This Week for Faculty: Inclusive Teaching and Learning Online: Resources & Reflections
On-Demand Resource
Inclusive Teaching and Learning Online 
With the rapid shift to online learning, instructors can draw on principles of inclusive teaching to help students feel a sense of belonging, ensure they can access course materials, and support them in achieving learning goals. The current context calls for empathy and resilience on the part of both students and instructors.
The following resource provides strategies for inclusive teaching online and is structured around the five principles of inclusive teaching as outlined in the Guide for Inclusive Teaching at Columbia.
Reflections from Columbia Undergraduate Students
Experiences with Inclusive Teaching and Learning Online
We asked the CTL’s Undergraduate Teaching and Learning Consultants (part of the Students as Pedagogical Partners initiative) to share their thoughts and experiences with inclusive teaching and learning online so far this semester. Here is what they wrote.
“Accessibility has been at the forefront of my experiences with inclusive online learning. Since I am seven hours ahead of NYC, it has been a challenge making time for some of my classes. However, university policy and faculty members have been allowing for alternative and creative methods of accommodating students, be it through recording lectures or surveying the classroom to see what alternatives suit different students.” – Haya Ghandour, Sophomore, SEAS
Reflections on Remote Learning
The student consultants also reflected on their initial experiences with remote learning and shared insights from their first full week of online classes.
“I’ve loved how swiftly some of my professors have adapted to the whole situation…Uploading lectures has assisted with time zone differences, online discussions have circumvented presentation requirements, and group research projects have helped maintain a sense of in-class collaboration in my classes…The classes that sent me updated syllabi (and hence more transparency) have helped me feel like things were under control. Also, I’ve felt most motivated to do the work from the classes with the most flexible professors because I feel like I have a bit more control over the outcome in those classes.” – Kalisa Ndamage, Junior, SEAS
Additional Reading
[External]: “10 Tips to Support Students in a Stressful Shift to Online Learning”
Chronicle of Higher Education writer Kelly Field outlines 10 tips, drawn from experts on the ground, to support students at a time of crisis through the transition to remote learning.