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5 Steps Towards an Inclusive Syllabus for Online Graduate Courses

Use this quick resource to get started with ensuring that your syllabi are inclusive and accessible for all students in your class.

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Read more by topic: Advocate for equitable experiences digital pedagogy

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digital pedagogy87 Integrate technology with purpose78 Create active engagement39 technology & tools35 Advocate for equitable experiences34 Plan for organized instruction28 Self-evaluate your impact28 Motivate students to learn24 all faculty16 5 minute read15

educator spotlight15 Target meaningful feedback11 faculty spotlight10 Insider Insights8 All levels6 All Educators5 FED Talk2 Diversity Equity & Inclusion1 faculty resources1

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Faculty Spotlight: Gwen Pelfini

Introducing Gwen Pelfini: Adjunct Professor at NYU, and certified Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Provider. Gwen is an integrative, multi-licensed psychotherapist, adjunct professor, clinical supervisor and certified psychedelic-assisted therapy provider and advocate, who is passionate about curating spaces for access and conversation in the community. Through her warm and direct approach, she has made it her life’s work to help people connect with their own Inner Healing Intelligence and live a meaningful life. She has honed her expertise in the field through a multitude of educational experiences, including training from UCLA, NYU and various mental health settings and institutes. She also spearheaded the counseling internship program at BronxCare (previously Bronx Lebanon Hospital), and earned her masters’ in Counseling for Mental Health & Wellness, the program of which she is now faculty at NYU. Gwen shares that she found her place in the specialty of mental health x psychede...

Addressing 4 Types of Learner Engagement

What can I do to better engage my learners? If you're an online educator, chances are you have asked this question a time or two during your instructional career. Not all engagement looks the same. Learners regularly use four types of engagement: skills engagement (studying, listening, practicing), emotional engagement (relevance, motivation), participation engagement (having fun in class, participating in discussions), and performance engagement (doing well on projects, exams, and quizzes) (Handelsmann et al., 2005). Observing and accurately diagnosing gaps in learner engagement will help you determine appropriate next steps. Below are some strategies to address each of the four types of learner engagement. Skills engagement Set expectations for homework assignments and pre-work for class sessions. Require and integrate essential course content; provide optional content to enhance student learning. Build on the conversations that happened asynchronously in forums, discussio...

Four Tips for Improving the Accessibility of your Online Classroom

Teaching online can be a wonderful opportunity to connect with a more diverse student population. To ensure that your course is set up to allow all students to be successful, consider these four tips for designing accessible content. Be mindful of presentation colors and contrast. A black and white foreground and background creates the best contrast. Resources like TPGi.com can check the color contrast for you. Using a sans serif font (Helvetica, Avant-Garde, Arial, Calibri, Verdana, Times Roman, Courier, New Century, Schoolbook, and Palatino) and a larger font size (11-12 pt) will not only be useful for students with visual impairments, but make reading on a screen easier for all students. Verdana and Georgia fonts are also easier to read for some users. Avoid using color to convey information. Include text descriptions of images and other graphics. Using built-in alternative text features or using captions for images and graphics are other ways to improve access to material. C...

Using Alt Text to Create Inclusive Course Content

Alt text is one way to make your course content more accessible to all learners, particularly those with visual impairments or those using screen readers to comprehend and engage with the content. Alt text, short for alternative text, is a written description that provides information about the content and function of an image on a webpage. This text is typically embedded in the HTML code and serves as a substitute for images when they cannot be displayed or when a learner is utilizing assistive technologies like screen readers. All 2U/edX platforms support the inclusion of alt text for images placed in courses. Below are 4 strategies to help you write more effective alt text. Be Descriptive and Concise Alt text should provide a succinct and accurate description of the image. Focus on conveying the essential information without being overly verbose. Aim for a balance between being concise and informative. Example: Poor Alt Text: "A beautiful, sunny day with a blue s...

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