Learning Activities
Tips & Considerations
- Use your learning outcomes and assessments as a guide to determine what students will need the opportunity to practice.
- Students are expected to invest roughly 9-10 hours per week for a 3-credit course. This total should include both synchronous and asynchronous work. Remember that online tasks may take students longer to complete than in a face-to-face environment as negotiating with group members, contributing to discussions in written format, etc., can all take more time online.
- Incorporate a variety of learning activities to keep the learning experience varied and engaging and build in experiential learning activities where possible. (Existing experiential opportunities may have to be rethought for an online environment but many can still be offered.)
- Create discussion between the class or smaller student breakout groups using Canvas discussion forums.
- Teach cases online successfully with guidance from Harvard Business Publishing.
- Student presentations can be recorded or conducted online using Zoom.
- Guest speakers can be invited to contribute to lectures and class discussion via Zoom.
- Online simulations give students an opportunity to apply their knowledge and practice key course skills.
- Online role-play activities offer students a chance to learn while expressing their creative side.
- Reflective activities provide students with opportunities to express themselves in an online environment. They can also give you a window into how students are coping with the shift online and the COVID-19 crisis as well as help create a sense of community if shared amongst peers.
- Project-based experiential learning offers students the opportunity to work on projects from industry facilitated by an instructor. Find out how Riipen, an online platform to facilitate industry projects, can assist in an online environment.
- Podcasts offer another outlet for student creativity and practice as an alternative to written projects.
- Peer review activities including structured peer feedback can offer further opportunity to practice outcomes while at the same time creating an opportunity for community-building and interaction.
- Courses may contain students living in different time zones which can complicate the scheduling of and participation in synchronous and group activities. Strike a balance between individual and group, as well as asynchronous and synchronous, activities to avoid disadvantaging any particular students, and consider pairing students up for group work based on similar time zones when possible.
- Teamwork is an important competence for many of Schulich’s degree programs. Students will also need practice and guidance on working remotely in teams. Be mindful of the fact that coordinating among team members may be more difficult given the many competing priorities students are currently grappling with.
- Clear communication of group work expectations is important for online courses. You may wish to consider a team contract outlining expectations and contributions of the group, including timely feedback, quality of work, and upholding academic integrity.
- Students will need a “space” to work together. These learning tools may be of use: Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Canvas Groups, and Microsoft Sharepoint.
- Browse Schulich’s portfolio of online learning tools for more ideas about learning activities and the online tools available to facilitate them.