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA).]
Anonymity – An individual should have the right to choose to be anonymous in a digital environment. This anonymity is protected if information about the individual is not allowed to be analyzed with public records in order to identify them.
Surveillance or tracking – This is the monitoring of student information and online behaviour to make predictions about future behaviour.
Autonomy – An individual should have the ability to freely make choices. Autonomy is impacted when computer algorithms pre-select options to offer.
Non-discrimination – While we currently have laws protecting people from being discriminated against based on race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or disability, sorting people in order to personalize learning creates dangers of discrimination based on computer system and machine bias.
Ownership of information – When digital services collect information about an individual, does that individual or does the digital service company own the information?
When we bring EdTech into the classroom, we bring these ethical considerations also. Since the technology is recommended by a school, district, or teacher, students and parents trust that learners will be protected against any unethical behaviour of companies. These companies’ motivations are not necessarily the well-being of students, but the success of their own product and operation. Are we giving companies a captive audience for their advertisement, research, or brand loyalty development? Where is students’ personal information being stored and who has access to it? For what purpose do they use this information? As well, in our attempts to create more accessible learning through technology, are we creating barriers for those who have less access to computers and Internet?
One way of taking advantage of the benefits of technology in an online course while minimizing interaction with the ethical considerations outlined above could be to have students use programs that do not require accounts. For example, Desmos Classroom activities can be accessed without signing on. The student would then need to take screenshots of their work and email it to the instructor. Another way is to allow students to use pseudonyms to protect their anonymity and share the pseudonym only with the instructor. Being aware of the ways in which student information can be exposed to misuse helps us as instructors to protect learners.
We also must manage the digital behaviour of the learning community. Similar to a classroom, in order to build a community that is supportive, productive, and safe, we need to set standards of behaviour. Treating one another with respect is a foundational expectation. Teachers and students are expected to respect one another’s privacy, ideas, choices, and identity. Just as bullying can be overt, such as when someone threatens, shames, or verbally abuses another, bullying in an online class can also be covert, such as when a student is excluded from a conversation or meeting. Such expectations and the consequences of bullying and harrassment should be made clear at the beginning of a course. Teachers can also model respectful behaviour through the use of inclusive language, employing preferred names and pronouns, and acknowledgement of differing viewpoints. Finally, as Hotchin (2025) reminds us, teachers should urge students to maintain academic integrity, meaning that students should avoid cheating, plagarism, and misrepresenting their work; they should cite sources and credit any use of others’ work.
Accommodations
While careful online course design can reduce the risks that come with EdTech and increase the accessibility of learning materials, content, and fair assessment, universal approaches may not ensure accessibility for students with more exceptional needs. As a teacher, I have encountered students who need personalized support for tests and assignments, those who require scribes to document their work, ones who need reduced abstraction, and ones who need substantially more challenge. In my experience, these students benefit from personalized learning assessments with specialists who can recommend specific accommodations needed.
To learn more about accommodations in a UDL context, view this panel discussion hosted by the University of Windsor.
Accessibility Principles
UDL aims not only to reduce learning barriers, but to eliminate them (CAST, n.d.). However, the materials, instructional strategies, and learning environments informed by UDL literature can only change so much for learners. Learners still face barriers on a systemic level, such as standardized curricula (Rose et al., 2014) and student sorting based on chronological age.
In every year that I have taught, I have encountered one or more students who have been placed into an inappropriate class and cannot be relocated due to school, district, or provincial rules. As much as I can include these students in the learning experience by (to name a few examples) sourcing content for them, helping them to find roles within the classroom community, and/or making connections to areas of interest, the students do not experience an equal opportunity to fully engage in learning. I am not sure what improvements can ensure that all learners are supported effectively. However, I am curious about the effects of multi-year programming and placement based on readiness rather than age; teachers staying with the same students for multiple years (provided there is a reasonably good fit) to increase the benefits of established relationships and teacher understanding of students; increasing student-driven learning while giving executive functioning support and options for structured coursework; flexible scheduling; and decreasing the length of secondary school courses to allow for increased choice and program mobility.
In whatever learning environments become the norm, I think that it is important to continue to make accommodations for students whose needs are outside the targets of the system as it works for most. Recognizing that equality is not the same as equity, I think that these accommodations can sometimes be special programming in which the design is targeted towards meeting common needs of a subset of students with exceptionalities. As far reaching as UDL is in increasing accessibility for students, I believe we should remember to keep our focus on the needs of students and view UDL as just one tool.
Edmunds, A. L., & Edmunds, G. (2018). Special Education in Canada (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.
Filiatrault-Veilleux, P. (2022) Teaching children and youth with special needs (4). [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from lecture notes.
Hotchin, J. (2025, February 2). Module 3: Designing Accessible and Inclusive Online Learning Environments. University of Victoria – EdTech: EDCI 339 – Distributed and Open Learning. https://edtechuvic.ca/edci339/
Regan, P. M., & Jesse, J. (2018). Ethical challenges of edtech, Big Data and personalized learning: Twenty-first century student sorting and tracking. Ethics and Information Technology, 21(3), 167–179. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-018-9492-2
Rose, D. H., Meyer, A., & Gordon, D. (2014). Universal design for learning – theory and practice (1st ed.). CAST Professional Publishing.
Chase, thank you for sharing your thoughts about digital identity, online presence, and personalized learning!
I enjoyed reading about the very practical ways of creating, differentiating, and protecting one’s professional and personal digital identities. Your digital visitor and resident map caught my attention as I haven’t seen a tool like this before. I can see how useful it would be to learn about our online habits this way, particularly since we often have a skewed sense of how we spend our time. I wonder how many people underestimate the time they spend on social media. When we spend an evening with friends or pass an hour in an engaging lecture, time seems to slip away quickly, with the event over before we are ready to move on. No wonder online social connection is so hard to let go of, even if we want to.
I appreciated, as well, your tips on caution around our digital footprints. I do find it hard to keep up with privacy settings and app permissions. They frequently change without notice, and it is time consuming to constantly read through policies and check on permissions. In light of concerns around privacy and security, it really is important to stay on top of what information about ourselves we share.
Finally, thank you for sharing your perspective on learning approaches. It sounds like you enjoy having room to freely grow in your areas of interest and benefit from self-created structure when you need to learn things that aren’t intrinsically motivating.
Elena, I enjoyed reading your first blog post. It was well-organized and easy to folllow, and I liked having the photograph to dress up the text and make the post more appealing.
Your insight about the accessibility of distributed learning I think is an important one. People who can’t attend classes, whether because of transportation or time constraints, can access education that is online and asynchronous. At the same time, I agree that there is nothing like meeting in person to foster human connection and build friendships. I think of all of the non-verbal and proximity cues we unconciously give which can’t be seen or felt when we are sitting in front of a camera, and the connections we make when we make conversation as we wait for a class to begin. These are very difficult to replicate online. Perhaps the difficulty connecting in natural ways is the reason that, during the Covid years, people got “Zoomed out,” feeling stress with greater time in online connections even though in-person social connection generally tends to reduce stress.
Overall, I felt that your descriptions of different educational options and digital literacy were clear and detailed. It sounds like you have a good handle on the digital world and manage your online presence in a way which allows you to show your professional side while being safe with personal information.
Blog prompt: Reflect on the role of the instructor in an online course. What qualities do you think are essential for an instructor to be effective in a digital space? How have instructors you’ve had in the past successfully (or unsuccessfully) fulfilled this role?
In any course, the instructor is central to learning, not necessarily because the instructor is the centre of attention or knowledge, but because it is he/she/they who leads the class, plans the activities, sets the tone, and evaluates learning. To maximize the value of a course for learners, the instructor must put thought and effort into their work. They must employ a consistently effective pedagogy.
Pedagogy – The study of teaching and its methods. This includes strategies teachers use to create a learning environment, instructional activities, learner engagement, and assessment. (Hotchin, 2025)
Pedagogy
What does it mean to employ an effective pedagogy? Beginning with the end in mind, let us first consider what the instructor brings to the job before students enter the picture.
In my experience, first, an instructor must be knowledgeable in the content area of the course. Without this foundation of expertise, the teacher is not so much a guide as a project manager, helpful with getting things done, but not so much in furthering understanding. Not only do they need to know the course content, but they must know how to help students learn it.
Perhaps they have studied learning theories, or maybe their understanding comes purely from experience and intuition. Either way, a successful instructor has designed the course and lessons with intention.
I have also found effective teachers to be interested in cultivating relationships with and between students, creating a safe and welcoming environment in which to learn. As well, they employ strong communication skills, clear in their verbal and written expression, transparent with expectations, and good listeners and observers. Finally, and particularly with online courses, I have found effective instructors to be organized, able to create a navigable learning environment and lesson or course structure, and offer timely feedback.
Behaviourism – Teaching based on behaviourist theories focus on helping students change their behaviour based on what they are taught. For example, a behaviourist would consider a student to be successful at learning 3 x 8 if the student can consistently respond to the question with 24.
Cognitivism – Cognitivist teaching is concerned less with what students can observably do and more concerned with students’ thinking processes. A teacher using cognitivist strategies strives to help students develop skills for problem solving, reasoning, language, and mathematical thinking. For example, knowing that 3 x 8 is 3 groups of 8 or 8 groups of 3, and being able use that idea to solve problems is more important than simply knowing the result, 24.
Constructivism – Constructivism considers that learners make their own meaning from personal experience and reasoning. A teacher using a constructivist lens attempts to create authentic situations, similar to those in which the learners will apply the new knowledge, and guides learners to construct meaning and check themselves for accuracy, as in an apprenticeship.
Social Learning Theory – Social learning theory emphasizes external motivators in learning, namely observation of others’ behaviour and its consequences. For example, a student who sees another get praised for participating in a discussion may be more likely to participate in discussion themself.
Connectivism – Connectivism focuses on learning as connecting information sources to form networks. For example, a student who has learned about chess at home, from some websites, and in a local club connects with other players in an online forum, expanding their learning by increasing their network.
Major Learning Theories (Ertmer and Newby, 2018), (Bandura, 1971), and (Hotchin, 2025)
Pedagogy in an Online Context
In an online space, the learning theories and aims underlying the pedagogy are much the same, though the strategies may differ. Teachers still need to design courses and lessons thoughtfully, with learners in mind, whether they are teaching facts with behaviourist stimulus-response-style lessons, helping students learn problem solving strategies using cognitivist approaches, or planning group activities that will support constructivist learning. Additionally, teachers can use Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1971) to effectively take charge of the social environment in order to ensure students are learning desired beliefs and behaviours from one another.
If teaching strategies are different in an online environment, what do essential teaching qualities look like?
Expertise
In an online course, I have found teachers to create access to their knowledge and understanding less in real-time lecture and conversation, and more through the resources they curate and questions they pose. Their expertise is essential to design and facilitation, described in Garrison, Anderson, and Archer’s Community of Inquiry (CoI) as key functions of teaching presence, an essential component to teaching (Garrison & Archer, 2000).
For example, during a course in Investigations in Mathematics, our instructor taught a class from online. He provided carefully designed problems, gave background information, organized us into groups, and allowed us time to work, breaking in only briefly to lead discussions.
His understanding of how people learn allowed him to plan a lesson that accessed our prior knowledge, engaged us with well-paced problems, allowed us to learn from one another, and scaffolded our retention through review. He had familiarized himself with the technology platform we were to use (Google Jamboard), enabling him to support us with the use of space so we could focus on learning the content of the course. Meanwhile, his background in Mathematics allowed him to flexibly create more difficult problems when we needed more than had been planned.
Organization
Teaching online also increases the importance of organizational skills in an instructor. In order for students to be able to navigate the course, they need to understand the environment, including course structure and community, and have an ability to find resources (Hotchin, 2025). I have found digital organization to be very challenging as compared to organization of physical materials. No longer are we, as students, able to use memory based on place to find and organize our materials. Nor is visual memory as effective when content is published with the help of templates. We must also hold onto the thoughts of what we are seeking amidst the myriad distractions of websites and links that come to our attention as we hunt through notes, readings, and emails. In my experience, a well-organized virtual space is essential to support students effectively.
In an online French course that I supported my daughter through, the teacher designed a well-balanced course of open sourced readings and videos, learning activities, and formative assessments. All activities, assignments, and deadlines were laid out in a readily accessible course outline. Upon logging into the Learning Management System (LMS), the student could see what tasks had been completed, what percentage of the course was left to do, and suggested target dates of completion for each unit. This organization was very helpful, allowing my daughter to concentrate on improving their French.
Additionally, the instructor must themself be organized. The principles of CoI (Barnes, 2016) include giving prompt feedback and emphasizing time on task. This can be done if the instructor has managed their own time to regularly attend to their marking and planning tasks.
Communication
As Hotchin (2025) reminds us, effective communication is a crucial part of online teaching. This begins with frequent student-faculty contact, which is one of Chickering and Gamson’s seven principles of online teaching, as referenced in Barnes (2016). For example, in my EDCI 335 course, the class is set up in a social chat on the Mattermost platform, and the instructor is a participant in the whole-class channel. This allows her to connect with us both formally, such as when she posts the week’s tasks or answers questions, and informally, such as when she uses reactions or posts a quick welcome message. In this way, she encourages an active learning community in the class and maintains a strong teacher presence.
Another principle of online teaching is giving prompt feedback (Barnes, 2016), important to letting students know whether they are “on the right track” and give them a sense of being guided. This timely communication helps students feel engaged and know they are learning. Similarly, students benefit from effective communication of the course structure, expectations, and time parameters. In the previously discussed French course, my daughter was able to self-assess her progress and manage her time because she understood where she was in relation to the course structure and expectations. At the same time, the teacher sent emails if she was falling behind, helping her to keep on track when she was struggling. The teacher’s “checking in” when concerned about my daughter’s progress is similar to the initiative a classroom teacher takes when a student is idle in class and, in my teaching experience, a valuable way to offer support when it might be needed.
As well, an effective online instructor values relationships. Barnes (2016) points out the importance of a student’s ability to feel present in a learning community, supporting their sense of trust and belonging. Social Learning Theory also highlights the learning that students do by observing one another (Bandura, 1971). The stronger the connections between students, the more they can learn from one another. The instructor facilitates social presence by building strong relationships with students, modeling respectful social behaviour, and encouraging interdependence between students.
In my EDCI 335 course, this is demonstrated in both the course design, in which students complete group projects throughout the course, and in the Mattermost social chat room, where students discuss readings and videos, and ask and answer questions among one another. We are also expected to read and respond to blog posts from other students, allowing us to support and learn from others in the class.
Networked Pedagogy
In my experience over the years, local educational practice has evolved to better appreciate the unique knowledge and life experiences brought to a learning community by each student. This is especially true in an online context. In The Manifesto for Teaching Online, Bayne et al. (2020) point out the vastly different lives that may be being lived by students who might come from all over the world. Not only does a teacher need to consider the geographic distances students traverse by accessing a course online, but also the different political, educational, and cultural backgrounds they bring to the community (Bayne et al., 2020). Networked pedagogy mines the richness of this diversity by emphasizing the connections between people and the resources and ideas they bring using technology (Hotchin, 2025).
Networked Pedagogy – An approach to teaching that conceptualizes learners, resources, and ideas as nodes in a digital network and emphasizes the connections between them. (Hotchin, 2025)
One example of this approach is in EDCI 339, in which we use blogs to write about our learning and its connections with our personal knowledge and experiences, and then read and respond to one another’s blog posts. This allows us to connect to other ideas and see from other perspectives. We are expected to meet with people in groups to discuss readings and work on projects using whatever digital spaces work for us.
In our group, because we all have good digital literacy skills, we are able to interact effectively, making and changing plans, contributing ideas, and responding to one another. We quickly chose a social media platform for communication and a different one for collaboration. Had we had trouble, we knew we could reach out to our instructor for help.
Digitally Literate
Finally, all of an instructor’s teaching skills and understanding of student perspectives will not help in running an online course if the teacher is not digitally literate. Not only must the instructor be familiar with relevant technology – LMS’s, social media, collaboration software, etc. – but they must have a good understanding of the social space in a digital environment. They must understand privacy and security issues when asking students to put information online, and indeed, when posting their own information online. And, they need to have enough experience to be able to guide students when they have trouble.
Read more thoughts about digital literacy and digital identity in my Blog Post #1!
Conclusion
The role of the instructor in an online space is not different than their role in a physical space. An effective instructor still attempts to leverage all of the tools at their disposal to maximize learning. They bring expertise, organization, and leadership to the community, and they bring people together to allow students to benefit socially and educationally from one another. The difference in an online space is the strategies we must use to achieve these goals. Because the digital world is relatively new and evolving quickly, teachers today cannot bring to bear the benefit of thousands of years of human experience in communicating with groups and building community. Instead, online teachers today must thoughtfully consider how to organize materials usefully, connect effectively, and read students’ needs. Additionally, we must consider how much broader is the world encompassed by “the classroom” when teaching online. When we understand this, we find ways to embrace and celebrate diversity, be sensitive to differing environments, and encourage students to learn from one another.
Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. (2018). Chapter 11 Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism. In Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology West, R. E. (Ed.). EdTech Books.
Recent Comments