Bi-Weekly Insights on Everything EdTech

Welcome to The EdTech Pulse, your ultimate guide to staying ahead of the curve with the latest trends and innovations in education technology, K-12, higher education, and workforce development. With each edition, we provide fresh industry news, insightful analysis, and valuable resources to empower you to make proactive, informed decisions. This week, we focus on advancing equity in education, a crucial priority as institutions realize that a one-size-fits-all approach leaves many students disadvantaged. By focusing on equitable solutions, we aim to create learning environments where every student has the opportunity to succeed, regardless of their background or circumstances.

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Making the Equity Connection

Recently, I had the distinct pleasure and honor of attending and presenting at the 2nd annual National Higher Education Teaching Conference. [A big thank you to Lisa March, Sharon Koch Schwarzmiller, and Jen Santaniello, CMM for the opportunity.] In the last 3 years, I have presented course materials over 40 times, but this was the first time I had ever presented at a conference that was solely focused on the profession of teaching.

In one session on equity in grading, Joe Feldman shared with us that the grading system we use today was born out of the Industrial Revolution for standardization and efficiency purposes, but it no longer accurately reflects or represents learning and knowledge as we understand it today. When we provide students with a grade at the end of the term, we are taking the abundance of information we know about a student and boiling it down to a single alpha character. That single alpha character ignores everything that has transpired within and to that student over a 15 or 16 week course and can potentially decide their future.

As I soaked up session after session at NHETC, one thing became clear: equity in course materials has the same implications as equity in teaching/grading. Just as archaic teaching and grading structures can undermine effective teaching and learning, increase student stress, and perpetuate achievement disparities, so can course materials. Until we (higher education) solve for the great equalizer in course materials acquisition and delivery, course materials will continue to be a barrier to access and achievement in higher education.

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