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Online Teaching:
Creating Courses for Adult Learners

Learn the practical skills you need to build and deliver online courses successfully

Many institutions have had to rush to put their teaching online as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This ‘online pivot’ in education is likely to become permanent as educators create more and more opportunities for online and blended learning. For many adult educators, knowing how to create engaging online courses will be an essential skill needed beyond the coronavirus crisis.

A a pioneer in distance and online learning, The Open University is in a unique position to help support you in moving your provision online. With this new microcredential, we’ll be sharing the knowledge and best practice that have kept us at the forefront of distance learning for over 50 years.

You’ll discover how adults learn online – and at a distance – drawing on key theories. You’ll evaluate technologies for supporting online and distance learning in specific contexts, utilising a range of experiences and research to learn how to create engaging and inspiring online courses successfully. On completion, you’ll have developed a practical plan for taking your teaching and learning online, in a way that is safe and accessible for a variety of learners.

Course summary

Microcredential
Code: HZFM881
Credits: 15
Study level: OU – Postgraduate; SCQF – 11; FHEQ – 7
Duration: 12 weeks | 13 hours per week
Cost: £675
Next start dates: 15 March 2021; 28 June 2021
Register for this course

What you’ll learn How you’ll learn Entry requirements What are microcredentials?

What you’ll learn

UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation) reports that over 91% of the world’s student population – a total of 1,576,021,818 learners across 188 countries and in all sectors – were affected in spring 2020 by the closure of educational institutions as part of a broader ‘lockdown’ strategy in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many institutions have had to rush their teaching online, at an unprecedented scale. Student assessment has also been affected, with many exams cancelled and others moved online, creating uncertainty for all involved.

Regardless of when the pandemic ends, knowing how to create engaging online courses for adults will be a key skill moving forward, now that distance and online learning are used so widely.

On this microcredential, you’ll cover topics including:

What’s involved in teaching remotely, and in being an online educator.
How students learn online and at a distance.
How to evaluate the appropriateness of pedagogies for specific sectors, subjects, study outcomes and learners.
Strategies for implementing online and distance teaching and learning approaches.
How to design online and distance courses, and choose the right technologies for delivery.
Approaches to creating assessments at a distance and online.
How to support diverse learners, in diverse contexts, online and at a distance.
The benefits of online and distance learning.
How to identify, and navigate, the ethical implications of moving your provision online.
How to work safely when teaching online, including how to support your learners’ safety.

By the end of the course, you’ll have learnt how to:

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how adults learn online, and at a distance, drawing on key theories.
Identify and evaluate a range of online teaching and learning methods in terms of their appropriateness for specific settings and learners.
Identify and evaluate technologies for supporting online and distance learning in specific contexts, drawing on a range of experience and research accounts.
Design online teaching and learning activities, courses and assessment that meet diverse learners’ needs, drawing on a range of evidence to support your design decisions.
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how online teaching, learning and assessment can be made safe and accessible to diverse learners.

Ultimately, you’ll discover how adults learn online, and the strategies and learning approaches for implementing online and distance teaching. You’ll explore some of the many possibilities offered by learning with technology, and investigate the benefits and challenges of approaches to online learning, that will have long-term career value beyond lockdown and the coronavirus crisis.

This microcredential is part of a planned suite of courses addressing aspects of online education. This microcredential incorporates content from an existing OU module, Technology-enhanced Learning: Foundations and Futures (H880). If you have already completed H880, or are currently studying it, please contact us before registering.

Assessment

The course allows you to apply your learning immediately in your own context.

Throughout your study, you’ll develop your own plan for taking your teaching and learning online. You’ll be encouraged to share this plan with other students in order to gain feedback.

At the end of the course, you’ll submit this plan, accompanied by a reflective commentary, for assessment.

Professional relevance

This microcredential would benefit anyone currently working, or looking to work in, universities, colleges or wider adult learning settings as a:

Teacher
Trainer
Learning designer
Educational technologist
Head of department
Institution leader.

This course has a global focus and the skills you’ll learn will be relevant for learners from countries around the world.

On completion

You’ll receive an Open University certificate confirming that you have received 15 academic credits at postgraduate level 7. Credits are awarded on passing the final assessment.

Regulations

As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the academic regulations, which are available on our Student Policies and Regulations website.

Studying with FutureLearn

The OU founded FutureLearn in 2012 with the objective of offering a range of online courses from leading worldwide universities and institutions to anyone and everyone. Now owned jointly with the SEEK Group, more than 10 million people across the globe have signed up to take a FutureLearn course.

OU microcredentials are designed around social learning, which you’ll do on the FutureLearn platform. You’ll use online reading materials, videos and interact with your tutors and peers in online discussions. Contributing to discussions, asking questions and providing and receiving peer feedback are all ways you’ll learn throughout the course.

Your microcredential is split into 12 weeks of study. You’ll typically need to spend 13 hours per week studying the materials provided and completing tasks on the FutureLearn course website.

The weekly activities embedded in the FutureLearn platform will help consolidate your learning. The quizzes at the end of each week will contribute towards your final grade. You’ll have up to three attempts on each one.

Your final assessment will be marked and graded by The Open University. If you score 50% or more overall, you’ll have successfully completed the microcredential and can claim your certificate of completion.

Course academics

Meet your expert academics

Dr Rebecca Ferguson

Rebecca is the OU’s microcredentials academic lead; a global expert in learning at scale, she was involved in the original design of the FutureLearn platform. She also co-facilitates FutureLearn’s new MOOC How to teach online.

Dr Leigh-Anne Perryman

Leigh-Anne is qualification director of the OU’s Masters in Online and Distance Education programme, and a respected global expert in innovative open and online pedagogy. She also chaired production of Embedding mental health in the curriculum.

Professor Martin Weller

Martin is a respected global expert in educational technology, leading the OU's response to supporting the education sector with COVID-19. He is the ICDE Chair, and COL Chair in OER (Open Educational Resources), and President of the Association for Learning Technology.

Entry requirements

To study for this postgraduate microcredential, you will ideally have:

A bachelors degree or an equivalent level qualification
Experience of working in education
A strong interest in teaching and learning

Spaces are limited for this microcredential, so we’d recommend you register early to secure your place.

Computing requirements

We’d recommend you use an up-to-date laptop or desktop to study. Any additional software will be provided or is generally freely available.

To join in the spoken conversation in our online rooms we recommend a headset with a built-in microphone.

Learning in the English language

All teaching is in English, and your proficiency in the language needs to be adequate for postgraduate study and for contributing to online discussions by text and voice. If English is not your first language, we strongly recommend that you make sure you can achieve a score of at least seven in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). To assess your English Language skills in relation to your proposed studies, you can visit the IELTS website.

What are microcredentials?

Relevant to rapidly growing industries, microcredentials allow you to gain specialist knowledge to help advance your career. Upskilling with a microcredential can help ensure that your professional growth continues, and you keep up-to-date with relevant and emerging practices.

Each microcredential includes a formal online assessment and meets the quality standards set by the Common Microcredential Framework (CMF).

Where can I study a microcredential?

Microcredentials are designed so that you can study from almost anywhere in the world. You don’t need to have the right to study in the UK to take one.

They’re designed to fit around your life and time zone, so all study is online and you can study at any time of the day. There may be live events you can join, but if you can’t participate in them, they’ll be recorded for you to watch afterwards.

How do I register for a microcredential?

As microcredentials are offered by our partner, FutureLearn, you’ll register directly with them. You’ll first need a FutureLearn account, which you can create through their website. Once you’ve created your account, you’ll be able to register for your chosen microcredential.

Payment for microcredentials can be made by credit or debit card (Visa, Mastercard or American Express) or via PayPal.

If you change your mind about studying a microcredential, you’ll have up to 14 days from when the course starts to request a refund.

Can microcredentials be used towards university qualifications?

Microcredentials are stand-alone products, designed to meet specific learner and employer needs and offer a credential in their own right. Those awarded by The Open University have a credit value at either undergraduate or postgraduate level, and this may in the future be used towards qualifications (for example, an honours degree, diploma of higher education or postgraduate certificate) at The Open University, or potentially at another university (subject to the agreement of the receiving institution).

Register for this course

Start dates

15 March 2021
28 June 2021

Request your microcredentials prospectus

Our prospectus can help you choose your course and understand what it's like to study a microcredential.

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Online Teaching:
Creating Courses for Adult Learners

Learn the practical skills you need to build and deliver online courses successfully

Course summary