¿ìèÊÓƵ

What you will study

On this postgraduate microcredential, you’ll gain the skills and knowledge to embed equity in your online teaching and support equitable participation for all. Over 12 weeks, you’ll cover the following topics.

• The impact of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and socio-economic status on study outcomes in online learning.
• Legislation around rights and responsibilities concerning race, gender, gender identity and sexual orientation in educational contexts.
• The impact of bias on learners’ outcomes and how to identify and address this when teaching online and designing online courses.
• The impact of equality-focused, deficit-based, avoidant and context-neutral mindsets in perpetuating educational inequity.
• Digital colonialism in online learning contexts and how to address this.
• How equity literacy, critical digital pedagogy and universal design for learning can be the basis for equitable online teaching and course design.
• How institution-wide practices and policies can support and compromise equity in online teaching and course design.

You will learn

By the end of your learning, you’ll be able to:

• demonstrate a critical understanding of the differences between educational equity, equality and inclusion and of the reasons why educational equity should be a priority for educators and institutions
• demonstrate a critical understanding of how learners’ contexts can have an impact on their opportunities for equitable participation in online learning and how this can be addressed by educators and institutions
• design online teaching, learning and assessment activities that are equitable in their pedagogy and that address issues such as racism, economic injustice, sexism and heterosexism
• develop equity audit strategies that are appropriate to diverse stakeholders’ needs for application in online teaching contexts
• identify and critically evaluate a range of theories relating to educational equity for their relevance to online teaching and learning settings
• critically evaluate online teaching, learning and assessment activities, and institutional policies in terms of bias and inequity
• demonstrate the following skills: critically engaging with research evidence; presenting arguments that represent diverse perspectives; participating effectively in online communities; managing ethical issues connected with educational equity

Skills you will gain

• Equitable course design
• Ethical practice
• Openness to diverse perspectives
• Conducting an equity audit
• Equitable teaching
• Having challenging conversations
• Critical evaluation of theory and practice
• Evaluating teaching, learning and assessment activities
• Equitable assessment design
• Reflection and reflexivity
• Using evidence to inform practice and advocacy

Vocational relevance

The course will benefit anyone working in or looking to work in universities, colleges and further education, schools (particularly secondary schools), adult education, and workplace learning and development settings. It will enhance the employability of teachers, trainers, lecturers, learning designers, education technologists and specialists, heads of departments, and institution leaders and managers.

Created by leading experts and practitioners from ¿ìèÊÓƵ

• Dr Leigh-Anne Perryman leads ¿ìèÊÓƵ’s (OU) Masters in Online Teaching programme within the Institute of Educational Technology. Her research explores the relationship between equity, social justice, online teaching and open pedagogies.
• Maha Bali is an Associate Professor of Practice at the Center for Learning & Teaching at the American University in Cairo.
• Anita Naoka Pilgrim is an associate lecturer with the OU and author of several reports on education and equalities, as well as workshops and courses on inclusive education.
• Dr Simon Ball is an OU tutor and consultant researcher, specialising in inclusive online learning, educational technologies and accessibility.
• Dr Suki Haider is an Associate Lecturer and consultant at the OU, tutoring history and social science and researching the application of anti-racist pedagogy online.
• Simon Hull is a Lecturer in Work-based learning in the OU’s Faculty of Business and Law.
• Sukaina Walji, an External Advisor for this course, is the acting director of the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and Head of Online Education, Curriculum and Course Design. She supports the growth and development of capacity and expertise in designing and developing blended and online courses and programmes.

Teaching and assessment

Assessment

You’ll take part in weekly tasks and discussions with co-learners to support and consolidate your learning. Towards the end of the course, you’ll submit a project or assessment demonstrating the skills you’ve acquired. This will be marked and graded by subject matter experts and make up 100% of your final mark.

Study support

• Learn 100% online on the OU’s learning platform with a mix of video, audio and written materials
• Engage in interactive learning through self-assessment questions, polls, tasks and reflection
• Share ideas and experiences in discussion with other learners, building skills, confidence and knowledge
• Receive support from mentors who guide discussions and answer questions
• Study at a time that suits you with the flexibility to access the course from your desktop, tablet or mobile device

What you will gain

15 UK credits at postgraduate level from ¿ìèÊÓƵ*. Academic credits are awarded on passing the final assessment. These will be at postgraduate level 7 of the Framework for Higher Education (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) / level 11 of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework.

*Academic credit may be used towards selected OU qualifications. For more details, including eligible qualifications, visit Counting microcredentials towards OU qualifications. The credit awarded may also be used at another university, subject to the agreement of the receiving institution.