Inclusive Digital Learning in Practice: How Mohammed I University Students Respond to Online Hate Speech

Résumé

Digital learning spaces have expanded opportunities for interaction in higher education. These same spaces also expose students to online hate speech that targets individuals or groups on the basis of race, culture, identity and social differences. This challenges the conditions needed to sustain inclusive and respectful learning environments. Thus, this study examines how Critical Digital Literacy (CLM) and inclusive attitudes toward diversity shape university students’ responses to online hate speech in digital learning spheres. The study uses a mixed method design and prioritizes quantitative findings. There were 79 undergraduate students from the English Studies Department, Mohammed I University, completed a questionnaire that measured CML, inclusive attitudes toward diversity, and rejection of online hate speech. The quantitative data was analyzed in JASP and focuses on reliability, correlation, and mediation analyses. In the qualitative phase, where participants talked about experiences facing hate speech and their reactions, the data was analyzed through Braun and Clark’s (2006) thematic analysis. Results showed that CML effectively predicted inclusive attitudes toward diversity and directly predicted rejection of online hate speech. Qualitative findings complemented these results and explain that students drew on both analytical recognition of group-based stereotyping and openness to difference when dealing and identifying hate speech. The findings suggest that students’ rejection of online hate speech is shaped by both critical-analytical skills and inclusive attitudes, which operate as complementary but only partially overlapping pathways. The study contributes to research on inclusive digital learning by demonstrating the combined role of CLM and diversity related attitudes in supporting respectful and inclusive online learning interactions. The study also suggests the integration of critical media literacy and diversity-oriented pedagogy in higher education curricula and digital citizen initiatives.