As you continue to think about the learning design of your course, consider this week the learning activities and student engagement in your online course.
How will you provide diverse opportunities for engaging intellectual discovery, inquiry and creative problem-solving? What ways can you provide choices for students to meet learning outcomes?
Offline Activities
Just because a course is online doesn’t mean that the student has to stare at a screen the whole time. Here are some ideas for learning activities outside of the online classroom:
- Service learning
- Interact with others offline: learning group, presentation, teach someone outside of class
- Visit a location with a specific task to research/learn: museum, workplace, hospital, community library, etc.
Using the Forum for More Than “Discussion”
The discussion forum is great for interaction, but what else can you do with it besides “discuss”?! Here are some ideas to bring in some variety:
Choices
Consider how you can provide choices for students to meet your learning outcomes.
- Why provide choice?
- Can you provide options for different ways to present the results of learning/research? i.e. choose from a paper, a presentation, a 30 second YouTube video or a recorded skit.
- Can you provide multiple learning paths to one learning outcome?
- Could you organize your course into several basic foundational modules followed by a few divergent personal application and learning paths?
Talk to your Instructional Facilitator for more ideas or assistance with applying these ideas to your course. Find these tips and more online in the Online Course Development Support Site.
