The Importance of DEIA in Instructional Design for Inclusive Learning

Students benefit from learning in an environment where they feel included and taught in ways that recognise and support their needs as individuals and as part of a learning community. Creating an inclusive learning environment starts with asking your team questions to gauge your next steps. 

Is your course material representative of your target audience? Does your content ensure representation and inclusion of diverse perspectives, identities and experiences, particularly those from historically underrepresented groups? How does your content accommodate diverse learning styles, abilities, and needs, ensuring equitable access and participation for all learners? Does your content actively challenge and address potential biases, stereotypes or inequities that impact learner engagement and outcomes?    

Implementing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) principles in instructional design ensures that your questions are answered and learner engagement and success are secured. Join us as we highlight the role of DEIA in instructional design and how it contributes to inclusive learning. 

Understanding DEIA in Instructional Design

Today’s globalised world strongly emphasises creating workplaces that promote inclusive and equitable learning experiences that respond to different cultural backgrounds, values and perspectives. DEIA principles are used to achieve this in instructional design. 

These principles include a range of initiatives that add to creating accessible physical and digital environments while providing training on unconscious bias and cultural awareness. For more information about the principles of DEIA and its benefits for video production, read our blog here.

Incorporating DEIA in instructional design for your “magic triangle” ensures that all learners receive an equitable and inclusive learning experience. 

Incorporating DEIA into the “Magic Triangle”

When designing a learning experience, instructional designers must incorporate DEIA principles with the three main components of instructional design, or the “magic triangle”. 

1. Learning objectives: Define and set boundaries on what learners should know or skills they should be able to perform by the end of the course, thus emphasising the need for diverse perspectives and voices in the objectives. DEIA principles will ensure that different cultures, genders, abilities and backgrounds are represented. 

2. Learning activities: These are the actions planned and created by instructional designers that are taken or used by learners and may include activities that can range from audio, video, animation, gamification and simulation, to more traditional activities such as reading and lecturing. Here, implementation of the DEIA principles is crucial to ensure an inclusive and accessible environment is provided, there is room for customisation of learning paths to meet individual needs and encourages collaboration and interaction among learners. 

3. Assessments: The final step in the learning process, assessments can include quizzes, exams or graded simulations for real-world situations. Not only do assessments showcase the success of the learners but also the success of implementing DEIA principles in your instructional design. Your organisation will be able to pinpoint areas of your learning programme that need improvement, and what strategies worked for specific learners. It is not only the final stage for learners to further succeed in their next step but also provides invaluable data insights for your program. For example, create quantitative and qualitative assessments, that supply a unique overview of your learner’s achievements. Design summative assessments for quantitative data, such as pre- and post-testing examinations that quantify results on a graded basis. Great examples of formative assessments include incorporating mind maps, entry slips, think-pair-share and emoji surveys daily or weekly to gain qualitative insights into your learner’s journeys. 

Integrating DEIA in Instructional Design

Designing and creating a successful learning program is dependent on implementing DEIA in instructional design, but to do this your instructional design team or preferred content creation studio needs to prioritise these best practices:

• Needs assessment: Assessing learners’ characteristics, backgrounds, learning styles and needs, allows your team to design learning materials that meet the needs of diverse learners.
• Diversifying learning materials: Incorporate multiple perspectives, examples, case studies and diverse images, videos and graphics. This helps learners resonate with the learning material, improving their engagement and the feeling of equity amongst their peers.  
• Inclusivity: Creating an inclusive learning environment makes learners and teachers feel welcomed, supported, accepted and valued. Achieve this by promoting respectful communication, encouraging diverse perspectives and promoting inclusive language.
• Accessibility: Ensure that materials are available in multiple formats, are accessible online and offline for learners in areas that have limited data or WIFI networks, make materials user-friendly for disabled learners, and provide additional support to learners who require extra assistance.

Digital Transformation in Instructional Design

A study performed by Stats SA in 2022 found that 3,3 million individuals, from a population of 62 million, identified as living with disabilities. That’s 5% of our population. When looking at the socioeconomic status of these individuals, the impact of disability-based discrimination is particularly evident around education. 

Common challenges presented by learners include vision impairment, hearing loss and various learning disabilities such as dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism and dysgraphia. So how can technology help? 

Whether combating disability or economic challenges that many learners face, the use of technology plays a vital role for learners experiencing educational content and positively impacts your organisation’s digital transformation. 

Invest in a strong content creation studio to help you incorporate up-to-date and modern technologies for maximum effect. Here are a few examples of technologies that improve the overall learner experience, ensuring the success of DEIA principles.

Interactive Monitors and Whiteboards

Interactive devices provide multimedia experiences and opportunities for collaborative engagement; include adjustable settings for learners with light sensitivity or impaired vision; and allow learners to cast their screens of their device to the whiteboard to ask questions or demonstrate their work, similarly, teachers can cast their screen to individual student devices. 

Apps and Tools

Teachers and instructional designers have access to many apps and tools to improve the learner experience. Using this technology can help you focus on niche areas for unique learners, such as speech-to-text functions for easier communication; functions to create personalised video instruction and feedback; functions to write, draw and annotate anything in question; choose from different modes where learners can work independently or in groups to complete assignments; and a personalised learning platform that uses adaptive technology to adjust the material according to each students level or pace.

We Understand Learning and Education

Backed by extensive years of creating educational videos and material, the crew at Anderson Studios create world-class online, eLearning videos and materials for tertiary learners and educational institutes. We have a track record of creating media-rich content, learning materials and video assets that communicate, train and clearly explain, with amazing results. 

We believe in the power of collaboration and creativity. Centrally located in Cape Town, our team comprises passionate individuals who bring a diverse range of expertise to every project. Our scriptwriters, animators, composers and voice-over artists in various local languages ensure you get online educational videos that will help you reach your eLearning objectives.