Hello, hello!

It’s been a few weeks since my last update. I took a short vacation to Europe to watch the Kendrick Lamar concert in Berlin.

Unfortunately, on the way home I caught COVID. So I was unexpectedly knocked out for another week.

Now I’m back 💪 and ready to share how my online course is going. But first, I got a digital souvenir for you!

I visited the East Side Gallery of the Berlin Wall and saw this quote:

It reads, “Many small people who in many small places do many small things that can alter the face of the world”.

Hope it resonates with you as it does with me!

Now let’s get into my course update:

I’ve chosen a course design model 🎉

There’s been a debate going on in my mind; self-paced vs. cohort-based courses.

• Self-paced courses are completely asynchronous. Learners enroll and finish the course whenever they want at their own pace (think Udemy courses).

• Cohort-based courses are typically a blend of asynchronous work and synchronous “class” time. Learners enroll in a cohort with a set date and the learning experience is time-boxed (think web development boot camps).

Given the title of this newsletter, you’ve probably already guessed that I’ve decided to create a cohort-based course. I’d like to share how and why I’ve come to this decision.

Reason #1: I’m feeling inspired by the movies and TV shows I’ve recently watched.

These three stories have a common theme—the importance of teamwork.

I can’t quite put my finger on it but there’s something compelling about a group of people working well together. Uplifting each other. Complementary skills. It’s great to be part of a team, as well as watch and root for one.

I've shared this idea before, but I’ll say it again: Teamwork is an underrated human experience.

Reason #2: In 2016, I signed up for a course about Human-Centered Design by IDEO and Acumen. The catch was I needed to assemble my own team to do the group project.

(Read about the whole experience here)

I suspect there are many adult learners out there who want to grow professionally and personally. But one of the things that get in the way is how unappealing and inefficient it is to learn in 100% isolation.

Now, you might be thinking: “That’s why people should take training and professional development courses provided at their jobs”. 

I somewhat agree. I’ll save my lengthy rant about this for another time. For now, I’ll ask:

Have you ever taken training provided by your employer that you found to be an effective learning experience?

Feel free to share your answers in the comments. Would love to hear your stories!

Leave a comment

And well, there you have it. That’s why I’ve chosen to create a cohort-based course.

There are many benefits to group learning that we don’t get in self-paced courses. Not to mention completion rates of self-paced learning are a dismal 5-15%.

I heard the term cohort-based course for the first time this year when I began investigating adult education around the internet, specifically on Twitter. An alternative term I’m seeing more recently is community-powered course.

Jordan Godbey @jordangodbey

The Rise of CPCs — Community-Powered Courses is here. If your course doesn't adapt, it will die. This is how you survive and thrive.

1:05 PM ∙ Sep 15, 2022

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I’m looking forward to exploring this course design model further!

Thanks for following along

I recently did a self-review of this newsletter. One thing I noticed was my writing is still a bit convoluted at times. So I’m hoping this progress report came off a bit more digestible. If you have any feedback, I’d greatly appreciate it 🙂

Have a great rest of week!

Laraine