1. Self-directed learning
In online courses, successful learners engage in self-directed learning and responsibly plan their learning in their everyday busy schedule. To understand how learners may responsibly engage in self-directed learning, we proposed listening to these two short video animations (less that two minutes each) on self-directed learning developed at the University of Texas Austin.
eTutor’s control on how learners engage in the course is less than in face-to-face courses and shrinks and completely disappears as the course size increases. On the opposite direction, responsibility on own learning increases on the part of online learners: they engage with the course content, activities, quizzes and assignments at their most convenient time, space and pace.
As an eTutor, you support self-directed learning by removing unnecessary barriers. Barriers may include sequenced release of the content that may lead to unavailability of the course components to learners who completed the available ones. While online course components may be organised around weeks, it is important to release the entire content at the start of the course. Alternatively, each week content may be released several days before the specific week starts. This will enable learners to engage with their learning at most convenient time and avoid their wastage of time if they complete a weekly content and learning activities before the end of the week. When the content and learning activities are available, learners plan, monitor and control their own learning pace vis-à-vis other competing responsibilities. As an eTutor, you may also support self-directed learning by availing/referring learners to clear study guide and assessment guide which the learners will be using to find their way out the course. Similarly, assignments/projects should be availed to learners early enough so that they plan accordingly.