Tag: edci 335

While our group develops a plan for the interactive learning resource on cyberbullying, we recognize that learners are incredibly diverse in regards to culture, language, cognition and emotion and that traditional “top down” teaching. Now in 2025, most of us have witnessed and maybe even experienced how cyberbullying operates – its nuances, permanence and how it disproportionally affects marginalized learners. To assure accessibility for all, we will need implement a universal learning design in order to support inclusivity. This blog post will outline how we strive to meet all learners needs.

Why can’t inclusivity be an afterthought?

Cyberbullying affects every victim differently! For example, ESL and neurodivergent learners might struggle to comprehend subtle or culturally different forms of harassment. Furthermore, neurodivergent learners struggle to interpret tone in face-to-face situations. This challenge is exponentially exacerbated when these interactions are in digital spaces (without the extra clues of body language and vocal inflections). The key features (short messages, emojis and quick responses) that make online communication efficient also allow for dangerous ambiguities that serve as traps.

How will we be accommodating?

To ensure our resource is fully inclusive, we will implement (but not limited to) the following resources:

1. Tone decoding activities: Interactive exercises that dissect media designed to teach learners to identify sarcasm, passive aggressiveness and cultural differences.
2. Visual and auditory support aids: Videos with captions, visual graphics and voice note discussions. These will be implemented to accommodate different types of learners and learners who require other accommodations.
3. Flexible assignments: Instead of traditional means of assessment, students can demonstrate learning in various ways, accommodating for the differing strengths of students.
4. Multilingual resources: Workarounds for those who are new to English or not fully confident with the language (ESL students)
5. Opt outs and trigger warnings: We will flag sensitive content warning and allowing learners to skip if needed.

Conclusion

For our interactive learning resource, inclusivity is not only about making our resource accessible for all, but also going against the assumption that there is a single right way to learn and navigate digital spaces. By acknowledging and centering our learning resource around diverse perspectives, we want to challenge the misconception that digital literacy is the same for everyone and instead celebrate digital diversity.

Inquiry based learning is an Individual/student-centered approach to learning. This approach heavily emphasizes the student having an active role in posing questions, investigating problems and gaining knowledge. This method of instruction relies on the curiosity of learner rather than passive absorption of information (that we tend to do a lot of in university). Furthermore, IBL encourages the learner not to be a student, but rather an investigator using questions to drive leaning forward and helps develop a deeper understanding.

the IBL approach aligns strongly with our chosen topic: cyberbullying and its impact on mental health, particularly in online spaces and social media. Due to the complex, emotionally charged and relevant nature to students (like ourselves) lives/experiences. Students are not simply told or taught about this about cyberbullying and mental health (although in recent years there has been a decrease in the stigma around the topic). Instead, whether we are conscious of this or not, we learn about these topics through inquiry based learning. Students like myself are invited to learn how cyberbullying manifests and what psychological and social consequences it has. This approach regarding this subject fosters empathy, promotes dialogue and most importantly supports the development of respectul digital citizens.

In our completion of the blueprint portion of our interactive learning design project, we concluded that inquiry-based learning plays a central role. Students will be encouraged to investigate real life and personal scenarios, analyzing the role of online behaviour in shaping mental health. Examples of questions that can be asked to facilitate learning include“How can online platforms better protect users?”, “Why do people cyberbully?” or “Has cyberbullying affected anyone I know?”.

In conclusion, IBL isn’t just appropriate for our topic, it is vital. For our topic, it encourages learners to question, reflect, and respond in meaningful ways to digital challenges that affect themselves and their peers.