Designing for Online Learning: Relationships

In any learning environment, intentional and empathetic attention to relationships is essential for learning. Designing for Online Learning: Relationships is a self-paced course for educators interested in prioritizing relationships and student support in online settings. We will explore transferable practices and strategies that apply across both in-person and distance learning.

Designing for Online Learning: Relationships will explore the following essential questions that educators may ask as they design learning experiences:

• Why does prioritizing student relationships matter and how do I design for relationships?
• How are building trust, knowing your students deeply, and challenging all students acts of equity?
• How might my students develop and maintain meaningful, collaborative communities online?

We will examine how despite sharing different spaces and places, students and teachers can build communities that care and learn together. We will cover intentional approaches to course design that foster connections, collaboration, and wellness. We will provide examples from both GOA’s Student Program and from the field. We will also provide you with prompts and strategies for getting started on designing for relationships in online spaces. This is a practical one-week course for educators looking to design for relationships in online learning settings. This course is meant to provide strategies, resources, and frameworks for approaching community, collaboration, wellness, and equity.

We draw on GOA’s secondary school program for some of our inspiration and strategies in this course’s content. While examples may be aligned to middle and high school students, with adaptations, all grade level educators can leverage this experience to thoughtfully design for relationships. To address digital equity concerns, we've tried to offer a range of ideas for you to choose from. For more information on digital equity, see the Consortium for School Networking's toolkit.

In this course, you will:

• Examine why knowing students, prioritizing relationships, and support over accountability are essential for equity
• Explore and apply resources, strategies, and tools for designing for connection and collaboration
• Choose from design challenges to practice strategies that promote community, collaboration, wellness, and equity