Equality and diversity
E-technology opens up all sorts of new possibilities for inclusive learning, for promoting equality of opportunity and for celebrating diversity.
You can use e-learning to:
- generate new learning communities that are not bound by classroom walls, time zones or national boundaries
- reach out to people who have never before been able to participate in learning, and enable them to become fully engaged
- offer them ways of learning that they have never experienced before
- help them access information from sources that they have never before been able to access; and
- spark enthusiasm among people who have found other forms of learning unappealing.
You can also reinforce positive messages about diversity by:
- choosing digital images that challenge racial, gender, age, disability and sexual stereotypes; and/or
- devising webquests that highlight and celebrate diversity.
Are you making the most of the possibilities to reach and include new learners?
Are you making the most of the possibilities to reflect and promote diversity in your resources?
Below is one case study. There are five more in the downloadable document on this page which can also be used by Subject Learning Coaches.
Elderly residents who attend a community centre on the edge of a major city are no longer able to travel far independently. Fortunately, the city council has linked all its community centres to the city's learning grid. This means that the group is able to make 'virtual' tours of the city's museums and galleries. They are particularly fond of its local history museum and the local history archive.