Digital and Social Environments and Active Learning

Environments are not only physical. Digital tools and social dynamics also create the conditions for how students engage. The design of your Quercus course site, the collaborative platforms you choose, and the participation norms you establish are all part of the environment.

These dimensions often work hand in hand with physical space. For example, a large lecture hall with fixed seating may constrain movement, but polling tools and shared online documents can create digital affordances for collaboration. Likewise, group norms and instructor presence shape how comfortable students feel contributing in any space.

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Examples of Affordances in Digital and Social Environments

Every course involves both digital and social environments, regardless of where it is taught. The digital dimension is often facilitated by tools from our institution's Academic Toolbox, including Quercus, Microsoft 365, student response systems, and collaborative platforms. The social dimension emerges from how you and your students interact through group structures, participation norms, and instructor presence.

Below are examples of affordances in digital and social environments, with design considerations across disciplines. As you read, think about which tools and practices connect most closely to your situational factors.

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Digital Environments

Quercus (LMS)

Affordance: A well-organized course site with clear weekly modules provides structure and predictability, helping students navigate content and stay on track. A welcoming homepage and a transparent syllabus set the tone, offering students a clear entry point and consistent expectations.
Social sciences example: A political science course uses weekly modules to structure readings, discussion forums, and low-stakes quizzes.
Design consideration: Clear, consistent layouts reduce cognitive load for all learners and especially support students who benefit from strong executive function scaffolds. Predictable navigation and clear labelling help reduce barriers for neurodivergent learners.

Collaborative Tools

Affordance: Shared documents (Microsoft Office 365) and annotation platforms (Hypothesis) allow students to co-create knowledge, annotate texts, and work asynchronously or synchronously.
Humanities example: A literature course uses collaborative annotation for close reading of poems.
Life sciences example: A biology course uses shared lab notebooks to record and compare data.
Design consideration: Clear expectations for participation and respectful communication are key. Providing flexible ways to contribute (e.g., short written comments, highlighting, or audio annotations) can welcome different participation styles and reduce barriers.

Polling and Surveys

Affordance: Tools such as iClickers, Quercus Quizzes, or Microsoft Forms provide immediate feedback, check understanding, and give quieter students a way to participate anonymously.
Physical sciences example: A physics instructor uses peer polling to check understanding of problem-solving steps.
Design consideration: Polls are most effective when questions go beyond recall to spark peer discussion. Allowing anonymous responses can reduce anxiety and encourage broader participation, especially for students who may be reluctant to speak up.

Multimedia Platforms

Affordance: Recorded lectures, short podcasts, or interactive simulations provide multiple ways for students to access and process content.
Engineering example: A civil engineering course uses simulation software for design analysis, then shares results in discussion forums.
Design consideration: Keep videos short, provide captions and transcripts, and offer low-bandwidth alternatives. These practices improve accessibility and usability, and they support students who benefit from multiple representations of key concepts.

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Social Environments

Group Structures

Affordance: Assigning roles (e.g., facilitator, recorder, reporter) to ensure equitable participation. Team‑Based Learning (Michaelsen, Knight, & Fink, 2004) is one structured approach that uses permanent groups, readiness checks, and application exercises to engage students deeply and hold them accountable for both individual and team learning.
Life sciences example: Biology students rotate lab roles to share responsibility.
Design consideration: Some students may prefer roles that fit their strengths (e.g., organizing, synthesizing, or presenting). Offering choice or rotating roles with advance notice can support neurodivergent learners and reduce stress.

Participation Norms

Affordance: Explicit guidelines for respectful dialogue, turn-taking, and response times.
Humanities example: Seminar students co-create discussion norms at the start of term.
Design consideration: Clear, predictable expectations help all students—especially those who find unstructured group dynamics overwhelming—feel more comfortable participating.

Instructor Presence

Affordance: The way you model engagement, give feedback, and facilitate discussions.
Professional programs example: Business instructors join case analysis discussions to model critical questioning.
Design consideration: Instructors can normalize different ways of contributing (e.g., speaking, writing, or adding to collaborative docs) to welcome learner variability.

Peer Review Systems

Affordance: Structured rubrics or guided peer review can help students give and receive feedback in clear, manageable ways.
Engineering example: Design students use a peer rubric to critique prototypes.
Design consideration: Clear criteria and modelling of constructive feedback support all students, especially those who may find open‑ended critique stressful. Offering options for how to provide feedback (e.g., written comments, checklists, or audio notes) can welcome different communication preferences and reduce barriers for neurodivergent learners.

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UDL Scaffolds to Consider

When designing digital and social environments, ask yourself:

Access: Are course sites, tools, and communication channels easy to navigate and usable across devices? Do I provide captions, transcripts, or alternative formats?
Support: Do I scaffold how students interact with each other (e.g., group roles, discussion starters, feedback guidelines)?
Executive Function: Does the environment help students stay oriented and organized (e.g., predictable module structure, clear deadlines, consistent feedback channels, a homepage that guides students to key tasks, a syllabus that clarifies outcomes and expectations)?

scaffolds

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Learn More About Available Digital Tools at U of T

Just as your physical classroom shapes what active learning looks like, the digital tools available to you influence how students engage with content, with you, and with each other. Exploring these tools in advance can help you plan for flexibility and anticipate where students may need support.

At the University of Toronto, instructors have access to a curated set of supported tools—known as the Academic Toolbox—that work alongside Quercus, our learning management system. These tools are most effective when guided by your course design and pedagogical priorities. They can help you build your course, connect with students, assess learning, design for inclusion, and analyze engagement.

U of T's Academic Toolbox
Educational Technology Tool Guides
Tools Beyond Quercus
Recommended Technology Requirements for Remote/Online Learning

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Pause for Workbook Activity: Design Choices for Environments

In your ALDF Workbook docx:

Review the examples from physical and digital/social environments.
Return to the design table you began earlier in the module. For each method you are considering, add notes in the existing three rows:
- How I would implement it (in the environments I am teaching in)
- Potential barriers for students (and me)
- How I will welcome learner variability and build in supports

By the end of this activity, you will have a plan that connects methods, materials, and environments into a coherent design for active learning.

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Select the "Next" button in the bottom right to proceed to access Module 2 References and Resources.

University of Toronto, Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation