Centering Students in Digital Learning: Insights from Every Learner Everywhere

by Emilie Cook, Camore Fordham, Isra Hussain, Noel Berhanu

“Ongoing coaching and mentoring are critical for maintaining student engagement in a flexible learning environment.”
 — Florence W. Williams, Flexible Learning Design: A Turning Point for Resilient Adult Education (2021)

Abstract

At Every Learner Everywhere, we believe that digital learning empowers faculty to adapt instruction to students’ diverse needs, promote active and collaborative learning, and improve academic outcomes. This work centered on student voices, featuring panelists who shared their lived experiences with digital tools, AI integration, and instructional strategies that support equitable student success. By bringing students into the conversation, we catalyze institutional transformation through evidence-based teaching practices.

Introduction

In the evolving landscape of digital education, student perspectives offer vital insights into the effectiveness of instructional design and technology integration. At the 2025 TopKit Workshop, a dynamic student panel, facilitated by Emilie Cook from Every Learner Everywhere, shared compelling experiences as digital learners. Their conversation highlighted how intentional faculty strategies can foster inclusive, engaging, and impactful learning environments.

Panel Context and Leadership

Emilie Cook, Senior Manager for Content, Community, and Digital Engagement at Every Learner Everywhere, served as the discussant for this panel. She is dedicated to bridging faculty development with authentic student experiences, ensuring that digitally enabled, evidence-based teaching practices are shaped by those they serve most—the students.

Introducing the Student Panel

The panel featured three diverse voices in which the students discuss how faculty use digital tools to intentionally build positive relationships and inclusive learning environments.

• Camore Fordham – A senior health science major on a pre-med track at Spelman College and a former Every Learner Everywhere intern.
• Noel  Berhanu – A junior computer science major at the University of Maryland, driven by a competitive early start in coding.
• Isra Hussain – A freshman biomedical engineering major at Georgia Tech, combining medical aspirations with a passion for technological innovation.

Building Positive Relationships Through Digital Tools

Fostering a sense of belonging through an inclusive learning environment leads to safer and more welcoming spaces for learning. Students were invited to share an experience where faculty used digital tools or curriculum to intentionally build positive relationships, address individual needs, and cultivate a safe space for learning and self-expression.

Isra emphasized the power of informal, interactive platforms like discussion boards and Padlet, which break down traditional barriers and foster open communication. Noel shared a memorable experience from a communications class where his professor used a platform called Daybook, encouraging personal reflections on both course content and mental health. This approach provided a rare opportunity for students to share their voices authentically. Camore agreed, adding that such tools create a strong sense of community by encouraging students to engage deeply and personally with course material.

When students feel seen, heard, and valued as individuals, they are more likely to engage in learning, take risks, and persist in the face of challenges. When designed and used thoughtfully, digital curriculum and tools can be leveraged to foster a sense of belonging through an inclusive learning environment. Every Learner encourages faculty to engage students using a variety of methods to attract their interest and excitement.

How to do it:

• Learn their names.
• Make sure everyone gets a chance to contribute.
• Work as a class on a shared project.
• Diversify your curriculum and your teaching strategies.
• Build community in small ways.
• Consider jumping off your learning-management system.

Active Learning in Digital Spaces

Noel recalled a politics course that used student-led Socratic seminars, enhanced by breakout rooms for small-group discussions. This format, he said, placed students at the center of learning, making complex topics like climate change more approachable and engaging. Isra highlighted the impact of AI-driven tools like Plateau, which adapt questions based on student responses, and virtual labs that replicate real-world STEM scenarios. These tools make learning more interactive and collaborative, bridging the gap between theory and practice.

Digital tools can support more engaging student interactions with the course material, peers, and the instructor. Key dimensions of active learning include:

• Students as co-participants
• Professor facilitated
• Student engagement

Instructional Transparency and AI Integration

Digital tools can enhance instructional transparency. Platforms like Learning Management Systems (LMSes) allow instructors to make learning outcomes, syllabi, assignment, rubrics,  and feedback channels easily accessible. We invited students to share some practical ways faculty have utilized digital tools to ensure students understood what was required of them, how to succeed in the class, and why assignments and activities were being done.

When discussing instructional transparency, Isra shared a creative approach from one of her professors, who encouraged students to draft essays using ChatGPT before refining their work through personalized feedback. This approach, she argued, treats AI as a collaborative tool, not just a shortcut.

Noel pointed to the value of platforms like Piazza, which offer structured Q&A sessions, making course expectations clearer and facilitating timely feedback from both peers and instructors.

Video tutorials, recorded lectures, interactive tools, discussion boards and real-time chats can support greater accessibility and communication between students and instructors, allowing for questions and points of clarification to easily be surfaced. By leveraging digital tools for instructional transparency, instructors can more easily ensure that students understand the rationale behind their instruction and that the pathway to success is clearly laid out for all students.

Balancing AI Use in Education

When it comes to instructional transparency and AI in the classroom, studies have shown that most students report regular use of generative AI tools, while faculty report limited use or no use at all. This suggests that students may not be receiving adequate guidance on how to effectively integrate these technologies into their education.  We asked students if institutional and classroom AI policies are clear and understood and is there an overall feeling of support in the use of AI tools?

 Noel noted that while ChatGPT was initially restricted at the University of Maryland, selective, guided use is now encouraged, allowing students to understand both the benefits and limitations of generative AI. Isra, meanwhile, described her mixed experience with Georgia Tech’s strict AI policies, advocating for more balanced, supportive guidelines that empower students without stifling creativity.

Every Learner advocates for a balanced approach to generative AI in higher education, recognizing its potential to enhance efficiency, creativity, and accessibility while maintaining academic integrity. We emphasize the importance of AI literacy and responsible use, encouraging institutions to integrate AI tools thoughtfully and with intentionality into curricula and administrative processes.

Final Thoughts on Student-Centered Learning

These students share valuable insights into their experiences with faculty fostering a sense of belonging through an inclusive learning environment, their perspectives on ways active learning with digital tools can increase student participation in learning and enhance student engagement, and practical ways faculty can utilize instructional transparency to ensure that students understand what is required of them, how to succeed in the class, and why assignments and activities are being done. Closing the session, Emilie asked the panel for their advice to educators aiming to create more student-centered learning environments.

Noel emphasized the importance of connecting course content to students’ interests, while Isra encouraged faculty to treat students as co-learners, using AI as a tool for collaboration rather than restriction. Camore echoed these sentiments, highlighting the power of listening to student voices in shaping engaging, responsive instruction.

Conclusion

As Emilie Cook from Every Learner concluded, these student insights reinforce the value of student-centered approaches to digital learning. When institutions are committed to teaching excellence, support faculty experimentation with diverse digital tools, and provide strong institutional backing, they can make significant progress toward closing student success gaps through digital learning.

We know that, when implemented thoughtfully, digital learning tools can increase student engagement, strengthen connections between instructors and students, help build a greater sense of student agency, and narrow student success gaps.

Educators are encouraged to explore resources like Every Learner’s upcoming student-developed AI toolkit to further align their teaching strategies with the evolving needs of digital learners.

For more student-centered teaching strategies and insights, visit Every Learner Everywhere and join the conversation on shaping the future of digital education.

Useful Resource

TOPkit Workshop 2025 Panel Session

Authors

Emilie Cook, Senior Manager, Content, Community and Digital Engagement Institution: Every Learner Everywhere and WCET

Camore Fordham, Student, Spelman College

Isra Hussain, Student, Georgia Institute of Technology

Noel Berhanu, Student, University of Maryland