Digital Learning May Help Improve Outcomes Among the Under-Resourced Students

Digital learning tools can help narrow equity gaps, according to a new report from Every Learner Everywhere.

Every Learner EverywhereEvery Learner Everywhere is a network of organizations with expertise in evaluating, implementing, scaling, and measuring the efficacy of education technologies, curriculum and course design strategies, teaching practices, and support services in blended and online learning environments. Its “The Impact of Digital Learning on Minoritized and Poverty-Affected College Students: 12 Instructors’ Stories” report explains how digital learning tools can transform education for vulnerable student populations — students who identify as Black, Latino, and Indigenous; poverty-affected students; and first-generation students.

The report, authored by content development and special projects manager Patricia O'Sullivan and teacher Christie Forgette, retells the experiences of 12 instructors from two-year and four-year institutions who adopted digital learning tools to promote equity and improve learning outcomes for historically marginalized and under-resourced students. They detail problems they were trying to address, their reasons for choosing specific tools, and students’ response to those tools.

The report highlights instructors’ successes and challenges as they implemented digital learning tools into their teaching. In some cases, it includes data on student retention, pass rates, and engagement and insights into student confidence and connection.

It found that digital learning tools can increase student engagement, strengthen connections between instructors and students, and help build a greater sense of student agency.

The report concluded that, while there is no one-stop solution, willingness to experiment with various digital tools and institutional support can help faculty make progress toward closing equity gaps.