story by Claire Miller
As online learning continues to shape both K-12 and higher education, College of Education & Human Development Associate Professor Jennifer Darling-Aduana argues that technology alone does not improve learning outcomes.
In her new book, “(Re)Designing Online Learning: Leveraging Technology to Enact Equity-Based Pedagogy,” she outlines a new framework for creating online learning environments that are engaging, culturally affirming and equitable for all students.
The Culturally Sustaining Authentic Work (CSAW) framework guides educators in designing online learning that makes lessons more engaging, connects content to students’ lived experiences and encourages critical thinking.
“It helps educators create courses that encourage students to think deeply, connect what they are learning to real-world issues and actively participate in their learning,” Darling-Aduana explained. “CSAW also recognizes that students bring their own identities, experiences, values and communities to school. It encourages educators to make learning culturally sustaining and to help students understand and question the systems and inequities that shape their lives.”
CSAW is grounded in a decade of research – mostly the result of research-practice partnerships, where university researchers and local educators collaborate over multiple years. They work together to identify specific questions or issues in a school and conduct high-quality research to find the answers and possible solutions to what they’re seeing.
For Darling-Aduana, this included analyzing classroom recordings, interviews, surveys and focus group data from students, teachers, parents and school leaders to get a more complete picture of online classroom practices and how they can be changed and developed to support learning for all students, regardless of background.
“When educators use CSAW, students not only build important skills for success in a digital world, but also become more engaged in school, achieve stronger academic outcomes, develop a greater sense of belonging and feel more confident in their ability to recognize and address inequity,” she said.
Her book not only provides actionable guidance for educators in K-12 settings, but also has implications for university-level educators and leaders.
Faculty members can use it as a resource for showing future educators how to critically examine existing educational norms and design equitable online instruction for their classrooms.
“College-level teacher preparation programs could use the book to support deeper reflection on how classroom-level practices are shaped by and can be redesigned to identify and dismantle inequitable systemic forces,” Darling-Aduana explained. “Additionally, the CSAW framework and associated observation rubrics can easily be adapted to design, observe and refine classroom practices to improve the rigor and equity of online classroom practices.”
Darling-Aduana understands that online learning will continue to be a significant part of modern education, and conversations about educational equity will evolve over time. She wants to continue these conversations with educators and help them design learning environments that prepare students for both academic success and meaningful participation in an increasingly digital world.
“Now that the book is out, I’m excited to continue partnering with educators to design, evaluate and refine practices in alignment with the CSAW framework,” she said. “In doing so, I hope to increase the number of students exposed to human-centered, empowering educational practices, and to continue perfecting the theoretical and practical implications of my research.”