Lesson 6 - Learner Support

Compulsory Reading

Activity (Reflective Thinking, Note Taking and Discussion)

Building learner support

1. Do you think it is possible to design an effective course or program without the need for high levels of learner support? If so, what would it look like?
2. How can you integrate learner support in your course?
3. What are the learner support in this course?

Share your reflection in Lesson Six Forum

Knowledge Check

Link: Lesson Six Quiz

Key Takeaways

Key takeaways from this lesson are:

• Many of the strengths and challenges of collaborative learning apply both in face-to-face or online learning contexts. It could be argued that there is no or little difference between online collaborative learning and well-conducted traditional classroom, discussion-based teaching.
• Learner support focuses on forms of assistance to learners beyond the delivery of content, skill development, or formal assessment.
• Scaffolding is usually a means of individualizing the learning, which enables student differences in learning to be better accommodated as they occur.
• It is essential right at the start of a course for the instructor to make it clear to students what is expected of them when they are studying online whether in a blended or fully online course.