How to enhance the learning experience as we transition to online delivery?

A concern when transitioning from face-to-face to online delivery, which is driven by campus closures, is that the required speed of transition may negatively impact the learning experience. This is due to faculty needing to re-think their learning activities and to upskill themselves to succeed in an online model. This adjustment takes time.

However, delivery needs to start now.

One effective strategy to tackle this is the “one-minute essay” activity. This provides a rich, learner-centered experience, without re-designing sessions. From an institutional perspective, the onboarding for staff at scale is quick.

The approach is to do the following:

• Provide a stimulus question
• Allow two minutes to think about it
• Give the learners one minute to respond in the chat area.

When used as a closure activity, it helps learners to consolidate the information; when used as a mid-session activity, it helps regain the focus of the topic.

Prompt questions can include:

• What are the two most significant (useful, meaningful, surprising, disturbing) things you have learned during this session?
• How can I help you learn the concept that is giving you the most trouble / this is the most challenging for you?
• What did we discuss today?