Becoming Digital (Part 4)

Literacy is not just something we teach learners; it is something we need to practice, especially if the learner is at a distance, or logging in from the dorm room the night before or after lecture. You are the subject-matter-expert, your learner is flipping through pages of a textbook or clicking around in the course; there is little difference between the two. 

Students need their course to be built using a schematic organizational structure, that will aid in their learning, not leave them confused, lost, and frustrated by you and the subject. Need a relevant example? All textbooks begin with a Table of Contents. The textbook employs that structure throughout to keep the learner organized. You do this for yourself on your workstation! You create folders to organize the notes and files you use in the physical classroom, so, take a few minutes and organize your course files, i.e., materials, for your students. Label each learning-object so the learner, at a glance, knows what it is; then add a small description or note to explain the relevance of the learning-object to the learner. Textbooks use a short paragraph to provide a quick introduction to a topic and summarize the chapters, sections, and subsections, do this for your students in your course.