April 14, 2023, by Helen Whitehead

Designing for Engagement in a Learning Community – course starts Wed 19 April

Time and again, we hear that students are not engaging with their learning. Being engaged benefits students in so many ways. It can make learning more enjoyable as well as boosting achievement. So what can we do to promote more engagement in our classes?

The course “Designing for Engagement in a Learning Community” looks at how the nurturing of a learning community can offer students a safe and supportive space to learn individually and collaboratively. It looks at motivating and encouraging learners, as well as ways in which the digital learning spaces can be used to encourage participation and enquiry. Participants will learn how to implement engaging online activities that motivate students and promote learning. These are relevant to completely online courses or the online part of a blended course to complement face-to-face teaching.

The course starts on Wednesday 19^th April and runs for two weeks. It’s actively facilitated throughout and participants will experience, and learn to support, the stages of developing a community of engaged learners.  They will practice some of the essential skills of online facilitation.  It’s suitable for academics, those who support teaching and those with a student engagement and experience role. Having attendees from different disciplines and the UK, Malaysia and China campuses adds a rich context.

It takes about 10 hours across the fortnight, mostly asynchronously, so you choose the times that you engage to suit yourself. For those who want to dip more deeply into the theories, methods and/or techniques covered, or have more time spare, it can take longer.

Comments from previous attendees

• “The course, unsurprisingly for a course about designing for engagement in a learning community, was exceptionally engaging and well structured.”
• “Amazing resources and further reading and concepts for exploration. Plenty of inspiration.”
• “Although this is an entirely online course, many of the tools (e.g. weaving) that we have considered can be equally applied to in-person contexts.”
• “The level of feedback and interaction was excellent and very motivating, as well as constructive.”
• “Great contributions from peers. The facilitator’s timely responses and feedback kept us going.”
• “Being able to interact with different types of staff from across the university. Seeing how other people implemented online learning.”
• “The networking was the best bit- being able to see how other members of staff across the university have been dealing with online learning.”
• “It’s greatly enhanced my confidence and knowledge as a facilitator.”
• “Overall, a great opportunity to reflect on and improve my designing and structuring of content so that it is more accessible and engaging for a range of students.”

How to book

Book here for UK staff. 

Malaysia and China staff please book directly with helen.whitehead@nottingham.ac.uk

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