Learning experiences (including classes)

This unit is delivered through a blend of experiences, some of them synchronous, and others asynchronous.

Synchronous experiences

Synchronous experiences mean we are all engaging in the learning experience together, at the same time. This might happen through classes or other types of interactions. In this unit, we will primarily participate in classes and Twitter chats.

For those who are unable to join us in real time, classes will be recorded and Twitter chats will be archived for you to revisit.

Classes

Classes will run on Mondays from 5.30pm til 7.30pm in S305 and simultaneously online in Adobe Connect.

We’re not running classes every week, because you’ll need the allocated class time to participate in Twitter chats and work through online materials.

Classes will be held in the following weeks:

  • Week 1
  • Week 2
  • Week 4
  • Week 6
  • Week 8
  • Week 10
  • Week 13 (online only, 5.30pm-6.30pm)

You won’t find the teaching team standing behind a lectern delivering lectures in this unit (or not very often, anyway). Instead, our classes will be workshop based.

Concerned about a lack of lectures? Don’t be! And don’t think we’re being slackers by not standing at the front of a classroom and talking at you for three hours every week. In fact, the decision not to have lectures actually means a whole lot more work for the teaching team.

We don’t lecture because we don’t believe we can pour knowledge into your brain by talking non-stop for three hours. We also know from experience that very few students who miss lectures watch the recordings afterwards, and we’re okay with that because quite frankly we’re not sure we’d sit through a recording of a three hour lecture either.

Instead, we are going to run interactive workshops. You should come prepared to get involved. In some weeks, classes will be interactive and may not translate well into the online environment. In these instances, we’ll also provide a version of the class activities that you can complete in your own time.

Using Adobe Connect

In this unit, we use Adobe Connect as our virtual classroom tool. Find out about how to use Adobe Connect.

Twitter chats

In addition to classes, we will have a number of one hour Twitter chats in the allocated class time. Twitter chats will take place 6pm-7pm Mondays in the following weeks:

  • Week 3
  • Week 5
  • Week 7
  • Week 9
  • Week 10
  • Week 11
  • Week 12
  • Week 13 (6.30pm-7.30pm)

Don’t know what a Twitter chat is? Don’t worry! We’ll walk you through it.

Asynchronous experiences

You know how we don’t really lecture? Instead of lecturing, we’re going to provide you with bite-sized pieces of content that you can critically engage with online. You’ll still benefit from our expertise because we will be creating content for you, but the difference is, we’ll be distilling our knowledge into concise content that we hope is easier for you to consume than a three hour lecture. You’ll still benefit from the expertise of people from industry, but instead of hearing from them in a guest lecture, you’ll read a blog post they’ve written for you or watch an interview we recorded with them. We aim to avoid tl;dr and tl;dw as much as humanly possible (except for this page… We know it’s long. But you’re still reading, right?).

We’ll also have a whole bunch of asynchronous experiences that will allow you to engage with the unit content. Each week, you’ll have an activity to complete online. These activities will comprise the content of your learning journal for Assignment 1. You’ll post about and reflect on the activities on your own blog here on the unit site. You’re also expected to engage with your peers’ blog posts.

To help you structure your study in a way that fits in with your other commitments, we will post the activities as early as possible. We’ll indicate a date by which you must complete them, but you’re welcome to get ahead by completing activities early.