Designing for Diversity, Equality and Inclusion in Higher Education Institutions: Exploring issues of sustainability, sense of belonging, inclusive designs and co-creation strategies
Abstract
At this workshop, we would like to gain a deeper understanding of the digital transformation in higher education exploring in collaborative endeavours how to design for diversity, equality and inclusion in the age of AI and digitalisation. Building on insights from previous discussions with a Nordic perspective, the workshop will provide an opportunity to engage conference participants in a broader, more global conversation. We will explore how teaching and learning in higher education currently functions for you, your students, and your organisation, discuss the impact of digitalisation, and reflect on the digital skills that may be necessary for the future of higher education. During the workshop, the participants will be invited to collaborative activities sharing teaching and learning experiences, design models and research evidence reflecting upon future digital skills and design strategies ensuring diversity, equality and inclusion.
Workshop Organisers
Sylvana Sofkova Hashemi, Halmstad University, Sweden, [email protected]
Nataliya Berbyuk Lindström, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, [email protected]
Eva Brooks, Aalborg University, Denmark, [email protected]
Background and Motivation
This workshop proposal gathers scholars in the Nordic countries, part of the EDUCERE network (www.hh.se/educere), to gain a deeper understanding of the digital transformation in higher education in respect to how to design for diversity, equality and inclusion. The theme of the workshop is based on findings from previous gatherings in the network on topics related to the impact of abrupt remote teaching during COVID-19 pandemic and integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and other emergent technologies reshaping the educational landscape of higher education institutions.
The purpose of this workshop is to invite participants at the conference to collaborative activities sharing teaching and learning experiences, design models and research evidence reflecting upon future digital skills and design strategies ensuring diversity, equality and inclusion. The workshop will be organised around four sessions of separate topics aligning the Nordic perspectives with the participants’ broader and more global knowledge base in mind. The EDUCERE Team will be responsible for the organisation of the workshop involving colleagues from other Nordic Higher Education institutions in the separate sessions. Below we present the four sessions that will be addressed and then the organisation of the workshop.
Topics and scope
Topic 1: Sustainability for ensuring diversity in higher education institutions
Shola Oyedeji, LUT University, Finland, [email protected]
Nataliya Berbyuk Lindström, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, [email protected]
In our workshop session, we will discuss how sustainable approaches in digital education, such as inclusive and accessible learning design;
blended learning models; equitable access to bridge the digital divide, can support and promote accessibility to all students, regardless of background. We will discuss strategies for making digital learning tools and platforms more accessible to students from underrepresented and marginalised groups, such as those with disabilities, low-income families, and diverse cultural and linguistic communities. In addition to access, our workshop will look at how inclusive curriculum design promotes diversity and equity in digital education.
Topic 2: Future skills and sense of belonging in the era of AI
Päivi Kousa, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, [email protected]
Jenny Tarvainen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, [email protected]
Salme Korkala, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, [email protected]
Topic 3: Inclusive designs for pedagogical use of AI in diverse higher education contexts
Susanne Dau, University College of Northern Denmark, Denmark, [email protected]
Sylvana Sofkova Hashemi, Halmstad University, Sweden, [email protected]
The goal of this workshop session is to gather participants from diverse fields in teaching design activities to explore emerging possibilities and challenges for inclusive designs for learning aligned with pedagogical use of artificial intelligence (AI). We acknowledge an inclusive design approach as fostering new relationships and collaborations among stakeholders by embracing diversity in interests, capabilities, and skills (Brooks, Dau & Selander, 2021). Incorporating AI into education requires aligning assessments with learning objectives while considering ethics, fairness, and student autonomy (Jensen, Dau & Gade, 2024). Opportunities for students to demonstrate knowledge in dynamic ways raise questions about their access, competence, and the relevance of these skills in future professions.
Topic 4: Aiming for inclusion: co-creation strategies and practices in higher education
Skúlína Hlíf Kjartansdóttir, University of Iceland, Iceland, [email protected]
Sigurbjörg Jóhannesdóttir, University of Iceland, Iceland, [email protected]
Kristín Björnsdóttir, University of Iceland, Iceland, [email protected]
Eva Brooks, Aalborg University, Denmark, [email protected]
This workshop session invites participants to envision desired futures, design solutions, and generate ideas for practical applications and research on students’ co-creation in higher education. Aligned with the spirit of co-creation, the session will bring in different examples of generative tools (Sanders, 2000) that allow us to collectively explore co-creation opportunities, complexities, challenges, and generate new ideas (Sanders & Stappers, 2008). We acknowledge co-creation as occurring in the context of culturally and socially constructed pedagogies where awareness of all communication is required,
including context, artefacts/techniques, and spatial positions and relationships (Jewitt et al., 2016; Kress, 2010).
Format of the workshop
The topics of the workshop will be carried out in two-parallel sessions (session A and session B), see the table below. Half of the group of the participants will be part of session A and the other half group of session B. This means that the participants will not be shifting between session A and session B, but stay in the same session for the whole workshop. In total, the workshop will last for two hours.
|
Session A |
Session B |
Time |
|
1. Sustainability for ensuring diversity in higher education institutions |
3. Inclusive designs for pedagogical use of AI in diverse higher education contexts |
1 hour |
|
2. Future skills and sense of belonging in the era of AI |
4. Aiming for inclusion: co-creation strategies and practices in higher education |
1 hour |
Each workshop session is holding similar formats with just smaller variations in the group activity. The format is divided in three sections:
1. Introduction to the topic (10 minutes)
We will introduce the background and aim of the workshop session and the related activities.
2. Group activity (20 minutes)
The participants are divided into smaller groups working with defined tasks supported by different kinds of tools. The tasks and tools used in the group activity vary between the different workshop sessions.
3. Sharing of outcomes and wrap-up of the group activity (20 minutes)
Participants will discuss and identify issues like challenges, barriers, and opportunities to which they will propose new ideas to approach the specific workshop session. This part ends with a general wrap-up of the results and interest for potential future activities.
Time and organisation: The workshop requires two hours of time to be allocated and access to two rooms, preferably next to each other, being able to conduct sessions in parallel.
