A handful of key actions are critical in addressing the opportunities and challenges in providing quality learning experiences for all students, according to the Online Learning Consortium (OLC), a nonprofit community of education leaders and innovators dedicated to advancing digital teaching and learning. The recommended actions to correct inequities in higher education are based on a year of insights from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
“The pandemic that forced colleges to social distance and move to remote learning exacerbated the struggles many HBCUs have faced in trying to meet the broad needs of their students,” said Angela Gunder, Chief Academic Officer of OLC. “However, these challenges also brought an opportunity for leaders in education, business, government and other organizations to come together and engage in meaningful discourse to strengthen the future for all learners.”
A recently released report, “Stronger Together,” developed by the OLC in partnership with the National Accrediting Commission for Diversity and Inclusion, Tennessee State University, United States Distance Learning Association, and National Coalition of 100 Black Women, found three primary areas for improvement, including student support, funding, and operations.
“I’m very excited about how this report evolved,” said Dr. Kim Cliett Long, OLC board member and president and CEO of Organizational Concepts/Adult Learners Now. “We were able to capture snapshots before and going into the pandemic, but I think it’s important that this report captures the actual lived experiences of participants as they moved through almost a year.”
Angela Gunder is the Chief Academic Officer and VP of Learning for the Online Learning Consortium. In this role, she is responsible for gathering, curating, and leveraging the intellectual capital created by and disseminated through OLC.
Editor’s note: This story originally appeared online on OLC’s site and is reposted here with permission.
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