Sometime ago I mentioned the Teach Online programme that I've been delivering. As it's come to an end I thought I'd take the opportunity to feedback on the outcomes of the course. Safe to say the course was successful. We were astounded by the amount of discussion through the Google Community we set up. The course ran over 4 weeks (including a week 0) and although the primary content was delivered via Blackboard, the Google community was really a hub of activity and discussion! We directed some of our activities through the community which acted as a starting point for discussion. Our delivery method also included a lunch time webinar at the half way point which was optional. From the feedback we know the flexibility of the course was a real win as was the opportunity to share and gain ideas from colleagues. The real eye opener for everyone (including me as a tutor) was being in the position of the learner and undertaking a course that was fully blended/distance. This had a lot to do with our colleagues being bogged down with marking but they certainly got a sense of how difficult it is to carve our 2 hours of time in-between working, research, family and everyday life! We rounded up the final session with a Q&A from our PVC in Learning and Teaching (see picture above) about the future of online learning here at the university. The course will run again later on this year and I plan to tweak it slightly based on feedback, it will still run as an online programme but I'll be adding in an aspect of hands on at the beginning for those colleagues who feel they require a bit of extra support.We'll be sharing our outcomes and some tops tips at this years TEL Fest at a session titled 'Bringing Distance Learners Closer Together'
