We are so pleased that all of you have agreed to explore online learning with us.
This is the moment when the potential for creating engaging and interactive online
learning environments has finally hit its stride and we are looking forward to seeing how
each of your courses evolve. We expect it’s going to be amazing.

Here are the three main takeaways we hope you get from working with us:

1. Communication and community building are essential for online

learning environments. For so long online education has been viewed as
digitized correspondence courses—with precious little correspondence.
There is now ample evidence that participatory learning results in learners
gaining a much deeper and longer-lasting understanding of a subject.
Designing learning environments that afford social interactions and group
inquiry is something we need to take seriously.

2. A learner-centered approach is the most effective way of tapping into

student engagement around a subject. Giving your students a chance to
articulate their own learning goals, finding out what they already know,
and designing learning activities that allow them to explore their
individual interests is critical to designing learning that “sticks.”

3. Starting with the end result in mind is the best way to make sure
your students learn what you want them to learn and to figure out how
you’ll know it when they do. Start with the question, “If the students really
learned to critically interact with the material and concepts of this course,
what would that look like?” This becomes your assessment criteria. The
next question becomes the basis for your activity design, “What can they
produce that will demonstrate they’ve learned what I want them to?”  

 
“Plus we want this to be fun..
Really fun.”
Rick  Fehrenbacher,  Director  
Distance  and  Extended  Education  
University  of  Idaho  

University of Idaho Distance & Extended Education (208) 885-4024, dee@uidaho.edu