Overall Purpose of Strategies:
- Be responsive to the non-traditional adult learners in your online course
- Empower and motivate learners by leveraging their expertise & experiences
- Be explicit about what learners will gain from your course & how they can contribute to your classroom community
5 Strategies to Make Learning Explicit & Learner-Centered:
1. Learning from & with Each Other: What Learners Do to Share & Grow
Design Pre-Course Survey & Activities for Learners to Introduce Self
- Make your learners the experts for them to share personal/professional experiences & apply learning to their contexts/real world situations
2. Learning Hopes: What Learners Want to Gain & Contribute
Have Learners Share Learning Hopes to Thread into Course Content
- Question: What do you hope to gain from this course?
- Have learners share 1 sentence responses via Zoom chat box or out loud
3. Learning Objectives: What Learners Will Gain & Contribute
Review Course Objectives in Syllabus on the First Day of Class
- Add 3-4 bullets of objectives under your Course Description
Review Individual Class Objectives at the Beginning of Each Class
- Add an objective for each class/module in your Course Outline/Schedule
4. Learning Expectations: What Learners Need to Commit to
Share Time Commitment for Assignments Inside/Outside of Class
- Provide estimated times for readings & viewing videos
- Build in time during class for students to work on group projects
5. Learning Intentions: What Learners Will Do to Achieve Goals
Create Peer Learning Groups & Partners
- Have learners set weekly intentions with actionable steps & share progress the following class in breakout rooms in consistent groups or pairs for them to gain support/feedback and to develop relationships