The Equity Equation: Digital Learning + Innovative Teaching = Academic Success

Educational opportunity and economic success are intertwined. People with higher incomes are more likely to enroll in college and are then more likely to earn higher incomes, allowing their children to attend college. For children of low-income students and students of color, a college degree can provide the means to move out of poverty. But amid the COVID-19 pandemic and shift to remote learning, colleges and universities face new challenges in delivering a quality digital education that is accessible, adaptive, and equitable, particularly for traditionally underserved students of color, low-income students, and first-generation students. We face a pivotal moment in higher education that can either widen this equity gap or bridge it. Jessica Rowland Williams, director of Every Learner Everywhere, will share the unique challenges facing these students as the new academic year begins and how digital learning courseware and tools can increase access and engagement, decrease costs, and improve faculty delivery and student outcomes.