As we head into our first meaty week of content, I thought I’d give you an orientation to what you can expect from the weekly learning materials and activities.
Each week, we’ll be providing a range of learning materials related to the weekly topics. These will vary a little depending on what we’re doing in that week.
We will have several weeks where we focus on theory and practice, and in the rest of the weeks, we’ll be looking at types of programs, products and services.
Theory and practice
In Weeks 4, 6, 8 and 10, we’ll be looking at the theory and practice of designing, planning, delivering and evaluating programs, products and services.
Learning materials
In these weeks, there will be some pre-reading and pre-watching you’ll need to do for our workshops.
Learning activities
You’ll have a five question quiz to complete based on the reading and video material.
Workshop
We’ll have an on campus and online workshop. Some workshops (for example, Week 4), will be very hands on and won’t translate well to the online environment. In these cases, I will still record the class but I’ll also make an online version of the workshop for you to work through in your own time, and I’ll give you feedback on what you create online.
Types of programs products and services
We’ll be looking at types of programs, products and services in Weeks 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12 and 13.
Definitions and background
I’ll give you an overview of the type of programs, products or services we’re looking at for the week, including definitions and any important background. I’ll also provide some personal reflections in some instances.
Learning materials
I’ll make readings and video materials available for you to work through in your own time.
You are also expected to engage with your peers’ posts, which become additional learning artifacts.
Learning activities
In six out of the seven weeks, you will complete an activity of your choice related to the type of programs, products or services we’re looking at that week. You can choose from the six types of activities you need to complete for Assignment 1. You’ll complete each type of activity once in the week of your choosing.
To help you will the activities, I’ll give you a list of potential sub topics you might like to think about.
Twitter chats
We’ll have a Twitter chat on the topic with invited guest tweeters to help you get familiar with current trends and issues related to the type of information programs, products and services we’re looking at that week.
A general note about learning materials
My aim with learning materials is to carefully select only the most relevant materials. I know your time is limited, so I will only be recommending materials I think are worth the investment of your time. I’m not going to provide extensive lists of extra readings. You guys are going to be librarians, so it’s my expectation you will find your own additional readings. I also believe that more is not more, and that extensive reading lists can be really overwhelming.
What this means is that if I ask you to read or watch something, you really should read or watch it, because it’s important. So that’s our deal: I’ll be judicious, but you need to be diligent about engaging with the resources I select or create for you.
Release of learning materials
I’m going to be working hard over the next couple of weeks to get the learning materials for each week up so that you can work ahead if you want to. There are a few factors that are going to make this a longer process than it otherwise might be, so I would ask you to be patient… Firstly, the library has switched to a different acquisition model for ebooks, which means many of the readings I had pre-selected cannot be used or need to be sourced in print and put on the CMD. Secondly, this is a new unit, and even if it wasn’t, I completely revise all material every semester to make sure it is current.
With the exception of the Week 3 materials, I will make sure you have any material you need to engage with before class or to complete activities at least a week in advance. Given I am late with the Week 3 materials, I will be offering you an extension on the activity for this week.
Please let me know if you have any questions about how any of this will work.