Decolonizing Digital Learning: Equity Through Intentional Course Design

This book explores strategies to decolonize digital education, focusing on building inclusive, equitable online learning environments that respect and integrate diverse lived experiences and ways of knowing into the educational process. Addressing themes of accessibility, representation, and community-building, it offers reflective essays, teaching briefs, and research articles that highlight how digital platforms and online course design can evolve to support marginalized voices and foster collaborative, culturally responsive learning.

Recent trends toward decolonizing education highlight the critical need to address inequities in digital learning, especially in the age of generative AI. The shift to emergency remote teaching during COVID-19 exposed the digital divide, impacting students’ ability to participate fully, with marginalized groups often bearing the brunt. Beyond just access to devices, issues like privacy, cultural representation, and inclusivity of diverse lived experiences in learning environments became apparent. As digital platforms increasingly shape knowledge production, they can embed power dynamics that marginalize certain voices. This book explores strategies to counter this by promoting a more inclusive curriculum, where digital platforms enable equity and diverse perspectives. Reflective essays, teaching briefs, and research articles within this book encourage educators to prioritize community, identity congruence, and culturally responsive teaching methods, transforming courses, especially online courses, into spaces for collaborative knowledge sharing and innovation.

This volume stresses the importance of incorporating Indigenous and marginalized perspectives to redefine education, pushing for a digital learning environment where all students’ experiences and insights are valued equally. It was originally published as a special issue of Distance Education.

Krystle Phirangee, PhD is a Lecturer at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto (St. George Campus), Toronto, Canada. She is also a Senior Educational Developer and Lead, Assessment & Digital Learning for the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Toronto (Scarborough Campus), Toronto, Canada.

Lorne Foster, PhD is a Professor of Public Policy and Equity Studies, as well as the Director of the Institute for Social Research, and holds the Research Chair in Black Canadian Studies and Human Rights (Tier 1) at York University, Toronto Canada.