Course: HTH 205 – Equity, Diversity, and Design

In the first half of this paper I will outline my own context, and give a specific history regarding my own interest in blended/online learning environments. This history will serve to outline the online learning projects that I have worked on and the pedagogical construction that was used to guide those endeavors. In the second half of this paper I will outline my own proposal for an equity driven blended learning school (combined online & face-to-face school). I will outline problems within the existing paradigms of blended/online education, specifically in regards to equitable outcomes. I will argue that a blended learning environment can only be successful if its pedagogical construction is centered on student voice, cultural relevancy, personalization, and equitable access to resources. Furthermore, I will argue that current face-to-face educational models fail to be adequately centered within these goals due to outdated design constraints that prevent the inclusion of 21st century cultural needs. Continue…

American public school currently lacks an understanding of its own purpose. This is most likely a result of a confusing design origin that embraced values such as racial, class, ability tracking, and cultural segregation as a necessity (Steinberg & Rosenstock, 2007) (Ladson-Billings, 2006). While these values may have, at one time, been arguably vital in order for the public school system to prosper, those same ideals are radically out of place with modern society. Due to the fact that school is constructed in a way to embrace these outdated values, the resulting design of public schooling is one that has radical implications on its own ability to be effective at actually educating students. Continue…