Designing digital courses has long been part of the discussion on the future of education and training programs on many different platforms. Information on how to engage adults with basic skills challenge in learning activities are available.

This brand new online course by the European Basic Skills Network contributes to this dialogue by presenting fundamental considerations on how to design digital courses for adults with basic skills needs. The course is primarily for practitioners, trainers and instruction designers working in adult basic skills development.

The MOOC will start on 6 September 2021 and will last three weeks. Enrollment is open!

If you have already registered in EPALE Moodle, follow this link and enroll in the course.

If it’s your first time with EPALE MOOCs, first of all access and register in EPALE Moodle here.

Continue reading for full details and guidance on how to register and enroll!

Course objectives and structure

The aim of the course is to provide an overview of important design-related decisions before going into the development of online programs. With a specific focus on the needs of adult with basic skills challenges, the course will go through 3 fundamental themes and will present a series of good examples that proved to be successful during the sudden digitalisation of adult learning courses under the current pandemics.

The three main sections are distributed through the three weeks of the course:

• Week 1 (from 6-13 September): Overall course design
• Week 2 (from 13-20 September): Planning course content & activities (with a focus on blended learning)
• Week 3 (from 20-27 September): Ensuring learner support

Course details

The MOOC will start on 6 September 2021 and will finish on 27 September 2021 and it will give the opportunity for participants to consider different practical aspects of designing adult basic skills courses in a digital environment.

Each week is planned around a number of different activities:

• learning content;
• a weekly expert webinar to elaborate on the weekly content in depth;
• peer dialogue and sharing of experiences in a forum discussion each week;
• opportunities to reflect on own experiences.

Participants successfully completing the course will be awarded a certification of completion and an EBSN digital badge that testifies the following requirements:

• opening the course content each week;
• participating or watching the recorded weekly webinar;
• contributing to the peer dialogue at least once a week;
• completing self-assessment activities (once a week) e.g. short quizzes, or matching exercises etc.;
• submitting one learning journal at the end of the course (written reflection) by 27 September.

The completion of the course requires minimum 3 hours per week, not more than 10 learning hours in total.

The language of the course is English and it is free of charge. No prior experience is needed on behalf of participants. The learning management system will be hosted in EPALE’s Moodle school. Please scroll down for more information on registration and self-enrolment!

Important dates

Registration & self-enrolment: from 12 August to 6 September.
Start date of the course: 6 September.
Weekly webinars are planned as follows:

• 6 September (Monday) 11:00 - 11:30 CET: webinar with Tamás Harangozó (EBSN)
• 17 September (Friday), 11:00-11:30 CET: webinar with Inga Opitz (DVV VHS Lernportal)
• 23 September (Thursday), 11:00-11:30 CET: webinar with Graciela Sbertoli (EBSN)

How to register?

(If you have not yet registered to EPALE's learning management platform in previous MOOCs)

Register yourself with your e-mail and a username to EPALE's learning management system provided by Moodle:

• Access EPALE's Moodle here: Moodle EPALE.
• Click on CREATE NEW ACCOUNT at the bottom of the page.
• Go through the details on Cookies Policy, and then agree to the MoodleCloud policy and MoodleCloud cookies policy.
• The final step is to give your personal information and log in credentials finish the registration. 
• Wait for a confirmation e-mail and click on the link sent to you to finish your registration!

How to enroll?

Registration and enrollments are open. When you completed the registration, sign into Moodle with your credentials.
Once logged in, click on the course Supporting Teachers to Design Digital Basic Skills Programs for Adults.
After that, click on ENROLL ME in the middle to access the course content. Please note that all course content will be visible after 6 September.

Should you have any questions, contact us via email!