Wiley Handbook of Learning Technology

16Diversity and Inclusion in the Learning Enterprise: Implications for Learning Technologies

Robbin Chapman

16.1 Introduction

The aim of this chapter is to contribute to the strategic thinking around the use of digital technologies to improve learning within diverse populations of students, focusing on these learning technologies and their relevance in the lives of diverse groups of learners (Slevin 2008; Stirling 2007). In particular, I explore technology utilization from the perspective of the learner, the educator, and the policymaker. The chapter provides ideas for effective engagement with lesson content, encouraging student ownership of their learning experiences (Stirling 2007) and identifying tools that enable teachers to leverage the benefits of student diversity. The chapter concludes with a discussion of learner expectations for technology engagement in service to their learning and how those expectations impact the teaching enterprise. Students expect technology to be integrated into their learning given the increasing diversity of these student populations; technology impacts a teaching enterprise desiring the development of more equitable ways of learning (Ertmer and Otenbreit-Leftwich 2013).

16.2 Overview

Educators and learners are in the midst of significant transformations in both the teaching and learning arenas. The first transformation involves the increasingly ubiquitous ways that digital technologies enable people to engage one another (Parson et al. 2009; Turkle ...