Online Teaching: Creating Courses for Adult Learners

UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation) reports that over 91% of the world’s student population – a total of 1,576,021,818 learners across 188 countries and in all sectors – were affected in Spring 2020 by the closure of educational institutions as part of a broader ‘lockdown’ strategy in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many institutions have had to rush to put their teaching online, at an unprecedented scale. Student assessment has also been affected, with many exams cancelled and others moved online, creating uncertainty for all involved. Regardless of when the pandemic ends, this ‘online pivot’ in education is likely to become permanent as more and more learning opportunities move online. Knowing how to create engaging online courses for adults will be a key skill moving forward, now that distance and online learning are used so widely. On this microcredential, you’ll discover how adults learn online – and at a distance – drawing on key theories. You’ll evaluate technologies for supporting online and distance learning in specific contexts, drawing on a range of experiences and research to learn how to design engaging and inspiring online courses successfully. You’ll examine different online teaching and learning methods in terms of their appropriateness for specific settings and learners, and ways of ensuring your classes are inclusive and accessible. Ultimately, you’ll explore some of the many possibilities offered by learning with technology, and investigate the benefits and challenges of approaches to online learning that will have long-term career value beyond lockdown and the coronavirus crisis. This microcredential meets the standards set by the Common Microcredential Framework.