I’ve had a few emails from people letting me know they can’t participate in our Monday night activities due to other commitments.

I just want to reassure everyone that you won’t be disadvantaged if you can’t make it along to class or you’re unable to (or just don’t want to) actively participate in the Twitter chats.

All classes are recorded so you can watch later. I also try to provide an asynchronous alternative to any activities we complete in class, so that you can complete the activities in your own time. For example, in Week 4, we’ll be doing a design thinking workshop in class. That doesn’t translate well via Adobe Connect, so I’ll give you a short video that you can pause to complete each step in the activity. We’ll also debrief the activity here on the unit site so you can benefit from your peers’ reflections about what they got out of the activity.

Twitter chats will be archived in a story on Storify, which will be embedded here in the site, so you can catch up afterwards. There is a learning activity related to the Twitter chats, but there is an option for completing that without participating in the live Twitter chat.

In web design, the principle of ‘mobile first’ is popular right now. I kind of do the equivalent with learning design. I always start out by designing for asynchronous online participation, which is the mode that has the most limitations, and then I tweak the experience for online classes and the physical classroom. The unit site is our common space across both online and on campus cohorts, so this is where you’ll find all the important stuff, organised neatly and in a format that’s easy to consume (or that’s my aim, anyway!).

I’m also open to running a drop in session for online students on another day of the week, if you’d like the opportunity to touch base with me in real time. If you’re interested in that, please leave a comment here indicating your interest and your availability. Please note that I teach other units too, so I’m not available Tuesday evenings or any time Thursdays. I’m open to a Saturday drop in session if that helps.

And I’m always available to answer questions here on the unit site. Just shout if you need anything!