Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Adult Learners: Facilitating Social Learning Experiences

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

This is a revision of an older article offering a variety of approaches to facilitating adult learning, based around a structure of eight 'tips'. I'm not fond of listicles, but the tips here are solid and borne of experience. Quoted from the article:

  1. Address the logistics of the course in your course materials
  2. Personalize your online learning environment with multimedia
  3. Develop and share materials with potential participants
  4. Set up forums that address the "social dimension" of introducing people and getting to know each other, as well as forums for dealing with technical aspects
  5. Remember to scaffold and support learning conversations rather than dominate them
  6. Don't be afraid to pull in guest speakers
  7. Avoid long discussion posts, as well as posts that feature a lot of questions
  8. Encourage people to discover each other's strengths and what they each have to bring to the table

Each of these points is followed by several paragraphs of explanation and examples, so the whole article is worth a look. They are also reflective of my own experience offering MOOCs.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Apr 25, 2024 7:01 p.m.

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