Guiding Student Learning in Online Environments Jackie Rahsaz Western Governors University

The Challenge In the traditional classroom, the professor guides the learning through synchronous weekly lectures. In the self-paced, on-line, asynchronous environment, the student navigates on their own.

WGU Model Non-profit Online Self-paced Competency-based Personal Mentor Program based 6 month terms start every month COURSE Student AStudent CStudent B

Colleges College of Business College of Information Technology College of Health Professions Teachers College – Elementary Education – Secondary Education Math Science

over 25,000 current students over 2,000 students started Oct 1

Competency-Based Domains of Study Competencies Learning Resources Assessments Objective Performance

Guiding Student Learning Student Mentors monitor learning on a regular basis, during entire program – Regular phone calls, Access to LR analytics Course Mentors offer additional content support, during a specific course Course of Study guides the learning process E-Learning Resources provide the opportunity to gain competency

Student’s Want to Know… What do I need to learn? – The Course of Study lists the competencies and guiding questions How do I learn the material? – WGU provides the Learning Resources and the Course of Study directs their use How will I know when I’ve learned it? – Pre-Assessments check student learning, in addition to the opportunities within the LR Let’s look at a Course of Study…

Course of Study E-Learning Resource referenced within the Course of Study Topic within the Course of Study

E-Learning Resource OWL Chemistry from Cengage Opportunity for student to check their understanding Access to the eBook along with other opportunities to learn the material

Course of Study Guiding Student Learning Integrated hyperlink goes directly to section within etext Guiding questions related to our competencies

Coaching Reports Hyperlink to the Course of Study topic After taking a pre-assessment to check their understanding, a coaching report is available.

Guiding Student Learning Student Mentors connect with students regularly Course Mentors - content specific assistance Course of Study – asynchronous learning – E-Learning Resources – Message Board – Community Pre-Assessments/Coaching Reports – determine readiness for assessment

Constantly Improving Utilize and support OER (Open Educational Resources) Integrate - creating a better learning atmosphere for our students Provide all E-Learning Resources for our students Reach out to students, after reviewing analytics from LR student use

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