October 18, 2021

Inclusive Education in an Online Environment Made Easy Using AGILE - California State University, Fresno

For the past 16 years, the Catalyst Awards program has honored innovation and excellence in the Blackboard global community. In this series, a group of 2021 winners from across the globe shares their success stories and best practices.

This post was guest authored by Kat Biacindo, Associate Professor, California State University, Fresno. She utilizes software and media packages to create dynamic and out-of-the box assignments, and thus has first-hand experience with the power of technology to individualize and personalize education.

California State University, Fresno is a 2021 “Inclusive Education” Catalyst Award winner. 

The pandemic changed the world in many ways, but gave virtual learning environments (VLEs) a boost in that many adverse to online learning had to “try it out.” VLE was found to excel when applied correctly, especially when it came to differentiating instruction to allow for full inclusivity. When an online course was designed adequately, it easily offered differentiated options that satisfied both special needs and diverse learning styles, making it a full spectrum inclusive learning environment.   

However, many were unaware of how to fully utilize technology to allow for full inclusion and accessibility of the online material. Without a set of guiding principles, many instructors with little technology training were adrift in a sea of apps, software, virtual classrooms, and web conferencing, making random choices that did not appear to work well, often choosing what most resembled a live Face-to-face classroom (as what else did they know?).  Many resorted to the hue and cry of “VLE is not as good as a face-to-face classroom” and fled back to their brick and mortar bastions as soon as they could. The reality of this situation was that, when VLE did not work well, it was due to an inadequate choice and application of the tech selected. 

Virtual is the new normal, and Connectivism Theory (Siemens, 2005) has promoted and demonstrated the proposition that online learning and technology use is the primary way to provide for fully inclusive classrooms. What would greatly help many educators to be able to use the full capacity of VLE and technology for inclusion and superior learning are assets of guiding principles that assist them in choosing and aligning course technology that creates a true VLE. This “true VLE” supports virtual presence (the instructor is more accessible and more supportive than F2F), has virtual immediacy (students are involved in the VLE), and virtual immersion (students enter a new learning environment). Borrowed from the software industry, AGILE design principles provide an ideal platform to create fully inclusive virtual learning environments. 

The remainder of this post will provide the adaptation of AGILE  for education, as well the AGILE manifesto, which provide a very strong set of foundation principles for online course designs that is geared for inclusivity. 

AGILE design for educators 
  • Individuals and interactions OVER process and tools 
  • Working products OVER comprehensive documentation 
  • Student collaboration OVER work contracting 
  • Responding to changes OVER following a plan 

The premise of AGILE is to capitalize on the first and prioritize OVER the second, with the pairing representing two online design aspects in which one must dominate the design. For example, a good online design places emphasis on individuals (differentiated; inclusive) and one-on-one interactions with those individuals in their preferred learning style OVER (instead of) giving the same or similar learning process and learning tools to all. 

AGILE ManifestoEducational Adaptation  
  • Our highest priority is to satisfy the student through early and continuous delivery of valuable course content, apps, and links. 
  • Welcome changing requirements, even late in course development. AGILE processes harness change for the student’s competitive advantage. 
  • Deliver working updates frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale. 
  • Educators and technology developers must work together daily throughout the project. 
  • Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need (self-pacing and differentiation), and trust them to get the work done. 
  • The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within students’ is one-on-one synchronized and asynchronized communication. 
  • Working products are the primary measure of progress. 
  • AGILE processes promote sustainable development. The educators, course developers, and students should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely. 
  • Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility. 
  • Simplicity, the art of maximizing the amount of work not done, is essential. 
  • The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing course cyberlibraries and ecosystems. 
  • At regular intervals, the course designer reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its online course delivery accordingly. 

A quick perusal of AGILE and its manifesto should evidence the fact that these are principles that create a very different environment than a face-to-face class would. These principles foster and require inclusivity, and the resulting VLE will be a totally new learning environment for the students to be immersed in. It will require educators to become more conversant with technology, stay in constant update on the newest to use (newer technology always improves upon the older versions, often replacing it with more innovative methods), and have either technology development support or technology training (both would be ideal). As virtual is the new normal, teaching has taken on a new focus. In the past, it was teaching with an emphasis on social skills, now it is teaching with an emphasis on technology skills. If one applies AGILE to the ubiquitous PowerPoint presentation, it used to be the key to a good media presentation was to “talking at them,” but AGILE requires that you use the PowerPoint to “talk with them” (interact with all slide content, which an interactive whiteboard will allow you to do, using reactions, laser pointers, text tools, drawing tools, and more). 

Blackboard provides educators with many tools that allow course designers to easily meet all the AGILE principles. This short list can get many started in creating fully inclusive course using AGILE:

  • Blackboard Collaborate, with ample reactions and an interactive whiteboard 
  • Blackboard Ally, available to students to convert content to the most accessible form for them 
  • Beeline reader 
  • Blackboard’s 24/7 tech support for students and faculty (e-ticket, chat room, live phone, and chatbot) 
  • Blackboard course design, allowing choice between modules and folders, which provide for greater student choice in accessing and completing work
  • Blackboard’s support of continuous course change, sending notice to students whenever course content has been updated 
  • Messaging center, allowing for attachments to provide individualized assistance for students 

The short list of the new technology strategies that provide for inclusive choices in content delivery and working products: 

  • Student-paced (recommended due dates only; not required) 
  • 24/7 tech support instructor and LMS through multiple communication channels 
  • HTML content  for mobile/adaptive devices 
  • Captioned videos (no talking head) 
  • Images having dual-purposed doc support, with image and text highlighting to emphasize (tagged) 
  • Use gaming for all core content consumption 
  • Allow content browsing through use of folders opened in multiple tabs 
  • Navigation guides and rubrics foundational to inclusion 
  • Have content published in ecosystems (commonly found in mobile-first course design) 
  • Allow revise and resubmit for all working products from students 
  • Use both audio and text feedback (for example, Office 365 SharePoint and immersive reader) 
  • BB SCORM analysis to revise course during active course deployment 

The students who are being educated today are likely to have jobs and job skills that are not yet even a reality now. The best way to prepare them for that future is to embrace technology, with virtual as the new normal. We should also look at technology as the change agent to create parity for a true egalitarian and inclusive educational environment. No child will be left behind in this new virtual world and many will excel as new virtual opportunities, never before possible, are made available to them. 

Watch their story here.

For more information visit our Catalyst Awards Page. 

The Anthology Team